Abdul Rahman

This story is so sick on so many different levels that I don’t know where to begin.

Kim Baker of the Chicago Tribune writes:

Abdul Rahman told his family he was a Christian. He told the neighbors, bringing shame upon his home. But then he told the police, and he could no longer be ignored.

Now, in a major test of Afghanistan's fledgling court system, Rahman, 42, faces the death penalty for abandoning Islam for Christianity. Prosecutors say he should die. So do his family, his jailers, even the judge. Rahman has no lawyer. Jail officials refused to let anyone see Rahman on Monday, despite permission granted by the country's justice minister.

"We will cut him into little pieces," said Hosnia Wafayosofi, who works at the jail. "There's no need to see him."

Rahman's trial, which began Thursday, is thought to be the first of its kind in the country. It goes to the heart of the struggle between Islamic reformists and fundamentalists in Afghanistan, which is still recovering from 23 years of war and the harsh rule of the Taliban, a radical religious regime that fell in late 2001. Even under the more moderate government now in power, Islamic law is supposed to be followed, and many believe it requires the death penalty for anyone who converts to another religion.

"We are Muslim, our fathers were Muslim, our grandfathers were Muslim," said Abdul Manan, Rahman's father, who is 75. "This is an Islamic country. Imagine if your son told a police commander, also a Muslim, that he is a Christian. How would this affect you? It's very difficult for us."

..."He is my son," said Manan, crying. "But if a son does not care about the dignity of his family, the dignity of his father, God can take him away. You cannot make anything out of such a son. He is useless."

Rahman's jailer said, "We will cut him into little pieces."

Why? BECAUSE HE'S A CHRISTIAN!

Does that sound just a bit on the cruel and unusual side?

Rahman's father, too, believes he deserves to die.

Why? BECAUSE HE'S A CHRISTIAN! HE'S USELESS!

What does Amnesty International have to say about this?

NOTHING!

Surely Human Rights Watch is rallying to bring attention to Abdul Rahman's plight and demanding his release.

WRONG!

Where's Jimmy Carter? Off criticizing Bush somewhere, or making nice-nice with Hamas?

How about Jesse Jackson? Is he boarding the next flight to Kabul to negotiate Rahman's release? That's unlikely, unless there are guaranteed to be lots of cameras around.

According to Baker, "Many Islamic scholars believe that Muslims who convert from Islam should be killed, but liberal and moderate scholars disagree. One Afghan liberal scholar, Ali Mohaqeq Nasab, spent almost three months in jail last fall after publishing a magazine challenging many traditional views on Islamic law, including the belief that Muslims who convert to other religions deserve to die.

Where is the outrage from the liberal and moderate Islamic scholars? Why aren't they condemning the use of the death penalty for converting from Islam?

There's that familiar, disturbing silence coming from the peace-loving Muslim community again.

What about the celebrity Lefty circles? Hollywood went bonkers trying to save Tookie Williams. Will these libs organize protests and hold vigils and pour money into efforts to save Rahman?

No chance.

The word from Afghan President Hamid Karzai's office is that he will not intervene in the matter.

President Bush can't be too happy about that, with all his "Islam is a peaceful religion" talk.

Supposedly, Karzai's hands are tied because Afghanistan's constitution is based on Sharia law.

That means death for Abdul Rahman.

BECAUSE HE'S A CHRISTIAN!