Speaking of Persecution (beliefs, minority, America, church, faith)

[Popeyesays]

London Times:



Monday, 27 March 2006

Bahá'ís face yet more persecution in Iran

On the site of Holocaust survivor Alexander Kimel is a fairly comprehensive overview of the factors of anti-Semitism and demonisation of the Jewish people that culminated in the murder of six million Jews, along with many thousands of people from Romany, gay, disabled and other minority communities. Kimel concludes that for many reasons, a Holocaust could not happen again today. One reason that he doubts this is because it would necessitate the recurrence of a particular set of conditions, including the 'silence and indifference of the whole world toward the fate of the Jews.' It is for that reason among other obvious ones that I am highlighting here the current fate of the Baha'i community in Iran. (See this photo of Bahá'í temple in Delhi and others on this site.)

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Posted by Ruth Gledhill on Monday, 27 March 2006 at 03:47 PM in Current Affairs, Religion, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (118) | TrackBack (6)

http://timescolumns.typepad.com/gledhill/

Regards,
Scott

[evearael]

This is very sad. There should be more coverage on this. Of course most Americans are apathetic to faiths they don't understand, so the media wouldn't profit too much from it. Lobby, do what ever it takes to fix it.

[steve at JRM]

People love to attack anybody or anything that doesn't conform to their beliefs. If someone were to prove them wrong, then they wouldn't have anybody to attack, and then what would they do? It's an unfortunate sign of the times. But God will take care of those who take care of his people, whether it be in this life or the next..

[DakotaGypsy]

Popeye, I am very sorry to learn of this. This is extremely unwise of the Iranian extremists. There will be consequences.

And, this whole damned mess started because Winston Churchill was ticked off because democratic Iran at that time dared to claim Iranian oil as their own, as not belonging to British Petroleum.

[jewscout]

the most disheartening thing about all this is that the world will continue to remain apathetic to their situation

i can tell you that American media will not cover it until it is too late.

[Maxist]

Not only could it happen again, but I have to admit that I beleive that it will. People are apathetic to the Jewish situation. I am sorry to say thatwhile I am sympathetic, and blatently state this in every conversation about them, however, most people, while they may not be anti-semetic, are by no means sympatheticfor the Jews, and most would never come to their rescue. I am sorry to tell you this, but it is true.

[Booko]

Originally Posted by DakotaGypsy

And, this whole damned mess started because Winston Churchill was ticked off because democratic Iran at that time dared to claim Iranian oil as their own, as not belonging to British Petroleum.

Maybe that's a recent reason, but Baha'is have been persecuted in the land of the faith's birth since they were still Babis(mid-1800s).

It happens every time a new religion starts up. Nasty, but not unexpected.

[DakotaGypsy]

Yeah, but, I wonder if there wasn't more tolerance of non-Muslim religionists before Winnie Churchill's coup.

For instance, for what it's worth, it was at least possible to be a Christian, possibly even a Jew, in Saddam Hussein's Iraq, but that is definitely "Buh Bye!" now that the Shi'ites are in power and in the process of creating a theocratic state comparable to that which now exists in Iran.

[Booko]

Originally Posted by DakotaGypsy

Yeah, but, I wonder if there wasn't more tolerance of non-Muslim religionists before Winnie Churchill's coup.

[CREEP OUT ALERT!]

I would not call inserting wicks in someone's flesh and then setting them on fire so the body's fat burns especially tolerant, and I er seriously doubt you would. Then chase him through town, beating him all the way, until he drops dead.

Sorry to creep anyone out, that that's the kind of persecution the Babis and earliest Baha'is had to deal with.

So no, if anything pre-Winnie it was worse. Maybe you could make a case now that it's more organized and efficient? I'm not sure about that. Hey, now they can keep track of us with computers.

For instance, for what it's worth, it was at least possible to be a Christian, possibly even a Jew, in Saddam Hussein's Iraq, but that is definitely "Buh Bye!" now that the Shi'ites are in power and in the process of creating a theocratic state comparable to that which now exists in Iran.

Yes, I've heard about the Christians leaving Iraq in droves. What a disaster.

The Baha'i Faith was illegal under Saddam Hussein. After his fall, we elected the first National Spiritual Assembly in that country since Saddam's reign began.

Though I doubt things are all that rosy for the Baha'is there now. As you say, there are elements that want to create a theocratic state. As Muslim "heretics," I can't imagine they will tolerate us, if they can't even tolerate Christians like Muhammad told them to.

Still, in time Iraq and Iran will straighten out. And then the Baha'is can purchase the Garden of Ridvan back and fix it up nice like we have elsewhere.

(fwiw, the Garden of Ridvan, outside Baghdad, is the place where Baha'u'llah made his public announcement of who he claimed to be. A parallel from Christian history might be when Jesus made His entry into Jerusalem.)