Not a Radical View

Even if Abdul Rahman is not executed by the courts, the extensive attention given to his case places him in eminent danger of facing murder at the hands of devout Muslims taking Shariah law into their own hands. This is not an obscure doctrine kept alive by a radical few. A conversion away from Islam makes that person worse than someone who never believed (Infidel) in the eye of the devout Muslim. Death is commanded by Allah through the prophet Muhammad. So the devout Muslim sees any "mercy" extended to Abdul Rahman or any of the thousands of other ex-Muslims around the world as against the very will of their god, Allah. (It can only be seen as mercy if there is in fact a transgression of the law whose due punishment goes unmeted.) And to kill Abdul Rahman is the utmost in Islamic piety.

Again, this is a central Islamic teaching.

Please understand. I am being critical of the teachings of Islam itself. My hearts desire is for all people to come to the Truth. Jesus' command is to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. The Greatest Command, as Jesus stated, is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. And the second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself." To be sure, when someone leaves Christianity and embraces another faith, Christians are saddened and fear for the eternal destiny of the apostate. But Christian teaching says to make every effort to restore the wayward believer, not to kill them.

Final judgment is left to God himself. In fact, the book of 2 Peter in the Bible clearly states "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance."

Some people equally vilify Christianity and Islam simply because both religions claim exclusive access to the Truth of God. To claim a religion is false because it claims to actually be true is self refuting. If you can know for sure that a religion is wrong, then you are assuming you can actually know the truth about religion. You're cutting off the limb on which you are standing to make your own argument.

Don't lazily reject all religions simply out of prejudice. Be intellectually honest and examine the actual claims of the religions themselves. Make your decision from an informed position. Examine the founders of the religion. See what kind of people they were. Take the teachings seriously and consider what kind of ideal follower each religion would produce. Look at Jesus himself. Look at Muhammad himself. See what kind of lives they lived. Then make your decision.