Of course in many ways there is a clash of cultures going on with the West and the Middle East. But this is outrageous that the government would execute a man over his religion! This is the worst human rights violation I can think of.

And I agree with another poster here. If they execute him -- we have wasted our time trying to nation build and bring democracy to this nation or Iraq. There must be freedom of religion if any nation wants to be a democracy. We can only pray to God that this man is not executed.

And I don't believe all Muslims are violent.

These people have shown that they cannot be reasoned with. When will America wake up and realize that this is only the beginning of World War III?

Barring unforseen circumstances...does this include paying off other inmates to "accidently" kill this man? I would not be surprised if this man does not survive the weekend.

Every time I think I've heard it all, I am once again shocked and dumbfounded at the depths of the hypocritial brand of hatred espoused by fundamentalist Islam. I am constantly amazed at their lack of insight into their own conflicted faith. They espouse love, yet riot because of cartoons that "insult" their beliefs, and then behead former believers who have found a more loving expression of faith. Fundamentalist Islam appears as a caricature of the insane who lack an ability to see their own insantity. Love is expressed through it's fruits: forgiveness, acceptance, tolerance and understanding. My prayer is that Islam finds a path for itself that allows for an expression of the fruits of love.

We must remind ourselves that postwar Germany and Japan were not bastions of liberty. It takes time to inculcate the ideals of liberty and openess in society's where those virtues are foreign. The Afghan case shows a young democracy SLOWLY leaving behind a past where killing Christians at will was tolerated.

If the President is truly dedicated to Christ as he has stated then he cannot be blind to the situation. Politics aside these people owe their freedom from the Taliban to the United States. They wrote a constitution that allows religeous freedom but not conversion from Islam. If this Afghan government executes this man then they deserve neither aid or any help in rebuilding their country. Islamic law calls for a sentence of death for those who depart from the ways of Islam. American blood was not shed to allow this type of barbarism. If they do execute this man perhaps we should deliver them back to the Taliban and deny any type of political asylum to their leaders.

where is "forgiveness" in islam?

Islam at its best. Death to all that does not believe in the koran.

Do you think perhaps they learned this at the hands of Christians during the Crusades? or during the Inquisition? It seems that whenever religion holds political power it will become the oppressor of those who do not share their particular superstitions. Many Christians believe it is all right to kill a Doctor who preforms legal abortions, the bible commands it's readers not to suffer a witch to live and some would consider the killing of a homosexual to not be an offense against their church. I am saddened over actions taken in the name of God - but not surprised.

Once again this administration is sticking their nose in business it needs not to. How in the heck can Frist and others call this a human rights issue of freedom, when we in the United States still repress various minority groups. We need to take care of our own house and do what these people preach

Yours is the kind of tolerance that allowed the Nazis to murder millions in the Holocaust. Tolerance must have limits.

At what point does the West wake up and realize that our values, such as freedom of religion and choice, and those of Islam are not compatible? Islam is out to convert all to its rules and those who refuse are executed. This is a war against the West and we need to stop being politically correct and realize this!

I am beginning to see the US movement in both Afghanistan and Iraq as a 2nd Crusade. Nothing more than the Christian zealots and nutjobs in the United States attempting to get the rest of the world to see, understand, and accept their twisted view of the world. Afghanistan is an Islamic state. Attempting to get them to change just because someone feels their religion is superior is asinine at best, and as we've seen, extremely dangerous at its worst. If this man broke his country's laws, as they are written, by caving in to the demands of these people portraying themselves as the saviors of the world, he should face the consequences of those actions.

What is this country? Nazi Afghanistan? Horrible and downright ridiculous, thanks to God that we are Americans.

What is this country? Nazi Afghanistan? Horrible and downright ridiculous, thanks to God that we are Americans.

FREE? So you (poster at 2:51:55) think Afghanistan should be free to execute this man without the world trying to prevent it? How can a country be FREE if the individuals of that country are not FREE? If they can be executed over a religous conversion, how does that make them FREE?
Tolerance of other countries, religions, and cultures is all fine and dandy. But tolerating EVIL is not! Muslims are the first to complain when they feel their religion and customs are not tolerated in the West. But where is their tolerance?

I must say I agree with thos commenting about the hypocrasy that Islam continually shows. But at the same time we in the west can behave just as badly.

Has anyone asked where in the Koran it says to do this? If the press on the ground is afraid to ask these questions then they should say so in the newscast. I for one would understand that they are working in a dangerous situation. But they do need to tell us or they aren't doing the job.

It seems many people fail to understand what Islam is all about. To be a Muslim, you must submit to the religion. You must succumb to its every word and believe that everything written in the Quran is absolute. The Quran was written in a time of war and persecution and its writings reflect that. These people do not realize that the world has changed and moved on. The days of barbarianism are long over (at least in the civilized world). Most of the militant muslims that we hear about are mindless robots that are being controlled by the religious leaders of Islam. What they need to do is rise up against these religious leaders and elect more positive thinkers. But how do they do that when the Quran says that God will send them to hell if they do? They are not at all familiar with the phrase, "what would Jesus do?" The only phrase they know is "what would my cleric want me to do?"
Thank God not all Muslims are this way. There are many "westernized," intelligent, free-thinking muslims that reject violence and work in a peaceful manner. I hope there more of these benevolent Muslims in future because things will not get any better for many years.

I hate to say it, but I honestly hope they execute the man in order to further show the world that Islam is not compatible with rational thought.

This is the true face of Islam, it is ok to "pratice" another religion, but if you actually CONVERT and annnounce it (or are turned in by your family) you are to be killed. Others have already said it , this is the future that the Islamic extremists want, world domination by force, and yes there are prophecies in the Bible that refer to the one world religion of the end times and the MARTYER of Christians, this man, even if he is released, will be killed by his family or other "moderate" Islamists, unless he is released and taken out of the country. If he is killed, he will be a TRUE MARTYER like Stephen In the Bible and the young girl who was killed at Colombine, because they will not renounce JESUS. This is the future of the world, it is just a matter of time, our very just War on Terror will only (hopefully) prolong the inevitable truth, lefites should be praying with all theri might that WOT will prolong it so that this kind of thing does not reach our shores in our, or our kids and grandkids life time. I hate to use this cliche' but friends, now more than ever "the End is really Near" how Near, only the GOD of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, knows. and you can take that to the bank.

I think we should offer Abdul Rahman asylum in the U.S. He is being unduly persecuted for his religious beliefs. We should welcome him into this country as a symbol of acceptance and tolerance.

What’s all this nonsense about "other customs, and different cultures"? This is barbarism pure and simple, and any human with conscience cannot sit back and allow this sort of treatment of an individual. You say; It’s "their laws" - what a bunch of horse sh*t! What if France had a law that they would cut off your tongue if you didn’t eat cheese - would that be acceptable? Humans deserve human rights period.

We should stay out of this!!! This is not an issue that has anything to do with us. This is their religious belief just as it is our presidents that Homosexuals should not be legally recognized as being married. How can you say that we have established a democracy in Afghanastan if the US has to step in and tell them how to run their country? It seems that the Afghan people have traded in the Taliban for the US government. Either way they are still not FREE!!!!

We paid in many American lives to free Afghanistan from an oppressive, fundamentalist Islamic regime. The least they can do is to free this man, or let him leave and go to another country that values freedom of religion and thought.