#BTColumn – The American Taliban

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY. 

by Lenrod Nzulu Baraka

In the aftermath of the Vietnamese-like withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban reasserted itself as the real power in Afghan politics.

The reemergence of the Taliban resulted in the imposition of a tyranny of the righteous in Afghanistan.

The rights of Afghan women were immediately targeted as schools for girls were closed and big women were told that they had to be chaperoned by a male member of their family when going on long journeys.

Head and face covering also became mandatory for women in public.

The US and its allies immediately cried foul and imposed crippling sanctions on Afghanistan.

These sanctions further increased the burdens on Afghan women who found it almost impossible to feed and care for
their families.

Western sanctions on Afghanistan have created a humanitarian crisis that could lead to widespread starvation and death.

On Friday June 24, the US Supreme Court finally dropped a long-expected bomb on millions of America women.

Led by six conservative justices who share much in common with the Afghan Taliban, the Supreme Court repealed Roe vs. Wade.

From 1973 until its repeal on June 24, 2022, Roe vs. Wade guaranteed the right of American women to have full autonomy over their bodies and reproductive habits.

The majority Christian conservatives on the Supreme Court and the constituency they represent have long voiced their discontent with Roe vs. Wade.

Their animus against the abortion regime in America perfectly mirrors the moral campaigns of the Taliban
in Afghanistan.

Conservative Christians in America and their fellow religionists the Taliban have embarked on a moral crusade to transform their respective societies using the Bible and Koran as their reform blueprint.

It matters not that a majority of women in Afghanistan and America would much rather have the rights to choose their own path.

The only thing that ranks as important to the religious zealots in Afghanistan and America is the often contradictory moral pronouncements found in their holy books.

For example, conservative Christians in the US conveniently overlook the reality that the deity of the Bibles is responsible for the death of millions of unborn babies and their mothers in the flood event and the barbecuing of the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah.

When the lecherous King David committed adultery and murder to cover up his adultery, the deity of the Bible killed the child conceived in this deadly liaison. Jehovah is portrayed as an equal opportunity killer of the unborn and the born.

When the Israelites spared some Midianite women and children after a genocidal military campaign the man of God Moses ordered that the boy children and all the women who were not virgins should be put to death on the spot.

The abortion issue is therefore much ado about nothing from a Biblical perspective.

Alvin Toffler, in his book Powershift, reminds us that groups which combine universalism and totalitarianism are seeking to hijack the levers of power globally as a precursor to destroying the freedoms that so many have fought so hard to achieve in the modern era.

Toffler calls these universalistic and totalitarian groups the agents of the new Dark Age.

The Taliban in Afghanistan and the American Taliban more commonly referred to as the Christian Right combine these two lethal characteristics. Both groups are universalistic and totalitarian.

The triumph of the Taliban precipitated a roll back of freedom in Afghanistan.

The triumph of the American Taliban on June 24 has already destroyed the freedom of choice of millions of American women.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has opined that free access to contraception and the legality of same sex marriage are next on their hit list.  Challenging days apparently lie ahead for women and minorities in America.

Lenrod Nzulu Baraka is the founder of Afro-Caribbean Spiritual Teaching Center.