Afghanistan court pressured to release Christian apostate
"I have been suffering for 11 years, but I was never scared of dying"
Slavyan Stefanov
Issue date: 4/7/06 Section: World
"So you walk into them and say, 'This is wrong! Take it away!' But wrong according to whom?" said Eric Mortensen, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies.
"What happens when we encounter a culture whose norms are very different from our own? Can we impose our values on them?" Mortensen said.
He referred to the international political pressure on Kabul last week, where Abdul Rahman, a 41-year-old Christian convert, was to be tried for rejecting Islam, and could have faced death unless he recanted, according to the Shariah law.
"Being a Christian, I am inspired by people who are strong and courageous enough, and convicted within their faith - whatever it may be - to stand for it, even in the face of death," said Leslie Essien, Initiative on Faith & Practice Outreach Coordinator. "I hope that my faith would grow to that point."
Rahman, who accepted Christianity while working with an aid group in adjacent Pakistan 16 years ago, was arrested when the police discovered a Bible in his possession after he returned from Europe to seek custody of his two children.
"People assume that because of the changes that have happened in Afghanistan, the religious sentiments in the country will be much more progressive and liberal," Mortensen commented. "Yet, nothing has happened in the last few years that would make the religion less conservative. The Taliban still has huge influence in the country."
Rahman's trial reminded junior Aleksandra Babic of the civil war horrors she went through in her native Bosnia.
"In the circumstances that I come from, people were killed without anyone knowing," said Babic. "I think it is good that the case has become an international issue and people do know about it."
For first-year Peter Deng, a Sudanese Christian, the story of Abdul Rahman evoked memories of his homeland.
"When I was 13 years old and lived in Sudan, a Muslim friend of ours came to the church once and was amazed by Christianity," Deng said. "But he never told anyone because he was afraid that if he converted, he was going to get killed."
"What happens when we encounter a culture whose norms are very different from our own? Can we impose our values on them?" Mortensen said.
He referred to the international political pressure on Kabul last week, where Abdul Rahman, a 41-year-old Christian convert, was to be tried for rejecting Islam, and could have faced death unless he recanted, according to the Shariah law.
"Being a Christian, I am inspired by people who are strong and courageous enough, and convicted within their faith - whatever it may be - to stand for it, even in the face of death," said Leslie Essien, Initiative on Faith & Practice Outreach Coordinator. "I hope that my faith would grow to that point."
Rahman, who accepted Christianity while working with an aid group in adjacent Pakistan 16 years ago, was arrested when the police discovered a Bible in his possession after he returned from Europe to seek custody of his two children.
"People assume that because of the changes that have happened in Afghanistan, the religious sentiments in the country will be much more progressive and liberal," Mortensen commented. "Yet, nothing has happened in the last few years that would make the religion less conservative. The Taliban still has huge influence in the country."
Rahman's trial reminded junior Aleksandra Babic of the civil war horrors she went through in her native Bosnia.
"In the circumstances that I come from, people were killed without anyone knowing," said Babic. "I think it is good that the case has become an international issue and people do know about it."
For first-year Peter Deng, a Sudanese Christian, the story of Abdul Rahman evoked memories of his homeland.
"When I was 13 years old and lived in Sudan, a Muslim friend of ours came to the church once and was amazed by Christianity," Deng said. "But he never told anyone because he was afraid that if he converted, he was going to get killed."