The U.S. military has confirmed that it has "destroyed" some Bibles belonging to an American soldier in Afghanistan.
"Reuters News says the Bibles were confiscated and destroyed after Qatar-based Al Jazeer television showed soldiers at a Bible class on a base with a stack of Bibles translated into the local Pashto and Dari languages. " "The U.S. military forbids its members on active duty -- including those based in places like Afghanistan -- from trying to convert people to another religion." Even though such efforts can actually save lives by changing "hearts and minds"? After all, we hear so much about how it is important to change the "hearts and minds" of folks in that part of the world so they will hate us less. This works: "In 1993, Walid studied the Tanach (Jewish Bible) in a challenge to convert his wife to Islam. Six months later, after intense study, Walid realized that everything he had been taught about Jews was a lie. Convinced he was on the side of evil, he became an advocate for his former enemy. Driven by a deep passion to heal his own soul, and to bring the truth about the Jews and Israel to the world, Walid shed his former life and his work as a software engineer and set out to tirelessly bring the cause of Israel to tens of thousands of people throughout the world: churches and synagogues, civic groups, government leaders and media."-read the rest here. More here.
The important foundations that must be in place for any true democracy are still a long ways off in Afghanistan.
True freedom of religion and speech serve as important foundations that must be in place for real freedom and democracy.
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