Chris Smith: “I commend President Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Afghan President Karzai for their quick and decisive…”

“I commend President Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Afghan President Karzai for their quick and decisive action to save the life of Afghani Christian convert Abdul Rahman. I wish to extend my thanks to my fellow Congressmen, fellow Americans and other members of the world community who rose up to demand that the travesty of Abdul Rahman's trial and near certain death for apostasy be stopped. The actions, and the prayers, of millions helped save an innocent man and demonstrate that the world community will not tolerate such offenses against freedom of conscience. We all dodged a bullet in Afghanistan. But the problem is not just Afghanistan, and the ultimate solution is not simply granting asylum for yet another refugee of conscience. The problem is the increased number, and increasing attempts to enforce, laws and statutes against conversion in many countries of the world, not just Afghanistan. This freedom of thought, conscience and belief is now threatened not only in places like Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iraq. It is also threatened in countries such as Sri Lanka, India and Indonesia, where religious pluralism has long been established. It is threatened in countries like Russia and Belarus, where minority religions are denounced as ``non- traditional'' and suffer harassment and discrimination. Freedom of religion is founded on the inherent dignity of every individual. It is a right that is not granted at the whim of governments.…”