The trial of Abdul Rahman has caused quite a stir across the world. Rahman is a 41-year-old former medical aid worker in Afghanistan who faces the death penalty for becoming a Christian. Afghanistan’s constitution is based on Islamic law which holds that any Muslim who chooses to become a Christian is to be put to death. That’s why senior Muslim clerics are demanding that Rahman be executed. And this call for execution isn’t coming solely from hardliners. Cleric Abdul Raoulf is also calling for execution. Raoulf is considered a moderate. He was jailed three times for opposing the Taliban before it was toppled in 2001. Raoulf said, "Rejecting Islam is insulting God. We will not allow God to be humiliated. This man must die – cut off his head!"
There are a lot of facets to this controversy. There’s the political aspect, with both President Bush and Condoleezza Rice weighing in about honoring the "universal principle of freedom," and emphasizing the importance of the Afghan people knowing "that freedom of religion is observed in their country." German Chancellor Angela Merkel is also involved, seeking to get assurances from Afghanistan’s president that Rahman wouldn’t be sentenced to death. It’s all pretty touchy with western aid and support seeming to hang in the balance.
Then there’s the values issue - western verses Islamic – and the irony that Muslims living in the west are afforded rights which Christians living in Islamic countries are denied. Religious leaders from across the Christian community – Protestant and Roman Catholic – and across the world – Germany, Italy, the United States – have voiced their concerns. A lot appears to be at stake – a human life obviously – but also the relationship of democracy and religion and the relationship of international norms and internal governance.
While the political nature of what’s unfolding is significant and the values aspect is also fascinating, what intrigues me about this case is the marked contrast it shows us between Islam and the Jesus way. Rahman’s comment is telling: "I am not an infidel or a fugitive. I am a Christian. If they want to sentence me to death, I accept that." Yes, there’s debate about whether he’s fit to stand trial (and all that implies), but that debate seems to have arisen out of political expediency. We probably won’t ever really know the answer to that one. Regardless, Rahman is choosing to stand firm in his choice to be a Christ follower and it’s that choice that provides the stark contrast.
At the heart of the Jesus way is the revelation that God desires to be in a relationship of love with each one of us. God is constantly seeking and searching, aggressively pursuing us and reaching out to us in order to offer love and forgiveness, wholeness and restoration. That reaching culminates in the event of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is God’s ultimate offer of love to the world.
Yet even as God seeks and searches, pursues and reaches out, God never forces, manipulates, coerces or bullies us into relationship. God may seek, but we must always respond. Even those who have grown up in the Christian faith – who are "Christian by accident of birth" – must eventually respond. And our response is sacred. God honors that response – even if human Christ followers have a hard time doing the same. God will never stop reaching, but God always honors our sacred right of refusal or acceptance. We are always free – to respond in love to the love God so graciously offers us, or to decline God’s offer of love – to go our own way.
The fact that Abdul Rahman is in danger of having his head chopped off because he chose to become a Christian tells me that this isn’t the nature of the god of Islam. Obviously Muslims freely welcome those converting to Islam; in fact Islam is openly evangelistic. The intent of Islam is to convert as many people as possible and countless people in the course of history have been forced to convert. This isn’t a popular fact – it seems much more acceptable to highlight the Christian missteps in this regard – but it’s true nonetheless. But converting to Islam isn’t at issue here. At issue is our sacred right of refusal.
Certainly it’s a sad day when any person freely and deliberately chooses to reject God’s offer of love in Jesus Christ in favor of another religious expression. However, it never results in the death penalty. Even if the United States were to become a real theocracy (in contrast to the shrill but false claims that we already are one), rejecting Christianity would not result in someone being "pulled to pieces so there’s nothing left." In fact, we have an obligation as Christ followers to offer love, care and respect to all persons – even those who have rejected us and the God we serve. That’s a foundational element of faith in Jesus Christ – a foundational element upon which democracy itself rests. Our failure to always adhere to that foundational element doesn’t alter the fact that it exists. Yet clearly in Islam there’s no sacred right of refusal at all. Clearly, love, care and respect for all persons – even those who have rejected Islam – isn’t an obligation for Muslims. Clearly, rejecting Islam isn’t an option unless you’re prepared to die.
So we’re left with a stunning contrast – not just in the way constitutions are written or in the way governments balance civil and religious issues. Regardless of the outcome of Abdul Rahman’s trial, the contrast that will endure is the one between two gods. On one side stands a God who honors each human being’s sacred right of refusal – who honors each person’s freedom to respond in love to the love offered, or to go his or her own way. On the other stands a very different god – a god who doesn’t recognize that freedom – who’s insulted and demands that followers defend this god against humiliation by executing anyone who chooses a life beyond Islam.
What’s unfolding in Afghanistan is more than a trial that’s gripped the world’s attention. What’s unfolding is an opportunity for Christ followers and others to recognize that the seeds of democracy are found in the Jesus way; that without the Jesus way and its formative principles, democracy, in all its varied forms, could never have flourished. Even more importantly, what’s unfolding is an opportunity for Christ followers and others to recognize the magnificent love offered in Jesus Christ – a love that comes to us freely and waits for our response without pressure or manipulation. That’s a love worth sharing.