Afghan man who converted to Christianity might get death penalty

[Guest InuYasha]

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1743620

 

Afghan Christian Could Get Death Sentence

 

KABUL, Afghanistan Mar 19, 2006 (AP)— 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."

 

....and these people have the balls to call the West barbaric and infidels?

 

Islam can go fuck itself for all I care.

[Art Sandusky 0]

That's the spirit! Christ.

[2GOLD 0]

You know what? These guys are still in the dark ages in terms of religion stages. I mean, all religions have went through this stage of taking itself wayyyy too seriously and it took centuries to straighten it all out to the point where at least you didn't get burned at the stake anymore or accused of witchcraft.

 

It's not really the religion, it's the evolution of the religion. It just doesn't seem like it has evolved very far in many of the countries. Considering how OLD it is, Islam should be well past these stages but it seems like most of these countries are the land time forgot.

 

And we can't step in cause then it becomes a Holy war to a new stage. But of COURSE the christians are going to demand we step in (maybe Italy should, that's where the Pope is...let him handle it with his Pope powers).

[Art Sandusky 0]

Islam's a good 600 years behind Christianity, so let's see... what was Christianity up to when it was 1400 years old... hmm... I'm just drawing this huge blank.

[2GOLD 0]

Islam's a good 600 years behind Christianity, so let's see... what was Christianity up to when it was 1400 years old... hmm... I'm just drawing this huge blank.

 

Islam's REALLY that young? Damn, I thought they were further along than that. Well then, they are pretty much on track. So in another 300 years, they won't be AS crazy but they'll still be a touch nuts.

[Jingus 0]

Um... didn't we overthrow the Taliban's regime in Afghanistan? Why the hell are theocratic laws like that still being enforced?

[Richard 0]

I guess with us being too busy fucking up Iraq, the taliban crawled back in.

[Art Sandusky 0]

Um... didn't we overthrow the Taliban's regime in Afghanistan? Why the hell are theocratic laws like that still being enforced?

Because these areas that are being democratized are simply not ready for it. Sounds terrible, but it's true.

[Stephen Joseph 0]

protestant reformantion didnt happen until the 1600s or so.

and judaism had been around alot longer before

 

technically, both christianity and islam have roots in judaism, so theyre both just as old, though islam proper was started about 630 ad

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Apparently parts of the new Afghan constitution are based on Islamic Shariah law, which in strictest interpretations calls for the death of any Muslim who turns to another religion.

 

See, again, this just goes to show these people are still barbarian. We need to quit pretending that they are as civilized as the West.

[Stephen Joseph 0]

And right now, the Afghan government is doing everything it can to find a loophole and avoid the world outcry.

 

No way is this guy getting the death penalty or any punishment.

 

FYI:

 

Shariah law is a bunch of bullcrap. In the surviving original Islamic text (those passages that were written by Mohammed) He preaches that the Christian and Jewish brethen are people of the same god that Islam is, and that they are to be respected and treated just as they were islamic. In his original text, he says NOTHING about killing someone who converts to the other two faiths, but he warns against it for fear of weakening the flock, really.

 

Over time, his warning got interpreted by the caliphs as punishment, and then to grab power, to death, as well as how mulsims are supposed to treat jews and xians.

 

So sad to see a religion whose author was also a great economist fall so far

[SuperJerk 0]

Thank you for posting that.

 

Its sad to me that the only thing most people know about Islam comes from the barbaric "interpretations" that terrorists use to justify their insanity.

[EricMM 0]

Steve, don't let Mike hear you say that about Mohammed.

[Guest InuYasha]

Well, it seems President Karzei learned which side his bread is buttered on.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060326/ap_on_...ristian_convert

 

KABUL, Afghanistan - An Afghan court on Sunday dismissed a case against a man who converted from Islam to Christianity because of a lack of evidence and he will be released soon, officials said.

 

The announcement came as U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai faced mounting foreign pressure to free Abdul Rahman, a move that risked angering Muslim clerics here who have called for him to be killed.

 

An official closely involved with the case told The Associated Press that it had been returned to the prosecutors for more investigation, but that in the meantime, Rahman would be released.

 

"The court dismissed today the case against Abdul Rahman for a lack of information and a lot of legal gaps in the case," the official said Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

 

"The decision about his release will be taken possibly tomorrow," the official added. "They don't have to keep him in jail while the attorney general is looking into the case."

 

Abdul Wakil Omeri, a spokesman for the Supreme Court, confirmed that the case had been dismissed because of "problems with the prosecutors' evidence."

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Good, a step in the right direction.

[Zorin Industries 0]

Unfortunatly, the most likly result is that some fundementalist is going to kill him given the first opportunity. The only chance he would really have is to leave the country altogether

[Vampiro69 0]

Zorin, I totally agree with you. If the man is not out of the country soon he will be dead probably by Wednesday.

[Zorin Industries 0]

30 headless bodies found in Iraq

 

I know this isn't Afganisthan, but I don't think that matters much. I didn't want the Iraq war, but once the coaltion was in, I knew they couldn't leave till the job was done. But there never going to be able to leave, because these countries are never going to be secure, with or without a foriegn military prescence.

[Stephen Joseph 0]

Steve, don't let Mike hear you say that about Mohammed.

 

If Mike or Marney have a problem with the facts surrounding the Islamic faith, they can suck my left nut.

 

Islam, in the beginning, gave rise to an economic renessaince that the Protestant Reformation WISHED it could have been.

 

The only difference was the institutions in place around it. Once the center (mo) fell, there was no represntative government back then, so things went back to the way of kings.

 

Islam is currently undergoing its reformation before our very eyes

[SuperJerk 0]

http://forums.thesmartmarks.com/index.php?...1&st=&p=entry

 

Probably the only thread about Islam that didn't ever turn into a gigantic flame war between Mike/Marney and someone else.

[Guest InuYasha]

http://forums.thesmartmarks.com/index.php?...1&st=&p=entry

 

Probably the only thread about Islam that didn't ever turn into a gigantic flame war between Mike/Marney and someone else.

Thanks, that was some good shit.

[Guest InuYasha]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060329/...istian_convert

 

I find this line particularly informative; especially in light of all those people who claim Islam is a "peaceful religion."

 

Muslim clerics condemned Rahman's release, saying it was a "betrayal of Islam," and threatened to incite violent protests.

 

Now try and tell me Islam is a peaceful religion.

 

The world will be a much better place when Islam as a religion is either outlawed, or better yet, completely erased from history. I don't particularly care if that sounds mean or "closed minded."

 

Just because it's the truth doesn't mean people want to hear it.

[cbacon 0]

Not so much "closed minded" as it is utterly retarded and extremely ignorant.

[cbacon 0]

The world will be a much better place when Islam as a religion is either outlawed, or better yet, completely erased from history.

 

 

Yeah, we better get on that

[Jingus 0]

I've never understood the "religion of peace" moniker. So, all those terrorists who murder people aren't Muslims? That's kinda like Christianity's claim to being a religion based on love: maybe some of its practitioners are like that, but damn a lot more of them seem to be assholes who violently disagree with anyone who doesn't believe as they do.

[Guest InuYasha]

Not so much "closed minded" as it is utterly retarded and extremely ignorant.

I'm not the one calling for the death of someone for believing in something other than I do.

[The Czech Republic 0]

I've never understood the "religion of peace" moniker. So, all those terrorists who murder people aren't Muslims? That's kinda like Christianity's claim to being a religion based on love: maybe some of its practitioners are like that, but damn a lot more of them seem to be assholes who violently disagree with anyone who doesn't believe as they do.

You're letting the loudest handful speak for everyone in both cases there, obviously

[Art Sandusky 0]

Yeah, you are. The loudest handfuls of people speak about what people are really thinking but too afraid to say. That's how it gains momentum. Their culture isn't "civilized," but their technological means are, so they can enjoy all the 21st century brainwashing devices that we take for granted every day. It's a matter of influences deviating the original peaceful element of the religion, I've said that FOREVER about that fuckin' region.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Exactly. They are the barbarians of our age. To pretend otherwise is ignorance.

[Cherry Blossom Viscount 0]

I'm not the one calling for the death of someone for believing in something other than I do.

 

Well, what's all this then?

 

The world will be a much better place when Islam as a religion is either outlawed, or better yet, completely erased from history. I don't particularly care if that sounds mean or "closed minded."

 

Oh wait wait wait, it's not SOMEONE, it's SOMETHING which happens to be one of the "big three" religions. Well, now that I look at it like that it's totally okay! Nope, not it's not mind numbingly stupid or extremist at all!