southchild

Here’s an example of “freedom” in Afghanistan — yet another one of our so-called “allies” in the War on Terror. We liberated these folks from the brutal, oppressive Taliban, and here’s what “democracy” and “law” look like under the new Afghan constitution:

Benjamin Sand has this article, “Afghan Man Faces Execution After Converting to Christianity” at Voice of America.

An Afghan man who recently admitted he converted to Christianity faces the death penalty under the country’s strict Islamic legal system. The trial is a critical test of Afghanistan’s new constitution and democratic government.

The case is attracting widespread attention in Afghanistan, where local media are closely monitoring the landmark proceedings. Abdul Rahman, 40, was arrested last month, accused of converting to Christianity. Under Afghanistan’s new constitution, minority religious rights are protected but Muslims are still subject to strict Islamic laws.

And so, officially, Muslim-born Rahman is charged with rejecting Islam and not for practicing Christianity.

Appearing in court earlier this week Rahman insisted he should not be considered an infidel, but admitted he is a Christian. He says he still believes in the almighty Allah, but cannot say for sure who God really is. “I am,” he says, “a Christian and I believe in Jesus Christ.” Rahman reportedly converted more than 16 years ago after spending time working in Germany. Officials say his family, who remain observant Muslims, turned him over to the authorities.

On Thursday the prosecution told the court Rahman has rejected numerous offers to embrace Islam. Prosecuting attorney Abdul Wasi told the judge that the punishment should fit the crime. He says Rahman is a traitor to Islam and is like a cancer inside Afghanistan. Under Islamic law and under the Afghan constitution, he says, the defendant should be executed. The court has ordered a delay in the proceedings to give Rahman time to hire an attorney. Under Afghan law, once a verdict is given, the case can be appealed twice to higher courts.

This is the first case in which the defendant has admitted to converting and is refusing to back down, even while facing the death penalty. If convicted, the case could ultimately force President Hamid Karzai’s direct intervention. The president would have to sign the papers authorizing Rahman’s execution, a move that could jeopardize Mr. Karzai’s standing with human rights groups and Western governments. So far, President Karzai has not commented on the case.

But political analysts here in Kabul say he will be under significant pressure from the country’s hard-line religious groups to make an example of Rahman.

Did you notice this quote: “He says Rahman is a traitor to Islam and is like a cancer inside Afghanistan. Under Islamic law and under the Afghan constitution, he says, the defendant should be executed.”

No, Abdul Wasi, Islam is the cancer. Does anyone wonder why so many in the West reject the oft-repeated lie that Islam is a “religion of peace?” Show me the proof! What other religion is so fundamentally insecure and perverted that it demands the death penalty when someone dares leave it for another faith? Also note that he was “turned in by his family.” That’s real nice. It makes one wonder what freedom-loving people must inhabit that hell hole.

Supreme court judge Mawlavizada on March 19 holds a Bible that belongs to Abdul Rahman, who converted from Islam to Christianity. (REUTERS)

ABC News has this article, Afghan Christian Could Get Death Sentence:

An Afghan man is being prosecuted in a Kabul court and could be sentenced to death on a charge of converting from Islam to Christianity, a crime under this country’s Islamic laws, a judge said Sunday.

The trial is believed to be the first of its kind in Afghanistan and highlights a struggle between religious conservatives and reformists over what shape Islam should take here four years after the ouster of the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban regime.

The defendant, 41-yer-old Abdul Rahman, was arrested last month after his family accused him of becoming a Christian, Judge Ansarullah Mawlavezada told The Associated Press in an interview. Rahman was charged with rejecting Islam and his trial started Thursday.

During the one-day hearing, the defendant confessed that he converted from Islam to Christianity 16 years ago while working as a medical aid worker for an international Christian group helping Afghan refugees in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, Mawlavezada said.

“We are not against any particular religion in the world. But in Afghanistan, this sort of thing is against the law,” the judge said. “It is an attack on Islam.”

Note that Rahman converted to Christianity while working as a medical aid worker for an international Christian group helping Afghan refugees in the Pakistani city of Peshawar. He probably had to convert to Christianity in order to help out others which, like other acts of kindness, seems prohibited under Islam. Rahman is finding out the hard way that “No good deed goes unpunished”. Actually, nothing good goes unpunished under Islamic law (sharia).

The article also quotes the Afghani prosecutor:

The prosecutor, Abdul Wasi, said he had offered to drop the charges if Rahman converted back to Islam, but he refused.

“He would have been forgiven if he changed back. But he said he was a Christian and would always remain one,” Wasi told AP. “We are Muslims and becoming a Christian is against our laws. He must get the death penalty.”

Hey cultural relativists out there on the left, are you listening? Do you still believe that all cultures are morally equal and valid? Can you finally see that sharia is fundamentally incompatible with freedom? As we’ve said before, “Is contemporary leftism that morally bankrupt, or has the religion of multiculturalism finally met its Satan?”

With friends like these, who needs enemies?

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Additional resources:
Fox News: Afghan Man Faces Death for Allegedly Converting to Christianity
Michelle Malkin: A Christian On Trial
Neal Boortz: More Tolerant, Peaceful Islam

This entry was posted on Monday, March 20th, 2006 at 11:45 am and is filed under General, politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.