It Ain't Over

The politicians are breathing a sigh of relief now that the Abdul Rahman has been given asylum in Italy. As you recall, Rahlman was the man from Afghanistan who was charged with being a Christian convert from Islam and threatened with the death penalty.

Time Magazine believes that he is probably just an abusive dad and a troublemaker. After all, he had no job. Wait until they try to apply for a job in Afghanistan and fill out that they are a Christian on their employment application. Surely, they would not be discriminated against just because they were Christian. At any rate, it seems to raise questions to the editors and writers at Time as to why Rhaman was not a more productive member of Afghan society. Apparently , we are encountering a typical media reality drift.

Bush, Rice and all the rest may now breath a sigh or relief. But the problem is not cured. There is no change in Afghanistan and no change in Islamic law. The only change is that a symptom went away. The symptom went to Italy.

But everything remains the same. Members of the Afghanistan government are still resentful that Rahman is not being persecuted (ahem, I mean prosecuted.) Instead of changing, they are simply more resentful than ever that we are imposing our Western values on them.

The Islamic law (sharia) still says that if you leave Islam, you are deserving of death. There is still no actual or practical freedom in Islamic countries.

The immediate problem has gone away. It will return another day. The cancer of the lack of religious freedom is as malignant as ever and still grows.