These "Civilized" Muslims?

I am having real problems lately believing our country should be involved with anyone in the Middle East. I have tried to steer clear of the news stories, but the more I read them, the more pissed off I become. For those of you who don't know what the hell I am babbling about, here is the executive summary: A muslim man living in Afghanistan leaves the country 16 years ago to be a medical aid worker helping fellow Afghan refugees. While he is out of the country, he converts to Christianity. He comes back to Afghanistan and most people in the country want to kill him because he converted to Christianity.

Now, I understand and respect different cultures and viewpoints, but this story has really disturbed me. These are the types of governments and people we consider "allies"? Are you shitting me? Maybe I am sheltered by living in a country with religious freedom, but how can you consider a culture, a people, or a country "civilized" and look at them equally when they want to kill anything that is different from them? And this guy is one of their fellow countrymen!

I always encourage some competitive banter at the Margarita Lounge, but I just can't see the other side of the argument here. I really hope that some of my intelligent readers out there can give me a rational argument for how this is acceptable behavior, but I just can't see it. Someone........anyone......?