02
Sep
2007
5 Comments
Arash and I on Radio Zamaneh
The Persian readers of this blog might be interested in hearing an interview Arash conducted with me for Radio Zamaneh about the Muslim Network for Baha’i Rights: Why it was started and why its members focus on Baha’i human rights abuses in Egypt and Iran. Towards the end it features a little about what we do on Mideast Youth as a network.
Listen to it in Persian here:
[audio:http://www.zamahang.com/podcast/esra1.mp3]
You may listen to the English version on Arash’s blog here.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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Why does Hoder think you’re a neo-con Esra’a? Is that guy dumb or what?
I don’t think he knows what that term even means but it’s apparently because we host the Free Haleh campaign. Hossein is not fond of Haleh and her activities, it’s pretty sad to see how disrespectful he is of her. As for us supporting her release campaign, there’s nothing wrong in helping an elderly woman who was wrongly imprisoned for no apparent reason. Doing that makes you a decent human; not a “neo-con.”
Thanks for posting it here Esra’a.
This Hoder boy seems very retarded. Nice podcast.
As a Baha’i it is simply amazing to me that I see such initiatives undertaken.
You have to understand that Baha’is don’t ask for hand outs nor do we take donations of any sort. Moreover, since its inception the Baha’i Faith has been attacked, vilified, and simply persecuted. To see a youth, a Muslim youth, stand up for basic rights for her fellow human beings has a lot of people in the Baha’i community amazed.
In the beginning of the Baha’i Faith it spread very quickly in then Shi’a Iran. It struck a chord with people of all classes at that time and place. Members of the monarchy, clergy, aristocracy and minority faiths, Jews, Zoroastrians and Christians all quickly became Baha’is. It was even said that had not there been such a backlash from powerful Shi’a clerics that practiced the outright murder of anyone who was a Baha’i, exponentially more Persians would have become Baha’is.
In any case, Baha’is today are active members of scores of interfaith dialogs and human rights initiatives that involve members of all Faiths.
I feel that we as people and believers in our own respective religions do a great service to our religion when we reach out to others and demonstrate our intellectual capacity by being willing to at least talk to folks of a different creed. Do you see how silly it sounds when we belittle and hurl groundless names at each others religions?
What if I referred to all Jews as stingy, or all Christians as shameless proselytizers, or how about all Muslims as violent radicals. It just sounds stupid.
Now of course the leaders of religion in todays day and age some reason feel that there is a great threat to them. It doesn’t matter what religion, there are ignorant people in positions in power who really need to wake up and realize that no one is going anywhere.