Oh, the shame of it!!!

[Flashermac]

Afghan Convert May Be Unfit for Trial

 

22 March 2006

AP

 

 

KABUL, Afghanistan - An Afghan man facing a possible death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity may be mentally unfit to stand trial, a state prosecutor said Wednesday.

 

Abdul Rahman, 41, has been charged with rejecting Islam, a crime under this country's Islamic laws. His trial started last week and he confessed to becoming a Christian 16 years ago. If convicted, he could be executed.

 

But prosecutor Sarinwal Zamari said questions have been raised about his mental fitness.

 

"We think he could be mad. He is not a normal person. He doesn't talk like a normal person," he told The Associated Press.

 

Moayuddin Baluch, a religious adviser to President Hamid Karzai, said Rahman would undergo a psychological examination.

 

"Doctors must examine him," he said. "If he is mentally unfit, definitely Islam has no claim to punish him. He must be forgiven. The case must be dropped."

 

It was not immediately clear when he would be examined or when the trial would resume. Authorities have barred attempts by the AP to see Rahman and he is not believed to have a lawyer.

 

A Western diplomat in Kabul and a human rights advocate -- both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter -- said the government was desperately searching for a way to drop the case because of the reaction it has caused.

 

The United States, Britain and other countries that have troops in

Afghanistan have voiced concern about Rahman's fate.

 

The Bush administration Tuesday issued a subdued appeal to Kabul to let Rahman practice his faith in safety. German Roman Catholic Cardinal Karl Lehmann said the trial sent an "alarming signal" about freedom of worship in Afghanistan.

 

The case 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 there four years after the ouster of the fundamentalist Taliban regime.

 

Afghanistan's constitution is based on Shariah law, which is interpreted by many Muslims to require that any Muslim who rejects Islam be sentenced to death. The state-sponsored Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission has called for Rahman to be punished, arguing he clearly violated Islamic law.

 

The case has received widespread attention in Afghanistan where many people are demanding Rahman be severely punished.

 

"For 30 years, we have fought religious wars in this country and there is no way we are going to allow an Afghan to insult us by becoming Christian," said Mohammed Jan, 38, who lives opposite Rahman's father, Abdul Manan, in Kabul. "This has brought so much shame."

 

Rahman is believed to have converted from Islam to Christianity while working as a medical aid worker for an international Christian group helping Afghan refugees in the Pakistani city of Peshawar.

 

He then moved to Germany for nine years before returning to Kabul in 2002, after the ouster of the hard-line Taliban regime.

 

Police arrested him last month after discovering him in possession of a Bible during questioning over a dispute for custody of his two daughters. Prosecutors have offered to drop the charges if Rahman converts back to Islam, but he has refused.

[sayjann]

what's good for the goose.............

 

any Muslim already living in a Christian Country or wanting to settle in one should be told they must renounce their Religion and become a Christian..........

all mosques demolished and no worshipping their 'God'.

 

i wonder how many would comply or leave their soft existance in the West and return to the harsh environment of their Home Countries?.

[Orangutan]

sayjann said:

what's good for the goose.............

 

i wonder how many would comply or leave their soft existance in the West and return to the harsh environment of their Home Countries?.

 

Hey kids hide the balloons do you want to get killed.

 

-OT

[Flashermac]

This is what so pisses other off. "We DEMAND OUR RIGHTS in YOUR country, but screw you if you think you will have any at all in ours."

 

To be fair, it should be noted that many Muslim countries are not like this, nor does the Qu'ran call for the prohibition of other religions in Islamic countries. Yet even as moderate a country as Malaysia last year denied the right of a Muslim to renounce his faith. The courts told him that since he was an ethnic Malay and had been raised a Muslim, he could not renounce his faith and had to follow it whether he believed in it or not.

[sayjann]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4832072.stm

 

as you say,this is what pisses people off.

this Girl and her Parents knew the dress code but still sent her to the school and then she complained.

i could understand if she was the only Muslim at the school but the school has a 79% Muslim population and i haven't seen any other reports of other pupils complaining.......not to say that they haven't.

the school seems to me to be quite willing for Pupils to practise their Religion.

 

watching the reports on the TV and it seems the main argument is that she wanted to wear an outfit which covered her ankles but the school dress code said it had to go no lower then then the lower calf,a matter of 2-3 Inches.

as someone said she has wasted 2 Years of her Education on this matter.

 

when i was at school i had to adhere to a dress code and i remember getting in trouble when i wore long trousers for the 1st time.

the problem in the UK at the moment is that we are kow-towing to the minority Religions and forgetting that we are a Christian Country.

Christmas and Easter are already banned or re-named in many places so that we do not upset other Religions.

and still we are not allowed to mention or celebrate St.George,even though the Scots,Irish and Welsh have their Holidays on their Patron Saint Days.

 

i wonder what would happen if the UK Government tried to stop any Muslim celebrations?.........

[Flashermac]

The US Post Office issues "non-religious" Christmas stamps -- e.g. trees, snowmen etc. But then they turn right around and issued a stamp for Ramadan and Eid el Fitr. WTF???

[SpiceMan]

sayjann said:

any Muslim already living in a Christian Country or wanting to settle in one should be told they must renounce their Religion and become a Christian..........

The UK is not really an X-tian country. Less than 3% of the population go to church and 7.7 million people said they had no religion in the census. 390,000 said their religion was Jedi. If you are going to have religious schools, their ought to be schools that teach the star wars mythology.

 

The USA is secular. I don't know why the post office wasn't sued for showing religious bias in the postage stamps.

 

BTW, I don't like to use the word "Christ". It is the greek word for saviour; and Jesus, if he even existed was not anybody's saviour.

[Flashermac]

<< If you are going to have religious schools, their ought to be schools that teach the star wars mythology. >>

 

There already are. They call it Scientology.

[Nervous_Dog]

5 5 5 5 5 5 5

[sayjann]

no need to split hairs,you know what i mean.

 

'White' Brits (not being racist) will 'normally' be christened into the Christian Faith.

People from other Countries who have settled here will have their own faiths but they are still a minority when it comes to Christians.

what a person does in later life is up to them.

if they want to renounce their faith or like me just not bother then no problem.

i was christened in a C of E ceremony and still say that is my Religion if asked for any Official purposes.

 

i have been racking my peanut-sized brain to think of the last time i attended a Civil Ceremony in a Church and all i can think of in the last 25 Years was the Funeral of my Grandmother in 2000.