Community Growth Quotes
Iran has been a terrible persecutor of Bahais, their largest religious minority. The Bahai faith was an offshoot of Islam which opposed to the concept of a theocracy and in a political sense at are the opposite end of the religious spectrum from Islam. Bahai in Iran are not allowed to attend higher education institutions, build religious facilities, preach openly or serve in many roles. Many have been executed on the spot by government officials, and others have been murdered by mobs. The radical Islamic justification of these murders lies with the relative intolerance Islam has for other religions. At the inception of Islam, the Prophet preached respect for People of the Book, which included Jews and Christians. He also made exception for Zoroastrians—the pre-Islamic traditional religion of Iran. These were not executed for heresy although they were never allowed to function on an equal footing with Islam. The harshest penalties were reserved for Muslims who abandoned their faith and converted or became atheists—it was death. They were allowed to repent and repudiate their new beliefs and there would be lesser punishments. But if they did not, they were executed. It is much the same logic of the Romans requiring early Christians to renounce their new religion or die in the arena or otherwise. Bahai grew out of Islam and is in many ways a type of reform movement within Islam. The initial torture and execution of the heretics, was not very different from what the Roman Catholic Church and its Inquisition did with Protestants. Some argue that historically Islam is 700 years behind Christianity. In the Middle ages the Christian Church killed non believers and heretics. However, by modern standards, this behavior of Iran and some other Islamic countries is as barbaric and evil as anything could be. The Bahai happen to be the greatest victims these days. See {614912}.
