Article

2007-09-03 Afghanistan

SK: Ex-hostages say Taliban beat them for refusing to convert

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Posted by mrp 2007-09-03 14:06|| || Front Page|| [4 views ] Top

#1 Not at all the excursion they expected, poor things. A tribute to their strength that they didn't take the easy path.

Posted by trailing wife 2007-09-03 17:49|| 2007-09-03 17:49|| Front Page Top

#2 This story has me torn. Getting captured while trying to spread the Gospel in these countries puts Western Nations in a tough spot. However, if they actually succeeded in flipping some folks to Christianity -- on top of exhibiting this kind of bravery when captured...

Posted by Heriberto Spating7753 2007-09-03 17:53|| 2007-09-03 17:53|| Front Page Top

#3 We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert their populations to Christianity.

Posted by Excalibur 2007-09-03 18:33|| 2007-09-03 18:33|| Front Page Top

#4 True. And only the Taliban have the real story on why they shot the pastor and his associate. If those two had converted, they would still be alive.

Posted by mrp 2007-09-03 18:34|| 2007-09-03 18:34|| Front Page Top

#5 We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert their populations to Christianity.

Forced conversions are just about the best way to destroy a religion that I can think of, short of genocide. One can never trust those who accepted conversion to be honest, you see, and in the end the people separate into Old Blood and New, the authorities institute Inquisitions to ferret out the fakes, and heresies -- developed by converts who didn't quite grasp the subtle details of their new faith, and by false converts sabotaging their new masters -- flourish.

Separately, there is no way of knowing that conversion, however false, would have saved the two who were murdered. The Taliban are takfiri, and happily kill those who stray even the slightest from their defined way of doing things.

Posted by trailing wife 2007-09-03 21:07|| 2007-09-03 21:07|| Front Page Top

#6 Not if the Taliban had done the converting, TW. They are firmly in the "you love life, we love death" camp. Forced conversions, like that of Steve Centanni in Gaza, are propaganda triumphs aimed at the radical Islamic base.

Posted by mrp 2007-09-03 22:01|| 2007-09-03 22:01|| Front Page Top

#7 "They said they were beaten at first for refusing to take part in Islamic prayers or for rejecting a demand to convert,"

So, folks, let's all remember, "THERE IS NO COMPULSION IN RELIGION!"

Got that? Recall all the riots over Benedict's quoting of this?

Excal, I think trailing wife has a valid point, especially so with respect to Islam and its practices of kitman and taqiyya. Forced conversions would almost assure some wolves in sheep's clothing.

Far better is to simply execute the top tiers of Islam's clerical aristocracy wherever we go so that Muslims have the newfound freedom to convert without a flurry of death fatwas. Any imam or maulvi meddlesome enough to issue one gets a free .50 caliber third eye whilst we go about this bothersome task. Nation by nation, we must prune away these parasitic beturbanned strangler vines whose edicts and authoritarian rule keep Muslims chained to their creed. Given the opportunity to escape, any who remain are declared the enemy and treated as such.

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2007-09-03 22:26|| 2007-09-03 22:26|| Front Page Top

#8 We don't have to convert them by force. Simply give them freedom of religion where anyone can practice their religion and evangelize and convert others to their religion (as long as its not by force).

I think there is a very good reason Islamic countries outlaw evangelism by Christians or Jews (or athiest for that matter) - often under pain of death. Allan simply cannot compete.

Posted by CrazyFool 2007-09-03 22:39|| 2007-09-03 22:39|| Front Page Top

#9 Thank you for expanding on that thought, Zenster. mrp, I suspect the Taliban would be just as happy killing one of their converts if he failed to toe the line on any one of their picayune rules. But I agree about the propaganda point. I keep forgetting about that.

CrazyFool, you're right about the conversions. Both Sunni and Shia clerics have been openly worried about the conversion rate for the last few years that I'm aware of; I've seen unsubstantiated claims of numbers in the millions over some recent period. We've had articles here about situations in various Muslim countries, and certainly in the West there seems to be a division between those quietly falling away (like occasional poster Apostate) or those openly converting (that poor woman in Australia whose rapist justified the action on the grounds of her apostasy, no doubt justifying his mercy on the grounds that he let her live), and those becoming more violent in their beliefs.

Posted by trailing wife 2007-09-03 23:19|| 2007-09-03 23:19|| Front Page Top

#10 CrazyFool, as with many others, also hits the nailhead. RECIPROCITY needs to be the one single non-negotiable feature of dealing with Muslim majority nations. No immigration in? Then no immigration out. No freedom of religion? Then no mosques in foreign countries.

Reciprocity is so counter to the Muslim sense of entitlement that this one aspect alone could be used as a central lever to overturn Islamic superiority or expose it for the outright fraud that it is.

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2007-09-03 23:50|| 2007-09-03 23:50|| Front Page Top

23:58 newc
23:58 Zenster
23:50 Zenster
23:19 trailing wife
23:07 trailing wife
22:50 Old Patriot
22:48 Red Dawg
22:39 CrazyFool
22:37 Zenster
22:34 Zenster
22:26 Zenster
22:01 mrp
21:48 Gary and the Samoyeds
21:23 whitecollar redneck
21:14 gromgoru
21:07 trailing wife
21:06 Broadhead6
20:57 trailing wife
19:48 john frum
19:41 Thomas Woof
19:41 Frank G
19:39 john frum
19:38 Thomas Woof
19:34 Elroy the Magnificent