The sobering religious freedom lesson of Afghanistan
International | August 26, 2021
ANALYSIS/OPINION:
Fifteen years ago, the Family Research Council advocated for Abdul Rahman, an Afghan Muslim man who had converted to Christianity and was being persecuted. Even in the face of a new Constitution, supported by the U.S. and purported to protect religious freedom, the Islamist headwinds blew strongly enough that Rahman’s safety was only ensured by the intervention of the international community, who at the time had been helping to rebuild Afghanistan. At that time, we had critiqued the Bush administration for failing to stand up for people like Mr. Rahman and called for pressure on the U.S.-backed Afghan government to ensure his protection. Eventually, Mr. Rahman was shuttled to Italy, not without much effort by his international defenders (he certainly lacked them within his own country).
Fast forward a decade and a half to the events of this week. If Christians were in danger previously (and they have been—Open Doors USA ranks Afghanistan the second-toughest place to be a Christian worldwide), things just got even worse. According to SAT-7 ministry President Dr. Rex Rogers, “[w]e’re hearing from reliable sources that the Taliban demand people’s phones, and if they find a downloaded Bible on your device, they will kill you immediately … . It’s incredibly dangerous right now for Afghans to have anything Christian on their phones. The Taliban have spies and informants everywhere.” SAT-7 also reports that Taliban are “pulling people off public transport and killing them on the spot if they’re Christians or considered ethnically ‘unpure.’”.. (Excerpts from the Washington Times)