Freedom to believe

The case of the Afghan Christian on trial for his life because he is a Christian ought to remind everyone why living in this country is such a tremendous blessing. For those un aware AbdulRahman had converted to Christianity 16 years ago. During a civil justified battle, that information became known and according to the Shai'ia law, such an act is punishable by death. So much for a live and let live policy, it seems. According to Fox News President Bush is very disturbed by the event . Secretary of State Rice has called upon Afghanistan to act in a manner consistent with a basic respect for human rights and freedom.

This case signals a fundamental with Islam in these countries that the U.S. has freed. They may not want to allow freedom. It was a concern raised by the Vatican early on in the constitution development process. While the Afghan constitution does mention freedom of religion, the simple question to be asked is how did this case even get filed? Does Afghanistan intend to prevent freedom of religion? Will this be the same problem in Iraq?

As a Christian, and as a Catholic, I have a strong belief in the wisdom and the correctness of my Faith. I consider Catholicism to have the answers to the questions man asks of himself and that only in the teachings of Catholicism does one find the fullness of the Truth. At the same time, I realize that each person needs to freely come to grip with these questions and seek the truth about the nature of human existence. The strength of Western Civilization has been the pursuit of knowledge and the awareness that the revealed truth of Scripture is consistent with the natural law and the natural order. In law there is need to apply the the law to the facts. So in religion, human beings who are in search for God can find Him revealed in the Bible and further articulated throughout ages in the teachings of the Church.

Now a lot of people hate the Church and to be perfectly candid the Church through her clergy and members sometimes acts in ways inconsistent with her teaching. But those failures do not mean that the teachings are not true, only that human beings, fallible and frayed, have failed to follow the Way.

There will never be peace in the Middle East until the people embrace the teachings of the Prince of Peace, the Son of God, Jesus Christ. He calls us all to repentance, to forgive one another, to follow the Ten Commandments and even more to live those commandments in love. Jesus died to redeem all mankind. However each of us must recognize this and acknowledge His love and His mercy. Only then can there be real and lasting peace.

This message applies to Moslems; its applies to Jews; it applies to Hindus and Buddhists. It applies to the apathetic and the angry, the unbelievers and the so-called believer.

Every nation in the Middle East should allow the free exercise of Christianity. Further, there should be no penalty for being a Christian nor for converting to Christianity. Moslems must acknowledge the "peoples of The Book" and allow them to freely worship the God of Abraham. And since according to the scholars, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is claimed by all three of these major faiths, then why anyone should even be considering the taking of a life because he sought one of the other major religions of the Book.

The White House has to explain to the Afghan leadership in no uncertain terms that this cannot continue to go forward, that this subject could move public opinion in a major way.

So pray to for Middle East. Pray for this fellow And pray that one day the birthplace of Christ will be a source to inspire inspiration.

Something else of interest

In my last post I presented a paper that my son Joseph had written for school. I appreciate the comments both on the site and sent by email. As a dad, I am only too happy to watch my children grow and develop their talents. My wife and I are blessed. All of our children have been richly blessed by God and the wonderful thing is to see the talents being used.

Now a crass commercial plug for a band that has my son Joseph, aka Joe, as their lead guitarist. The band is called the Draw and they just cut an album called "Three Days on Brill Street." The album is quite good and has even had some radio play (although in the interest of full disclosure, it is the ASU radio station). On Friday they are playing at Phoenix Municipal stadium prior to the Oakland A's San Diego Padres spring training game. The game starts at 7:00 pm and the Draw will be performing for at two hours before the game starts from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. So if you are in the Phoenix area and want to hear a good young band with a great sound, check out The Draw.