Religious Freedom
"At odds with modernity, and hindrance to growth" 30/3
"Afghan clerics demand death for convert" 25/3
The recent furore in Afghanistan over the release of Abdul Rahman, a Christian convert highlights the issue of religious freedom. In Islamic law, or syariah, converts are deemed to be apostates. In Afghanistan, this is a sin punishable by death. The constitution was rewritten in 2004, but the presence of such a law, seriously makes one doubt the credibility of the constitution because it infringes upon an inalienable human right, that is freedom of religion and thought etc. But let's not divert and discuss the problems with Afghanistan's new constitution here...
My point is that there is a fundamental difference in thinking between the West and the Islamic world. One difference that is most significant would be the value for tolerance. The very fact that Afghans are baying for Abdul Rahman's blood gives me the impression that they do not tolerate anything that breaches syariah. There can be no exceptions. In my opinions, apostates do not necessarily warrant death and also i think that the a person's rights to religious freedom outweighs the right to execute religious laws accordingly. This is because religion is supposed to cultivate the individual and impart correct values, and not to persecute and to annihilate. There could be some tolerance and flexibility on the side of the religion in this case.
What the West thinks might not be always applicable to Middle East countries, but there are some values that are universal. I think that protection of the rights of individual should be a top priority in every country regardless of their predominant religious practice or rules. In my opinoin, religions are espoused by their believers and flexible to changes and not a strict adherence or unquestioning obedience to laws in the religion itself.
posted by smile!!! @ 4:17 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
The decision to change one’s belief is rarely ever done on a whim. Conversion almost always results from some life altering personal experience that leaves the individual changed forever. This freedom of conscience is fully protested by the secular law of pluralistic democracies throughout Europe, America and elsewhere. However, there has never been any such an affirmation of human rights in the Islamic world, and so the right to choose one’s religion- a fundamental human right according to the United Nations- is unknown in the Muslim.
In our world, a convert from Islam to Christianity is a reality of life. In 30 countries around the globe, every Friday, Jumiat- the murder of converts- takes place. They are called the apostates, but nonetheless they are converts from Islam to anything else- Buddhism, Hinduism, Shintoism, and any other religion.
I agree with the writer that a person’s right to religious belief outweights the right to execute religious law accordingly. Religious belief is considered basic right granted to every human being. Mr. Bush, in a visit to Wheeling to rally support for the war in Iraq, said: "I'm troubled when I hear — deeply troubled when I hear that a person who has converted away from Islam may be held to account. That's not the universal application of the values that I talked about."
While the West and the East has different ways of life and different problems, there are some universal values, like what the writer said. Protection of individual rights should be the top priority in every country.
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