Is Democracy Possible?

Much in the news in the last few days about the plight of an Afghan convert to Christianity who faces the death penalty for his faith. According to a Washington Times story,

"Abdul Rahman, 41, was arrested last month after his family accused him of becoming a Christian, Judge Ansarullah Mawlavezada said. Mr. Rahman was charged with rejecting Islam, and his trial was held Thursday."

In a statement reminiscent of the worst of Soviet doubletalk from a generation ago, the judge in the case said:

"We are not against any particular religion in the world. But in Afghanistan, this sort of thing is against the law," the judge said. "It is an attack on Islam."

Let's get this straight, not against any religion -- against the law. Not against any religion but if you convert to another religion you are "attacking Islam" and face the death sentence.



There is of course the legal issue. CNS News reports that

"Afghanistan's constitution, signed into law in January 2004, includes in the preamble adherence to 'the holy religion of Islam' as well as respect for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

"Article two states that Islam is the official religion, but 'followers of other faiths shall be free within the bounds of law in the exercise and performance of their religious rights.'"

If this is true, then one would hope that a legal case could be made to spare Rahman's life and numerous efforts are under way to do so.

Chuck Colson urges us to write to our congressman and make every effort to insure that the sacrifice and expense poured into removing the Taliban is not undermined by a new regime every bit as oppressive.

"This is the country that we rid of the Taliban because of its religious oppression. This is the country in which we have spent at least $70 billion to establish a free democratic government. This is the country whose freedom cost us three hundred American lives and eight hundred casualties. And this is the country that is preparing to execute a man for becoming a Christian after he witnessed other Christians caring for his countrymen.
"Is this the fruit of democracy? Is this why we have shed American blood and invested American treasure to set a people free? What have we accomplished for overthrowing the Taliban? This is the kind of thing we would expect from the Taliban, not from President Karzai and his freely elected democratic government."

It all raises a question in my mind. Our form of government is built on the concepts of "unalienable rights" which are "endowed by the Creator". It is built on the concept that all who wield power can be corrupted, so government is limited and has checks and balances in the form of elections and division of executive, legislative and judicial responsibilities.

All of these things flow from a worldview which assumes that human beings are created in God's image and have both moral responsibility and dignity. Justice exists because God is just, yet mercy and tolerance exist because God gave even the first humans created a certain amount of freedom to live within moral bounds or choose not to. Belief is not something God extracts by coercion.

One wonders if other worldviews can sustain democracy and what Francis Schaeffer called a "balance of form and freedom". If the God of Islam is a God of power and rigid moral demands, but not a God of mercy and forgiveness, if the will of God is absolute, then democracy may not be possible. In which case the vacuum created by the removal of one oppressive regime will eventually be filled with another repressive regime. That may not be how all Muslims view their deity, but it is certainly how those in power in many places in the world view the Muslim God.

Many Christians have been killed in recent years in many countries for their faith. If Rahman is executed, it will be different because it will be an official act of a government, an official policy which says Christian faith is a capital crime. And with all the mounting protests and pleas for his life, such an event would be a defiant thumbing of the nose at the West. Would such an event alert the west to exactly what we face in the years ahead?