In an ideal world, the good people of America could travel to every country and offer foreign aid and Christian teachings to the poor. Two women, Baylor University graduates Dayna Curry and Heather Mercer, took the initiative many months ago to travel to Afghanistan with hopes of supplying food, shelter and Christian enlightenment to the Muslim people. On Aug. 3, they were arrested and have been detained in Afghanistan, on charges of trying to convert Afghan Muslims to Christianity according to The Washington Post. We do not live in an ideal world, and even before the Sept. 11 attacks on America, these women strongly were discouraged to take their pilgrimage to Afghanistan.
Since Sept. 11, tensions have mounted, and the hope that these women will return home becomes dimmer. Curry and Mercer are on trial with other members of a Christian aid organization, Shelter Now International. Before Shelter Now International took it upon itself to help the country of Afghanistan, heavy emphasis should have been placed on the risks involved.
The government of Afghanistan is very unstable, and at any point, ties between the U.S. and Afghanistan could have erupted, as they did on Sept. 11. On Aug. 31, The Dallas Morning News reported that the state department has no embassy in Afghanistan and strongly warns Americans not to travel there. The Taliban has been the ruling governmental regime in Afghanistan since Sept. 1996 when they captured the capital, Kabul. The Dallas Morning News also reported that the United States does not recognize the Taliban with this power and accuses them of harboring Osama bin Laden.
Last Oct. 12 the USS Cole was bombed in Yemen, and the U.S. government has since linked this disaster to bin Laden and the Taliban. All these events took place before Mercer left for Afghanistan in March, which should have discouraged her visit and been enough evidence for Curry, who already lived in Afghanistan, to return home.
Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, strict Islamic law has dictated their government. The Washington Post cites that under Taliban and Islamic law, the penalty for foreigners preaching the Christian gospel is jail time and expulsion, but for an Afghan who converts to Christianity, the behavior is punishable by death. Sixteen Afghan Shelter Now workers also were arrested and said to have been converted by Mercer and according to an Oct. 16 The Dallas Morning News article, they are living in much harsher conditions.
The strict interpretation of Islamic law adopted by the Taliban and the condemnation of Christianity has shown people across the world that the Taliban regime is serious about Islam and will punish anyone who denounces the religion. Not only did these women follow the Shelter Now program and defy Islamic law by preaching Christianity in Afghanistan, but they also endangered those Afghan citizens by allowing them to become criminals in a perilous government.
In hindsight of Sept. 11, the consequences are much more clear, but the risks involved in traveling to Afghanistan and preaching Christianity were extremely precarious, even before these attacks.
On Oct. 6, CNN said that the Taliban offered to release the foreign aid workers if the U.S. would withdraw its threat of military strikes. This was the first time the Taliban had linked the aid workers to the demand to give up bin Laden. President Bush responded by saying, “This is not a negotiation,” and on Oct. 7, the U.S. and Great Britain began launching air strikes in Afghanistan.
As the strikes continue, so does the trial for these two women in Afghanistan. It is unknown what provoked them to take such a trip, but all America can hope for now is a safe and expedient return. Clif Mouser, the director of Ministries on the Baylor campus, described the situation faced by these Baylor graduates. “Whether it’s just a couple of blocks away or in another country, students here know that this is a place to grow and solidify their faith, but it is a far cry from what they will face in the real world.” Perhaps their idealistic view has been shattered or perhaps not. If only we could turn back time, then this missionary journey to Afghanistan would have never held the fate of two young women.