Casey French
This week we discussed religion and how some societies are becoming more secularized due to globalization. The common perception was with an increase in modernization, secularization will directly correlate and eventually will be replaced by science. However, that is not the case. In fact, religion has an important role in national identity, providing people with a sense of purpose, social interaction, and charitable contributions to the community. In Iran, religious tolerance is non-existent, dominated by the Shai Islam religion. In an attempt to preserve the religious authority of the government, any opposition to reform the political or religious system in Iran is considered treason, leading to the suppression of many human rights.
Iran has recently banned a popular newspaper called the Bahar earlier this week on the basis of criticizing the foundation of Shai Islam according to Aljazeera News. The controversy began when Bahar published a news article questioning the legitimacy of the Prophet Muhammad’s successor. Bahar challenged the idea that Muhammad never appointed a successor, infuriating many Shai Muslims. According to the CIA, Shai Muslims account for 89% of the total population of Iran. Some experts say the intention of this article was to spark religious conflict within the country. This is not an uncommon occurrence in Iran. According to Aljazeera, there have been over 120 reformation newspapers banned since 2000 with many of its writers imprisoned. During this time, the newly elected president Hasan Rouhani vowed for more tolerance towards speech and social media according to Associated Press. His proclamation for change in Iran has already granted 23 jailed writers their freedom. In a recent report, as many as 70 journalists were imprisoned for “spreading propaganda against the state” and every month, 1,500 anti-religious websites were shut down by the government. By lifting the restrictions on speech, the people of Iran can express issues more openly.
It will be interesting to see how the newly elected president will deal with future reformists. He is very liberal compared to his predecessors. Iran is a great example of how the nation-state tries to hold their roots conservatively and how religion is used as legitimizing political decisions.
I cannot imagine living in a country that is this strict on speech, nonetheless religion. However, the United States supposedly has freedom of speech, but after seeing the Anonymous documentary, we are now aware of many documents that are not free to be spoken about.
ReplyDeleteIran is indeed holding strong to tradition and their beliefs.
I respect that they won't let globalization affect their way of life, however, the oppression that comes from such a closed mindset is an unfair consequence for the citizens.
Great post! I really liked the points you made and I agree it will be very intersdting to see what will happen in Iran, regaring free speech and press in the next couple years. The articles were very informative and I learned a lot from them. I hope the Presideent will help establish more rights for the citizens of Iran.
ReplyDelete