fucktoyprincess
Posts: 2337
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Hillwilliam Let's see if I have this right. A pastor goes to a foreign country and does something that he knows is illegal and everyone is surprised when he goes to jail. He wanted to be a 'martyr for his cause' and they obliged him. I do agree with this sentiment. Add to this the fact that the pastor is actually Iranian born but he and his family live in the U.S. (I assume this means they are legal immigrants to the country). The article does not specify if he is a U.S. citizen or still an Iranian passport holder. Regardless, this was someone who knew exactly what would happen to him if he engaged in the activities he engaged in - he was born there. This is NOT a case of someone completely unfamiliar with Iranian law stumbling into an arrest inadvertently. Currently there are many places that do not legally recognize freedom of religion. And while we can all have a discussion around how freedom of religion is a fundamental human right, change is not going to come to some of these places without people challenging the existing law. So I see this guy as someone like a Martin Luther King, Jr. type who disagrees with a law, violates the law, gets arrested, and gets valuable media attention to his cause of trying to bring this freedom to his country. This is how fundamental changes are made. Challenging unfair laws and drawing attention to the unfairness. So, unless people think the tactics of the Civil Rights movement in the U.S. were stupid, I think we have to see this for what it is. When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus, a police officer arrested her. As the officer took her away, she asked, "Why do you push us around?" She remembered him saying, "I don't know, but the law's the law, and you're under arrest." In addition, she lost her job at a department store due to her arrest. Hopefully over time, the people of Iran will embrace freedom of religion. But that change is not going to come easily or quickly.
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