Meet the New Boss (Same as the Old Boss)

With apologies to Pete Townshend for ripping into his lyrics on "Won't Get Fooled Again," a song still viable after all these years.

To wit: A man who converted from Islam to Christianity 16 years ago is on trial in an Afghanistan court for this trangression against the laws of his country. He believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of the One True God, the Messiah who bore the sins of the world so that anyone who believes in Him might have eternal life.

The penalty if convicted? Death.

Chances of acquittal? Not very good. The defendant, Abdul Rahman, freely admits his guilt. The prosecutor is out for blood and the judge, Mawlavizada, has already commented publicly that the law holds that Rahman must die.

You can read about it HERE, and Michelle Malkin, ever on top of things, has more THERE. Michelle's best question is this:

What do Afghan President Hamid Karzai and President Bush have to say about the monstrous possibility that Rahman may be executed for professing faith in Jesus Christ and possessing a Bible?

So far, nothing.

Our question: why is George W. Bush spending most of his "political capital" - and a great deal of our national treasury, present and future - to promote decent, democratic governments in the lands of Islam, without some sort of guarantee that Christians are going to get a fair shake? This is not the promotion of the American ideal; it is a mockery of it.

If the only difference between the Taliban and the new Afghan government is that they won't cooperate with Osama and al Quaida, and in every other way turn out to be as repressive as the regime they replaced, we're not sure it's worth the cost in dollars, and the priceless cost of the lives of the American men and women who fought to give the Afghans freedom.

Some will argue that America cannot go to bat for Christianity as that would be favoring the establishment of a state religion (but in another state). We would argue that the cause is the same whether it's Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, atheist or whatever. Nobody should be put to death because their religious beliefs conflict with those of the people in power. Not in Afghanistan, or anywhere else.

Surely that's one thing upon which most Americans could agree.