Commentary: Arc of Intolerance

In what may be an attempt to find a face-saving way out of an escalating diplomatic row, Afghan officials are now suggesting that a convert to Christianity may not be tried for the capital offense of apostasy on grounds of mental illness. But even if Abdul Rahman is spared and the crisis defused, the case has turned a spotlight on an issue that some experts have long warned would not go away and would need to be confronted -- the unreformed nature of the world's second largest religion. Read