"Taliban Trial Continues, But Christian Aid in Afghanistan Won't"
"The gospel of Elvis, threatening to bring down the Salvation Army, and other stories from media around the world."
Ted Olsen | posted 9/01/2001 12:00AM
'This is not just an accusation. There is proof.'
The Afghanistan "trial" of eight foreign Christians accused of promoting Christianity is in recess today because Friday is a Muslim day of prayer. It remains unclear what's happening in the trial itself. The New York Times reports that a press conference by foreign minister Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil began and ended yesterday with commentary on the differences between Christian and Muslim beliefs about Jesus. "We will end this conference by saying, praise be to Jesus Christ, who will eventually come as a Muslim and will follow the teachings of Islam," Muttawakil said. But if reporters got a lesson in religious doctrine, they got less information about the trial. Are the foreigners on trial— two Americans, two Australians and four Germans—facing the death penalty, or 3 to 10 days in prison followed by expulsion? Muttawakil was unclear. The lighter sentence, he said, applies to all who are accused of Christian evangelism. "In this case, there is a difference. This is not just an accusation. There is proof." Other issues remain as murky, reports Reuters. "The Taliban, having originally promised the trial would be open to relatives, diplomats and journalists, have so far denied access to the proceedings. It is thought the defendants have yet to appear. It is also unclear whether the 16 Afghans [also arrested], who are expected to be tried separately, would be called to give evidence."
One item was made abundantly clear at the press conference: it will be much harder for aid organizations to work in the country. "We have been relaxed, but now the NGO's [nongovernmental organizations] will be made to obey the laws," Muttawakil said. These include Taliban approval for every staff worker and channeling all money through the Afghanistan National Bank. But non-Muslim NGOs might not even be allowed into the country from now on if Naim Safi of the Taliban Information Ministry is correct. "If there exists just one Islamic nongovernment organization, then there is no need for other NGOs to come here," he told reporters.
Meanwhile, The Washington Post's David Cho interviews friends and relatives of Heather Mercer, one of the American detainees. "The woman is a rock," a classmate says. Adds another, "She had very strong beliefs, but it was never something she would push on people."
The Cincinnati Post
editorialized on the trial Wednesday: "If the charges are true—and who knows how loosely the Taliban construe proselytizing—the workers showed courage in pushing their faith since they knew what the laws were going in. But spokesmen have denied the workers tried to teach religion. If they did, they also endangered their 16 Afghan employees."
Gospel Hall of Fame gets all shook up
Christian critics who derided Elvis Presley as the epitome of the lascivious nature of rock music are rolling over in their graves (or family rooms). The King of Rock and Roll, already inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame threepeated this week as the Gospel Music Association announced he'd be joining Andrae Crouch, Mahalia Jackson, the Fairfield Four, and singing legend Billy Graham in the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. (Okay, so Graham isn't a singing legend, but he is in the Gospel Hall of Fame.) The Gospel Music Association notes that all three of Elvis's Grammy wins were for gospel recordings, not rock.
Presley is the biggest name among the new inductees, but the others aren't too shabby either. They are producer and songwriter Kurt Kaiser ("Pass It On"), Keith Green ("O Lord You're Beautiful"), Christian rock pioneer Larry Norman ("I Wish We'd All Been Ready"), Doris Akers ("Sweet, Sweet Spirit"), Albertina Walker ("Joy Will Come"), Wendy Bagwell & the Sunliters ("Here Come the Rattlesnakes") and The Rambos ("We Shall Behold Him").
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