Sunday, July 08, 2007

Questions from our readers

Here is the list of the upcoming questions that we will respond to:

1. From CA/DC Reader:

Continuing on the oppressed womem theme...do you often get asked "Don't all Iranian men beat their wives?"

2. From Leila:
Is Christianity legal in Iran? Is the Bible illegal?

This answer is easy, so I will respond now: Yes Christianity is legal. No the bible is not illegal.

3. From Phillip:
how are other muslim/arab countries in the middle east seen by iran (allies - opponents)?

4. From someone with all consonants:
my question: i'm hoping to visit iran in the fall, can i meet you guys? will you be in tehran then?

We will try to respond to one every day and then continue with questions we are being asked on our travels in the US and Europe.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

About Question #2: You replied, "Yes Christianity is legal. No the bible is not illegal."

Christianity is not only legal, it is recognized as an official religion of fellow "people of the Book" and two seats in Paralament are reserved for Christians.

That said, however:

Reports of persecution are too numerous to mention.

It may not be illegal to OWN a Bible, but the last I heard it was an offence to SELL a copy of the Bible in Iran.

If you're a Christian kid in Iran you're required to study Islam in the public schools. If you want to get into a university you must pass a religious test.

It might also be appropriate to mention the murder of Ghorban Tourani:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghorban_Tourani


Grumpy

Unknown said...

Grumpy, In Iran, conversion from Islam to any another religion is illegal. According to my husband's nephew (and others I know), anyone may kill a convert without fear of punishment.

That is truly f**ked up.

This law provides many Iranians with an opportunity to apply for refugee status on the grounds of religious conversion. I have met Iranians who could care less about Islam or Christianity but wear giant crosses and plan to apply for asylum in the West. (Note: the people I know are walking around alive, and in Tehran. It's not as though all Muslims or all Iranians are searching out converts to kill)

And yes, everyone in Iran studies the Koran.

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