FREEDOM'S STAND
A NOVEL BY J. M. WINDLE
Author Interview
1. What led you to write a story set in Afghanistan?
Like so many reading this interview, I believed the 2001 overthrow of Afghanistan's Taliban regime presaged new hope for freedom and peace in that region. Anyone who follows the news is aware that neither freedom nor peace have ever materialized. Instead today's headlines reflect rising violence, corruption, lawlessness and despair. The signing of Afghanistan's new constitution, establishing an Islamic republic under sharia law tolled a death knell for any hope of real democracy.
And yet so many players I've met in this drama--whether military, embassy, humanitarian--have involved themselves for the most part with the best of intentions. The more I came to know the region and love its people, I was left asking, if trillions of dollars in aid, all the weapons the West can bring to bear, and a lot of genuine goodwill aren't enough to bring about lasting peace and democracy, then what is the true source of freedom? Can outsiders ever truly purchase freedom for another culture or people? Searching for answers to that question birthed Veiled Freedom and its sequel Freedom's Stand.
2. You have a firm grasp on the plight of the Afghan people, their politics, and their country. Your realistic writing has prompted government agencies to question you to determine how you’ve received classified information. How do you go about researching your stories with such accurate details?
Thoroughness is key. I can honestly say that if I missed a single tome dealing with Afghanistan's present or past, as well as Western involvement there, it wasn't on purpose. Add in my own sojourn in Afghanistan (don't ask for details; I went deliberately under the radar), as well as extensive input from contacts on the ground who are real-life counterparts of my characters: Special Ops, private security, humanitarian aid, Afghans, etc. Additional research tools like Google alerts, local news and blogs, security and embassy info coming out of Afghanistan kept me daily updated during the writing process.
3. Tell us about your own visits to Afghanistan. What did you experience there?
What I found most shocking was how little has changed, despite a decade of American and NATO occupation and trillions of aid dollars. People are still starving, beggars everywhere. After an initial freedom, most women are back in burqas. Mud-brick hovels are still the norm, while less than six percent of the country has electricity. Afghans express more concern over the corruption and brutality of local police and government officials than the Taliban, while Islamic sharia law trumps any pretence at freedom and human rights.
Not that all Afghans have failed to benefit. Partially finished aid projects from police stations and schools to power plants sit empty and crumbling from shoddy construction all over Afghanistan. But there are entire neighborhoods of brand-new turreted, gabled and towered mansions, built by the elite who've profited from both the aid windfall and opium boom, too many of them government ministers.
4. What real-life situations or people in Afghanistan inspired this story?
Ironically, the real-life story that most inspired Freedom's Stand had not yet happened when I began writing it. Even as I answer these interview questions, Afghan father of six and amputee Sayed Mossa has now spent six months in a filthy Kabul prison cell, without legal representation or formal charges, enduring horrific abuse, for the sole crime of choosing faith in Jesus Christ. His arrest came after cell-phone images of Sayed and other Afghans praying in Christ's name and being baptized were publicized. His situation reflects so closely the story of Freedom's Stand, I might have been reporting on it. In actuality, though Sayed's arrest came afterwards, conditions on the ground were such that I knew it was only a matter of time before my fiction became reality.
The plight of Afghan women also inspired this story. If fictionalized, all events and bios I included are based on true-life experiences. Including some of my own. Riding a bike, for instance, with another expatriate from their humanitarian compound to another a few blocks away, a faster, therefore safer, trip for expat women than walking. Though swaddled head to toe in headscarf and chapan despite intense summer heat, we drew the attention of some Afghan male passersby. Their automatic reaction was not curiosity or even disdain for our daring to be on a bike, but to begin stoning us. My companion was knocked from her bike, left with a serious knot on the head. The next day bike transport was placed out of bounds for the expat female personnel, one more small freedom lost. It was one of many lessons in what Afghan women experience every moment of every day--and they can't get on a plane and fly away!
My characters are themselves complete fiction. But they definitely reflect their many true-life counterparts I've come to know, whether humanitarian, private security, embassy, military, or Afghan.
5. Some readers might think that your stories are anti-Afghanistan or anti-Muslim. How would you respond to that accusation?
On the contrary, it is because I have come to love so much the Afghan people that I find myself angry at the oppression and injustice I've witnessed there or under any other Islamic totalitarian regime. Whether Muslim, Christian, or any other religious belief, faith should be a matter of heart choice, not government imposition. Women should have the right to live free of abuse and to have equal representation under the law. The poor and underprivileged should have equal access to justice and fair governance as those who can afford bribes. It is a misnomer that Muslims do not want these things as much as any other human. Across the Islamic world, it is Muslims who are rising up to agitate for personal freedom. And it is Muslims who are being crushed by their own governments for those demands. I am as passionate about human rights and freedom for every Afghan and Muslim as for Christian believers thrown in prison for daring to exercise personal choice of faith.
6. When it comes to cultural differences, how should we distinguish between moral (or human-rights) issues and traditional practices?
An excellent question without any black-and-white answer. Every individual may draw the line differently. But tradition and culture have too long been used as justification for unjust practices, whether slavery, abuse of women and minorities, government imposition of religion. Two Scriptural principles that helped propel civil rights movements still offer the best guideline: "Love your neighbor as yourself"(Mark 12:31) and "Do to others as you would have them do to you"(Luke 6:31).
7. What do you want readers to come away with after reading this story?
I would like readers to close this book with a better understanding of Afghanistan and the entire Muslim world and how vital and interconnected events there, especially such issues as freedom of worship, speech, human rights, are to our own country's future and security. Even more so, I want every reader to understand what is the only true source of freedom. Bottom line, when enough individual hearts change from hate to love, cruelty to kindness, greed to selflessness, their society will be transformed as well. Change a heart, change a nation. And how does one change hearts? Hopefully, by the last page of Freedom's Stand, the reader will have an answer to that as well!
8. How can your readers help meet the needs – material, political, and spiritual – of people in Afghanistan? Where can they find more material on this subject?
They can help by raising their voice on issues of human rights and freedom of speech and worship, especially in countries receiving our tax dollars and military aid. Organizations like Open Doors and Voice of the Martyrs offer great resources on how to get involved. To learn more about Afghanistan itself, my own website and blog (www.jeanettewindle.com) has a list of recommended reading and other material. To donate, there are wonderful humanitarian groups serving in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, there are also less reputable startups milking the aid bonanza. While security cautions do not permit offering specific recommendations here, longevity of service in Afghanistan and a trustworthy reputation as a non-profit are two good qualifiers a basic Google search will show up.
From http://www.jeanettewindle.com/Freedoms%20Stand%20Author%20Interview.htm. Used with permission from the author.
