Afghan Christian convert thanks Pope Benedict

Vivificat! - A Catholic Blog of Commentary and Opinion ^ | 3 April 2006 | Teófilo

[Teófilo]

But is he sane? What difference does it make?

Rome, Apr. 03, 2006 (Catholic News Agency) - Abdul Rahman, the Afghan Christian convert who was condemned to death for abandoning the Muslim faith but later released under international pressure, publicly thanked Pope Benedict XVI for his intervention and his support.

According to the ANSA news agency, Abdul Rahman, who was granted asylum in Italy, said he never wants to return to his native Afghanistan. “I thank the Pope, the Italian government and all those who came to my aid,” he said during an interview on Italian television.

Pope Benedict XVI appealed to the president of Afghanistan for his release in a telegram sent by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Angelo Sodano. Rahman’s release, he said, would be “decisive for our mutual efforts in the task of seeking a better mutual understanding and respect among the different religions and cultures of the world.”

Rahman was released last Monday and sought asylum in several countries. Italy and Germany were the first to offer refuge to the Afghan Christian convert. Last Wednesday Rahman traveled to Italy where he is currently staying.

Other news indicate that he was "mentally unstable":

German officials 'say Abdul Rahman unstable'

3 April 2006

HAMBURG (Expatica.com)- Abdul Rahman, the Afghan whose prosecution for converting to Christianity led to worldwide controversy, was judged to be mentally unstable by German officials who interviewed him six years ago, a German news magazine reported Saturday.

Defying Afghan Islamist politicians, Kabul officials released Abdul Rahman this week and he was whisked out of the country to asylum in Italy. The account in Der Spiegel backs up the Kabul officials' view that he was not mentally competent to be tried.

Der Spiegel said there were accounts going back years of Abdul Rahman being violent and disturbed.

Commentary. Apologists for Islamist jurisprudence stating that justice has been served in Abdul Rahman's case miss the point completely. The fact remains that had Abdul Rahman been declared mentally competent to stand trial, he would have been executed. The Islamists may have dodged the bullet this time, but in the near future, I'm sure that another Christian convert--in Afghanistan, Pakistan, or elsewhere in the Islamic world--will be arrested, tried, convicted and executed because conversion to Christianity is seen as a capital crime in these countries.

Bleeding hearts tell us that we have to tolerate these cultural and legal differences. Well, no. I do not tolerate them. If there's not to be any compulsion in matter of belief--thus says the Koran--then, why kill people who make choices of conscience different than what is mandated in the Koran?

Well, that's because the Koran says so in a contradictory "sura" or chapter, supposedly dictated by God after Muhammad had achieved political power in Mecca. Whereas Allah was to be conciliatory in Medina where he once dictated tolerance to Muslims, once in Mecca, Allah changed his mind. Fourteen hundred years later, Abdul Raman, and thousands like him, continue paying the consequences of "God's" reversal.

Every human being, including mentally unstable ones, are endowed with freedom of conscience. This freedom is inalienable, and it is the same for every human being, living inside every culture. All laws to the contrary are invalid and are only made "legal" through brute force. Yes, there are universal moral values which governments everywhere must protect at all times.

As Christians in general, and Catholics in particular, our mission is to be "salt of the earth." First, we need to change our culture in order to make it life-affirming, respectful of individual freedoms, and more conscious of individual responsibilities. Then, as we go as missionaries to other cultures, including those who are not traditionally Christian, by bringing Christ to these cultures, we're seeding the seeds of freedom and of respect for individual human dignity elsewhere.

Islamic scholars must take up the challenge of making their religion more humane and of rescuing their religion from its 6th century morass. What's barely explicit in their tradition, has fully blossomed in Christianity. Let's pick up the torch and keep running with it.

As writer Tanveer Jafri well states: It would have been better if Afghan citizen Abdul Rahman would have been acquitted on the basis of human rights and not on the basis of mental disability. It would've been better to abolish death sentence as punishment for converting out of Islam.

- Read also Apostates From Islam: The Case of the Afghan Convert is Not Unique, by By Paul Marshall, of The Weekly Standard, via the Assyrian International News Agency (AINA).

[Teófilo]

Blunders. Typos. Mine.

[Teófilo]

PING!

[GOP Jedi]

Bless his heart. Brave guy to live what he believes come what may.

Must admit, though, that when I scanned your title my first thought was "Oh, cool, an Agatha Christie article!"

[NYer]

Abdul Rahman is insane .... insanely in love with our Lord, Jesus Christ. Thank you, B-16, for intervening on his behalf.

[Teófilo]

Agatha Christie, eh? (LOL)

Sometimes we read what we want to read. It happens to me all the time. For example, I want to read that Michael Moore has seen the light and converted and that he will dedicate the remainder of his life to filming Christian documentaries. Alas, what the text is precisely the reverse. (Sigh)

-Theo

[PandaRosaMishima]

Ironic, given that last year the dying John Paul tried to do the same, to intervene and save Terri Schiavo's life. Thank god for Pope Benedict breaking through the wall! Maybe the image of a "Panzer Pope" might be resurrected after all; he's working on the side of the angels.
Ooooo, the other side is not going to like this!