The repercussions never end. Muslim women who convert to Christianity are prohibited from marrying Christian men, while children of converts are regarded as Muslims, and educated as Muslims. Even in death, converts must be buried as Muslims. As a result, the Barnabas Fund explains, some Christian converts apply for official papers under assumed names the Egyptian state considers illegal. If their unofficially adopted Christian names are detected, converts are open to charges of falsifying official documents -- "which can be used as a way of punishing them for their apostasy."
What was that the president was saying about Judaism, Christianity and Islam being equally committed to freedom of religion? It sounds like the voice of diplomatic politesse -- as it does every time Bush insists the Muslim terrorists waging jihad on Western civilization "are evil people who have hijacked a great religion." It may seem nice and neighborly, but such a formulation categorically denies the fact that there is something inherent to that "great religion" -- jihad and dhimmitude, for starters -- that inspires the supposed "hijacking," shaping a theology that has always been part terrorist manifesto. This same soft-soap routine also obscures the desperate need for Islamic reformation, an accommodation with modernity that would allow other religions to coexist with Islam without fear.
The impulse to hide the truth about Islam -- about its connection to terrorism, and its disconnection from Western civilization -- is a shocking fact of the "war on terrorism." Addressing reporters on the day of his Ramadan dinner, Bush said Muslim leaders have asked him: "Why do Americans think Muslims are terrorists?" Instead of answering, "Because an unending pattern of catastrophic terrorism against the United States has been perpetrated by Muslims, that's why," Mr. Bush replied, "That's not what Americans think. Americans think terrorists are evil people who have hijacked a great religion."
Preaching on Saudi state television from the holy mosque in Medina, Shaykh Salah Bin-Muhammad al-Budayr recently hailed Ramadan, concluding his sermon (according to a translation at www.imra.org.il): "O God, support Islam and Muslims and destroy the enemies of Islam, including Jews, Christians, and atheists. ... O God, deal with the Jews for they are within Your power. ... O God, shake the land under their feet, instill fear in their hearts, and make them a booty for Muslims and a lesson to others...."
Such sermonizing -- quite common in the Muslim world -- may show a commitment to something, but religious freedom isn't it.