The Cross Afghanistan Must Bear

In the land where Sharia is the law, one Christian misfit has created a huge cross for the Afghanistan government to bear. How will they uphold law based on religion when it means probable condemnation from their allies? Easy. Just declare that misfit Christian convert mentally unstable.

When the story of Abdul Rahman (the misfit) was first brought to international media attention it was because of the weight of the charges against him. The ultimate penalty for renouncing the Islamic faith in the land of the Sharia law is death should the accused also be found guilty of trying to pervert another through apostasy. Seems kind of harsh, but then again nothing about being a follower of Allah is easy. Especially, if you decide it isn't exactly your cup of tea after-the-fact. And that is exactly what happened according to Abdul at his hearing last week, when he explained that after rubbing elbows with a bunch of other misfits while

working for an aid group helping Afghan refugees in Pakistan 15 years ago.

So he saw the light (obviously that would lead any Koran thumping Muslim to believe someone could be mentally unstable...), but wasn't an exuberant convert, saying

"I'm not an apostate. I'm obedient to God but I'm a Christian, that's my choice," Rahman told the hearing.

Meanwhile faced with the political ramifications of Abdul's illicit religious practices Abdullah Abdullah, Afghanistan's foreign minister, is suffering from carrying the burden of Abdul's cross. How do you explain this situation to your allies? Easy. Blame it on Pakistan.

Of Abduls' case Abdullah said,

"Every time we have a case it is like an alarm."

Shifting the burden of guilt,

Abdullah complained of Pakistan's continued tolerance for the presence of Islamic extremist groups, and its public dismissal of recent Afghan intelligence about the location of certain Taliban leaders and other terrorists living inside Pakistan.

"What is required is a fundamental acceptance of the fact that these terrorists . . . will do no good for anyone. Any degree of tolerance shown will not help," he said, adding that the harboring of Islamic extremists in Pakistan is directly related to the mounting terrorist violence in Afghanistan. "We know who they are, we know who they are in bed with," he said. "We know Osama [bin Laden] has too many friends in Pakistan."

So what Abdullah really means is that if it weren't for the open door policy of Pakistan harboring the Taliban in force in their flight from Afghanistan, none of this would have happened. Abdul would never made the trip to Pakistan as a party to a Christian relief effort, would never have been caught up in evangelism, and would have otherwise led a perfectly normal Muslim life under the Sharia law.

Yep, it's all Pakistans fault. What a mentally sound way to rationalize this problem out.

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