March 23, 2006
On Tuesday, I mentioned an Afghan man who had converted to Christ from Islam and is in danger of a death sentence. The Bush administration has now appealed to the afghan government to spare the life of 41-year-old Abdul Rahman.
Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns says the U.S. government is watching the case, but adds, “the case is not in the competence of the United States government. It’s under the competence of the Afghan authorities.”
Excuse me, but I thought the reason we liberated Afghanistan from the Taliban was at least in part to change the political and religious dynamic in the country. That Sharia law is now the official law and people can be executed for converting to a faith other than Islam is an outrage.
The Afghan foreign minister, who was in Washington this week, stood next to burns and said the case is a legal one involving Rahman and his family. The Italian and German governments have properly denounced Rahman’s conviction. So have some prominent Democrats and Republicans. We all should. Americans aren’t dying so Muslims can kill people who embrace Jesus Christ.
Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.
