The story of the Afghan man facing possible death for the crime of converting to Christianity is audibly building a head of steam, as it should. From the AP via ABC:

The trial 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 here four years after the ouster of the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban regime.

The defendant, 41-yer-old Abdul Rahman, was arrested last month after his family accused him of becoming a Christian, Judge Ansarullah Mawlavezada told The Associated Press in an interview. Rahman was charged with rejecting Islam and his trial started Thursday.

During the one-day hearing, the defendant confessed that he converted from Islam to Christianity 16 years ago while working as a medical aid worker for an international Christian group helping Afghan refugees in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, Mawlavezada said.

“We are not against any particular religion in the world. But in Afghanistan, this sort of thing is against the law,” the judge said. “It is an attack on Islam.”

….

The prosecutor, Abdul Wasi, said he had offered to drop the charges if Rahman converted back to Islam, but he refused.

“He would have been forgiven if he changed back. But he said he was a Christian and would always remain one,” Wasi told AP. “We are Muslims and becoming a Christian is against our laws. He must get the death penalty.”

Afghanistan has a state sponsored “Independent Human Rights Commission,” and a representative of that body has an interesting theory about who would benefit if Mr. Rahman is executed or if he is instead acquitted:

Hakim, the human rights advocate, said the case would attract widespread attention in Afghanistan and could be exploited by Muslim conservatives to rally opposition to reformists who are trying to moderate how the religion is practiced here.

“The reformists are trying to bring about positive changes,” he said. “This case could be fertile ground for extremists to manipulate things.”

Muslim clerics still hold considerable power in Afghanistan, especially in rural areas where most women wear all-encompassing burqas and are dominated by men.

Hakim said that if Rahman was acquitted, it would be a propaganda win for the Taliban rebels, who have stepped up their insurgency in the past year.

Get it? If a man whose only crime is professing Christianity is executed, then that is good for moderates in Afghanistan. If instead he is acquitted, then that’s good for the Taliban types, the ones who favor killing anyone who doesn’t believe like they do …

Sounds like a curiously callous form of “realpolitik” for a human rights advocate to be, er, advocating. It’s also short-sighted and completely wrong, in my view; my view being generated not from my incredibly detailed knowledge of Afghan politics, but from my meager but usually sufficient knowledge of human nature. That is: if the message sent by the new, moderate government of Afghanistan is that you face death for your religious beliefs, then the fundamental strains of fear and bloody-minded radicalism in Afghanistan are ultimately reinforced. If, instead, a stand is made here to say, “No, this is a new era, this man shall not be killed for his religion;” then the ordinary people of Afghanistan are at least offered a brighter alternative to the Taliban goons waiting in the hills.

From VOA is this snapshot from Abdul Rahman’s legal proceedings so far:

Appearing in court earlier this week Rahman insisted he should not be considered an infidel, but admitted he is a Christian.

He says he still believes in the almighty Allah, but cannot say for sure who God really is. “I am,” he says, “a Christian and I believe in Jesus Christ.“

It is not remotely acceptable, of-course, that American soldiers should have fought and given their lives so that a new government in Afghanistan could preside over the execution of a man for saying, “I believe in Jesus Christ.” And I don’t believe it’s going to happen. I think instead that it’s a question of how far the process will advance before there is an intervention. President Karzai (who must ultimately authorize the execution) may have to consider the “realpolitik” of the Afghan mountains, but he also remains deeply dependent on U.S. support, and he knows that the future of his country is also deeply dependent on the continuation of that support in the long term. There is also the “realpolitik” of America’s heartland to consider.

President Bush will be hearing it, loudly, from that part of his base that cares about these things (and that’s essentially his entire base). But I think even without such pressure, this case would draw a clear red line for the president himself. Americans have fought and have died to change just this kind of thing. At a certain point, choices need to be made, and corners need to be turned. Here is one.

The whole wide world really is watching.

He’s the property of Jesus
Resent him to the bone
You got something better
You’ve got a heart of stone

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