On Religious Persecution in Iran

Posted on February 19th, 2009 Andrew Vasile 3 comments  Print This Post

Rainn Wilson of TV’s “The Office” has an opinion piece on CNN concerning the upcoming “trial” of seven Baha’i national leaders in Iran.  They are accused of a slew of trumped up charges that serve as a reminder of the very real trials Iranian Baha’is do face in practicing their religion.

Religious freedom could perhaps be considered democracy’s linchpin.  While not sufficient on its own for a society to be democratic, what could be more fundamentally necessary to a well-ordered democratic society than to have the right to believe according to the dictates of one’s conscience? 

Iranian Baha’is are denied this fundamental right.  According to the U.S. State Department’s 2008 Report on International Religious Freedom:

Baha’i religious groups reported arbitrary arrests, expulsions from universities, and confiscation of property. Government-controlled broadcast and print media intensified negative campaigns against religious minorities, particularly the Baha’is, during the reporting period.

All of this is egregious enough in its own right.  But if one really wants to take the temperature of religious freedom in Iran, I find this paragraph from the same report particularly revealing:

The legal system discriminates against religious minorities. Article 297 of the amended 1991 Islamic Punishments Act authorizes collection of equal “blood money” (diyeh) as restitution to families for the death of both Muslims and non-Muslims. Prior to the 2004 change, the law gave a lesser monetary amount as “blood money” for non-Muslims. All women, as well as Baha’i and Sabean-Mandaean men, are excluded from the equalization provisions of the bill. Restitution for the death of a woman is half that of a man. According to law, Baha’i blood is considered mobah, meaning it can be spilled with impunity.

Wilson encourages individual Americans to take action by writing to their Congressional representatives and encouraging them to vote in favor of a resolution condemning the plight of Baha’is in Iran.  I would certainly agree.

www.house.gov

www.senate.gov