Late to the party
Abdur Rahman is on trial in an Afghan court for converting to Christianity and the death penalty is a likely sentence. Westerners around the world are expressing shock and awe over this development. SHOCK AND AWE.
"It is deeply troubling that a country we helped liberate would hold a person to account because they chose a particular religion over another," President George Bush said on Wednesday.
Please Mr. President, tell me you were just kidding. Tell me you are not in the least bit surprised that Islamic law would take a dim view of apostasy. Tell me you did not invade two Islamic countries, planning to convert them to democracy, without a clue about their beliefs. After street celebrations of 911, after fatwas over novels critical of Islam, after televised beheadings of charity workers, after riots and murder over a cartoon, tell me you are not surprised. Please Mr. President.
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Despite Allan's good comments above, I would tend to think the President is not getting the full picture in regards to Islam. If one looks at history, Islam and Christianity have not gotten along very well.
Additionally, I will predict that within five years, Iraq will be a theocracy (voted for under a democracy we assisted in building) governed under Sharia laws. Not exactly the outcome we had all hoped.
We should not be surprised or dismayed when the democracy we try to impose on the rest of the world elects regimes which we may not support.
Each people group is trying to exercise their right for self-determinism. They want to sail their own ship, and decide how to govern themselves.
The natural course for Iraq is a theocracy. The sooner we realize this and allow it to happen the sooner the the troops come home.
There is a difference between "deeply troubled" and "surprised". I am deeply trouble by this news and yet I am not surprised.
Countries this deep in religious and social hatred will take time and difficulty in rising above such actions.
We as a country had our growing pains and Western civilization has had numerous setbacks. Hopefully with the examples of America and its allies it will not take as many centuries. I believe that modern communication and the speed with which these actions are known and commented on will slow and hopefully remove this type of hatred. Or at least move it to a more hidden place as we do with so many of our skeletons we hide. We can criticize and still hope that others we care about will move above such actions and join the rest of society as a whole.
We condemn such actions over one person and look a blind eye to the slaughter of thousands in third world countries over religious, social, tribal and just plain in the way differences.