Another Month, More Crazy Muslims

This time in Afghanistan. Who would have thought? Backward thinking in a Muslim country? No way! Who would have thought? So here's the article:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060323.wafghchrist0323/BNStory/International/home


Afghan clerics demand death for Christian convert

DANIEL COONEY

Associated Press

Kabul — Senior Muslim clerics demanded Thursday that an Afghan man on trial for converting from Islam to Christianity be executed, warning that if the government caves in to Western pressure and frees him, they will incite people to “pull him into pieces.”

In unusual moves, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice separately telephoned President Hamid Karzai on Thursday seeking a “favourable resolution” of the case of Abdul Rahman. The 41-year-old former medical aid worker faces the death penalty under Afghanistan's Islamic laws for becoming a Christian.

His trial has fired passions in this conservative Muslim nation and highlighted a conflict of values between Afghanistan and its Western backers.

“Rejecting Islam is insulting God. We will not allow God to be humiliated. This man must die,” said cleric Abdul Raoulf, who is considered a moderate and was jailed three times for opposing the Taliban before the hard-line regime was ousted in 2001.

The trial, which began last week, has caused an international outcry. U.S. President George W. Bush has said he is “deeply troubled” by the case and expects the country to “honour the universal principle of freedom.”

Ms. Rice's spokesman, Sean McCormack, said she told Mr. Karzai it is important for the Afghan people to know that freedom of religion is observed in their country. In deference to the country's sovereignty, however, she evidently did not demand specifically that the trial be halted and the defendant released.

“This is clearly an Afghan decision,” Mr. McCormack said. “They are a sovereign country.”

Still, Ms. Rice's direct appeal to a foreign leader in a judicial proceeding in their own country is an unusual move.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters she had received assurances from Mr. Karzai in a telephone call that Mr. Rahman would not be sentenced to death.

“I have the impression that he (Mr. Karzai) has a firm willingness” to abide by the human rights requirements, Ms. Merkel said. “I hope we will be able to resolve this.”

Diplomats have said the Afghan government is searching for a way to drop the case. On Wednesday, authorities said Mr. Rahman is suspected of being mentally ill and would undergo psychological examinations to see whether he is fit to stand trial.

Three Sunni preachers and one Shiite interviewed by the Associated Press in four of Kabul's most popular mosques said they do not believe Mr. Rahman is insane.

“He is not crazy. He went in front of the media and confessed to being a Christian,” said Mr. Hamidullah, chief cleric at Haji Yacob Mosque.

“The government is scared of the international community. But the people will kill him if he is freed.”

Mr. Raoulf, who is a member of the country's main Islamic organization, the Afghan Ulama Council, agreed. “The government is playing games. The people will not be fooled.”

“Cut off his head!” he exclaimed, sitting in a courtyard outside Herati Mosque. “We will call on the people to pull him into pieces so there's nothing left.”

He said the only way for Mr. Rahman to survive would be for him to go into exile.

But Said Mirhossain Nasri, the top cleric at Hossainia Mosque, one of the largest Shia places of worship in Kabul, said Mr. Rahman must not be allowed to leave the country.

“If he is allowed to live in the West, then others will claim to be Christian so they can too,” he said. “We must set an example. ... He must be hanged.”

The clerics said they were angry with the United States and other countries for pushing for Mr. Rahman's freedom.

“We are a small country, and we welcome the help the outside world is giving us. But please don't interfere in this issue,” Mr. Nasri said. “We are Muslims and these are our beliefs. This is much more important to us than all the aid the world has given us.”

Afghanistan's constitution is based on sharia (Muslim law), which is interpreted by many Muslims to require that any Muslim who rejects Islam be sentenced to death.

Mr. Hamidullah warned that if the government frees Mr. Rahman, “there will be an uprising” like one against Soviet occupying forces in the 1980s.

“The government will lose the support of the people,” he said. “What sort of democracy would it be if the government ignored the will of all the people.”

Meanwhile, human-rights group Amnesty International said if Mr. Rahman has been detained solely for his religious beliefs, he would be a “prisoner of conscience.”

“The charges against him should be dropped and if necessary he should be protected against any abuses within the community,” the London-based group said in a statement.

Mr. Rahman is believed to have lived in Germany for nine years after converting to Christianity while working as a medical aid worker for an international Christian group helping Afghan refugees in Pakistan. He returned to Kabul in 2002.

It was not immediately clear when Mr. Rahman's trial will resume. Authorities have barred attempts by the AP to see him, and he is not believed to have a lawyer.


So as you can see Muslims don't believe in freedom of religion. At least not the ones in Afghanistan. Although I don't hear any outrage from Muslims in the West. Although to be fair I haven't heard too many Muslims actually defending those crazy Afghanis. Man, Islam is as bad as Scientology.
I used to support the fact that Canadian troops were in Afghanistan helping to "build" the country or whatever. But now I don't. If they think they can kill someone for converting to Christianity, then that just can't be tolerated. Sure the Afghans want us there. But if you want our help, you have to recognize some basic human rights. No one is asking them all to convert to Christianity. But I think that's what they're afraid of. That people will start to realize that Islam itself is evil and based on hatred. And Christianity is just a lot funner because you don't actually have to follow any of it.
It is kinda funny that these people would be presumptuous enough to think they know what God thinks, if he were to exist.
First there was the whole cartoon controversy, which people could actually defend based on our limits to free speech when it incites hatred (although the cartoons did not do that). But this time ... you just can't really defend them in any good way. You just gotta admit those Muslims are fanatics who want the West destroyed. Period.