Youcef Nadarkhani (b. 1977) is an Iranian Christian pastor who has been sentenced to die in Tehran, Iran. According to Amnesty International, the Iranian government has offered leniency if he will recant his Christianity. If the Iranians are true to their world, Pastor Nadarkhani will be a modern-day martyr for his faith.

When there was international outcry at the charge of apostasy, the Iranian court changed the charges to “rape and extortion.” These charges were proven to be false.

The protests don’t seem to be getting any traction, even though the White House and the U.S. State Department issued statements Thursday, Feb. 23 demanding the immediate release of Pastor Nadarkhani. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also led a protest with the backing of 89 members of Congress. Why it’s not all 535 members is beyond me.

In an earlier article, I reported that Sean Stone, son of director Oliver Stone, converted to Islam while in Iran. In case you’ve forgotten already, Pastor Nadarkhani has a death sentencing hanging over his head in Iran. Here’s what Sean Stone said about his conversion:

Having read the Koran and having been around the Islamic culture, especially in Iran, I do believe that Mohammed is a prophet of the same god worshiped by other religions. . . . [As] a Jewish Christian Muslim. . . . . There is such Islamophobia in the West. Islam is not a religion of violence any more than Judaism or Christianity is.”

 If all religions worship Allah, then how can a Christian pastor be executed in the name of Allah since he’s worshiping the same god worshiped by other religions, and one of those other religions is Christianity?

It’s obvious that Stone has been sold a bill of religious goods made for Western sentiments since we are so wishy-washy when it comes to religion except when religion has some moral relevance. Christianity does not say that all religions are equal and every religion worships the same God.

Let’s have the young Stoner put his faith to the test. I suggest that he go back to Iran and make his argument that Islam is a peaceful religion to the clerics and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the same guy who said he wanted to wipe Israel off the map.

And since he’ll be going so far, he should take a trip to Afghanistan and give and remind some of the Afghan soldiers that their religion is a religion of peace. Apparently one soldier was angry over the burning of Korans and fatally shot two U.S. troops and wounded four others. As-Salamu Alaykum.

Members of the Taliban urged Afghans to target foreign military bases and kill Westerners in retaliation for burnings of copies of the Koran at NATO’s main base in the country. Islam is a bankrupt religion.

It seems that all we can do is have the President Obama apologize to Afghan President Hamid Karzai for the accidental burning of Korans by NATO troops that has led to violent protests.

It’s time that Muslims who claim to reject the violence and hatred that we hear and read about daily stand up to the Islamic Nazi radicals.

If they’re so afraid of what might happen to them, then they should leave their country like some Jews did in Nazi Germany and embrace Christianity. The women, many of whom are treated like dogs, would thrive in a new faith community of acceptance and love.