From the Gateway Pundit:
Two Iranian Women Arrested, Face Execution, for Converting to Christianity
Two Iranian women face execution for converting to Christianity. The two are being held in the notorious Evin Prison along with hundreds of Iranian democracy activists.
Bos News Life reported:
Two Iranian women face execution for converting to Christianity. The two are being held in the notorious Evin Prison along with hundreds of Iranian democracy activists.
Bos News Life reported:
Two detained Christian women are "in danger of being forgotten" amid concerns they may face execution, Iranian Christians said Tuesday, July 7.
Marzieh Amirizadeh, 30, and Maryam Rustampoor, 27, have been held for over four months in Tehran's notorious Evin prison apparently for converting to Christianity from Islam.
Iranian Christians and rights investigators said the two young women, who were arrested March 5, suffered sleep deprivation as part of police interrogations and were held in solitary confinement for three weeks in May and early June.
Later, they were put together in one small cell for about two weeks before being moved to a larger area to make place for other inmates, including many protesters who were detained following last month's disputed presidential elections, said Christians with close knowledge about the situation.
About 600 women were reportedly brought to Evin prison during the protests.
There was still no clarity regarding the case of the two Christian women, Tuesday, July 7, with one judge reportedly telling them they were both to be executed as ‘apostates’. "Maryam and Marzieh have responded with courage, however, telling the judge to 'expedite his sentence'," said Pray for Iran, an Internet initiative of Iranian churches.
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20 comments:
It is truly disturbing how other religions are treated in Iran. Bahai adherents are also relegated to being second class citizens, living in small enclaves away from the Muslim majority. Their homes have been ransacked and they are kept out of government jobs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahai#Iran
But as I remember hearing, we should be nice to the Iranian regime and we can share ice cream and ride unicorns. Or something like that.
Christian Martyrs. How brave and fearless they are.
Obama purposely missed an opportunity in the beginning of the protests in Iran to support them and encourage them in their fight. Just thing about how the revolution could have grown if they knew we were on their side. He is a very egocentric person and Iran would just get in the way of his communist transformation of our country.
Iran is far more tolerant of other religions than Israel. Over 25,000 jews live in Iran in peace and prosperity, while Palestinians live like animals in filth and squalor in their own native land. Israeli law is riddled with racist and religious discrimination from top to bottom, where is the outrage? I'll virtually guarantee you this story is fraudulent or grossly misleading. These so called "democracy activists" are in fact anti-democracy since it was democracy that has twice elected Ahmidenajad to his position by wide margins. All polls, including the BBC and other western polls had him ahead before the election by 2 to 1. This is just one more beat on the war drums by those who will never march off to them. When will the pill popping, atom bomb dropping, porno pushing, oil field ambushing, greedy, godless, gluttoness Americans finally pull the beam from their own eye and stop pretending to care about the mote in the eyes of people far more human than they?
LMG and Anon, take your pick of the atrocities man has done (and continues to do) to man. The examples are legion whether in the name of Administration, country, class, or religious affiliation.
Keeping to topic, one would argue though that with these two women, there is a heroic virtue in their decision to hold fast to their new found faith, and for Christians, this should inspire us all.
Steve
They are definitely in our prayers.
Kind of reminds me, unfortunately, of the silence of most Americans, ir not the outright call to "be patriotic" when Bush pre-emptively invaded Iraq. Saddam was a secular leader, and Christians who were 10% of the population were allowed to practice their faith openly and without fear of any persecuation. Most have fled or gone underground since boy genius's immoral invasion. Secondly, abortion was outlawed in Iraq under Saddam. "W" brought Planned Parenthood into the planning for Iraq's reconstruction.
Let's just pray that the US doesn't follow "the Bush Doctrine" ever again.
And am still waiting for Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and all the other war mongers to start apologizing like Macnamara did. Oh wait - they'd have to have a reflective, moral conscience to do that!
Thank you for your post on this. The 2007 death of Fr. Ragheed Aziz Ganni in Iraq speaks to the fruits of Christian martyrdom. It is so heroic a sacrifice that it brings me to tears when ever I read about it. A Muslim friend of Fr. Ragheed later wrote, "I didn't understand it right away, or maybe I didn't take it as seriously as I should have. … But today, through your martyrdom, I have understood that phrase. … You have died in your soul and body to be raised up in your beloved, in your teacher, and so that Christ would be raised up in you, despite the sufferings, sorrows, despite the chaos and madness."
He goes on to say, "Brother, your blood hasn't been shed in vain, and your church's altar wasn't a masquerade. … You assumed your role with deep seriousness until the end, with a smile that would never be extinguished … ever."
True a different country but I still think that if we as Catholics don't say anything about what goes on in these countries, it would be wrong. It is doubtful that I will ever be called to martyrdom in Iraq or Iran or anywhere but prayer and fasting are two things that I can do. Those being called to martyrdom there need the prayers and the people protesting need prayers. It was afterall, martyrdom that ended the French Revolution, the gladiator fights in Rome and the list would go on and on.
Anonymous July 13,
Are you really so misinformed that you honestly believe that Iraq was better off with Sadam? Do you remember their 75% voter turnout, for the first democratic election they have ever had?
I'm sure all of the men that were put in the large shredders with human bones in them, found by the military in some of Sadam's castles would disagree! What about the families whose spouses or sons would disappear forever after being arrested on bogus charges? Or the rapes of women and girls in front of their family by Sadam's brothers and his armed thugs? Remember that his OWN people hung Sadam for a huge list of crimes against humanity?
On the cover of "Word Magazine" a few years ago four men were featured who all had their right hand cut off brutally, without any anesthesia by Sadam's orders. They committed no crime. Our Country's doctors provided them with a prothesis so they could get on with their lives.
The surge in Iraq was successful, and now that we are triumphant, Obama is suddenly on board and taking credit for it.
After 911, there was much worry that we would be attacked again and thanks to George Bush, they have circumvented several attacks, and prevented others. Obama's "sweet talking" tele-prompter could not have persuaded the terrorists to not attack us again.
LMG you are amazing. I would give anything to meet you. If there is one thing I've learned in life it is that the more politically gullible, naive and susceptible to even the crudest and most blatant propaganda a woman is the more physically attractive she is. You must be drop dead GORGEOUS!
PS: the Spanish did not blow up the Maine, the Germans never cut off the hands of small boys, no Jews were turned into soap and Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction. And I still want to meet you.
X,
I hate to possibly insult you, but I have always noted that the more politically liberal men were, the less attractive they were. Maybe because they go around angry all of the time. Example: Allen Colmes on the former Hannity and Colmes. And the really ugly Bill Maher, and Ted Kennedy.
If you do not believe me about the men who had their hands chopped off by Sudam, I'm sure you can write to "World Magazine", or you can write to George Bush, as he personally met with them.
The rape stories have been recounted by survivors themselves, and I heard one with my own ears. I'm sure you have heard of Sadam's brother notorious for his rape rooms. These were not nice guys.
I am sorry that you don't want to believe that dictators are usually cruel and evil, but that is a historically fact. You name one "kind" dictator.
You need to stop relying on the state-run-media and koolaid web sites for your information. Maybe you should have a glass of wine, or two.
LMG,
Wow - Karl Rove and Fox News must be incredibly proud of your, uhm, vapidness!
Interesting that Saddam was hanged for the crime of the gassing and killing of 226 civilians in an area that was rebelling against his rule. So far, the US-led invasion and aftermath has slain over 100,000 people. The 10% Christian population has either fled, been martyred or is hiding underground fearing for their lives.
There is absolutely NO connection between 9/11 and Iraq. Osama bin Laden wanted to topple Hussein and his secular government in order to install a fundamental Muslim state. "W" did the fighting for him.
There were NO WMDs. Saddam was in full compliance with the UN, something the Pope in his latest encyclical called the world to support. Pope John Paul II vehemently opposed this war without a hint of moral ambiguity. He was 100% dead-set against it, and ALL of his warnings have come to fruition. Of course, LMG, it seems you are far more of a neo-con than a Catholic in this instance.
I'll pray that you come to recognize that Jesus Christ is NOT found in the militant wing of the Republican party, where you seem to seek your salvation.
13 July, 16:36,
So you think Saddam was a big, sweet Teddy Bear huh? He was a murdering thug!
"The Iraq prosecutors had 500 documented baskets of crime during the Hussein regime and he was condemned based on just one case." That does not mean that he didn't commit the others. They wanted justice administered quickly.
There were internal memos from the Iraq military that proved that he gave orders to use mustard gas and the nerve agent sarin against the Kurds, killing thousands.
If you want to read a quick, non-biased review of some of your favorite dictator's evil, you can just go to this unbiased Wikipedia article.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halabja_poison_gas_attack
And we know that he S.H. did have WMDs at one time, which is why we had all of the UN resolutions for him to get rid of them - remember those bipartisan resolutions?
George Sada, Saddam's 2nd General wrote a book, Saddam's Secrets," in which he claims the weapons were moved to Syria. If they are there, we should all be fearful.
P.S. The rise of the Shi'ites, whom persecute the Christians was not ordered by our military.
LMG,
Here is what Obama will say if we are attacked again by terrorists:
Obama stammers, "Oh you Muslim men, I so admire your religion. We in our rotten, selfish America are sorry for having offended you in anyway. I myself am. . . er. . .was a strong Muslim and we are not a Christian nation, so you don't have to send any brave men into the USA to kill themselves and us sinners anymore.
Uh, please oh, please I beg you good men. Please don't send anymore brave men to administer your just punishment on us creeps. If you do it again, I won't get re-elected and then I can't continue to destroy America from within–wink, wink."
Good grief the flames are getting high in here.
Alison makes an extremely good point in regards to prayer and fasting, and all of us should read again, take it to heart and act on it on behalf of these present day martyrs. This is something that we all can and should do.
Steve
Dear LMG, my god madame, you must be magnificent. Oh, while I don't have much of a personality I am in fact very good looking. Cheers.
LMG,
So Pope JPII must have thought that Saddam was a "big, sweet Teddy Bear?"
Pope JPII knew that Bush's pre-emptive war was immoral, unjust and internationally illegal. He tried everything he could to stop it. Please, re-focus your name-calling to him - I'm just trying to say that in his holiness and wisdom, he was 100% correct that this war should NOT have ever happened.
Yes, Saddam ruled Iraq with a heavy, iron fist. Some say he needed to simply because there was always a rebellion under him waiting to happen between the Kurds, Shi'ites and Sunnis. No, it does NOT justify his heavy-handedness especially some of the brutalness as you cited. Sadly, the US's military has had to use even more force to attempt to quell the bloodshed from the civil war that our invasion left.
There is a joke in the rest of the world that went something like this. "Do you know why the US knows Iraq had WMD?" The punchline: "Because they still have the deposited checks." Yes, the US sold Iraq most of its weapons - while giving military advice to Iran. Our 'great' American policy during the Iran/Iraq war was to make this a war of attrition. Our official goal was to keep both sides engaged in the war so that the largest number of people would be killed - we didn't want either side to win. We sold Iraq our weapons, and sold Iran our intelligence. Lovely, isn't it?
LMG, you keep trying to give us the old "either/or fallacy" here. Like Pope JPII, I was totally opposed to this war. Does that mean that the two of us "love this dictator?" Could you possibly squeeze into your head that there could be other options besides hate and love here?
Seems that our $2 trillion has definitely killed many things that Catholics stand for:
* Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all citizens of the world. (which is pretty hard to do when you've been killed, maimed, or brutalized in our war.)
* Fiscal conservation. (What if America tried to wage peace instead of war with the $2 trillion? In essence, our children and grandchildren will be paying for this war for generations.)
* We creating 2 million refugees, including almost all of the Eastern-rite Catholic church.
* Creating possibly an entire population with Post-Traumatic Distress Syndrome ... basically ticking time bombs of people who understand, from this war, that violence should be used to solve problems.
* An incredibly strong recruiting tool for al Qaeda. Never have so many militants been recruited to fight the US!
* The justification that pre-emptive war is anywhere near moral, just, legal, etc.
At the risk of doing the same "either/or fallacy" I challenged you with, please answer this: In terms of this ill-begotten war, are you a Catholic or are you a Republican hawk?
Can you share some of your feelings for the late Pope John Paul II here? I think the rest of us on this website would like to hear how you believe he was so terribly wrong here...
Dear Anonymous,
Pope John Paul the II was our holy leader and the head of the church, not the United States. His opinion on political matters, though worth considering, are opinions. Other good Catholics can disagree with him and think that the Iraq war was just, just as all the Democrats and Republicans did who voted for it, and the U.N.
I also think that Pope John Paul the II should have consecrated Russia, as Our Lady of Fatima asked, promising a time of peace in the world if it was.
If there had still been WMD's in Iraq as the U.N. thought as well as Democrats, then our lives would have been at risk, so our government choose to protect us.
Funny, how the liberals are all silent about the war now that Obama is in and keeping the same policies in Iraq as Bush. Obama has also sent MORE troops to Afghanistan, and it is helping there. Where is the outrage? Why isn't the media covering every soldier's death there like in Iraq? . . .SILENCE. . .
Dear Mr. X,
Well, if you want the noble personality to match your looks, good sir, I recommend dropping your far left-leaning tendencies. Walking around being angry about everything is bad for the mind and body.
I recommend starting with reading the Constitution of the United States of America. I had to memorize it at my Catholic high school. It is a great document and meant to be followed by all, especially our Supreme Court.
Dear LMG,
The Constitution also seems to say something about requiring Congress to declare war (which never happened with Iraq) but you will probably conveniently overlook that requirement, perhaps in the "spirit of the Constitution" which, like the "spirit" of Varican II, has wrought much havoc.
LB
LMG - Thanks for your answer, which in essence says you are a republican first, and Pope JP II doesn't know anything about politics - that George "W" Bush was far more versed in this than that silly guy in Rome.
Now that Iraq has been wonderfully liberated by Bush, can you set up some tours to visit this 'saved country?" It sounds like it is so much better now than before!
While you're there, can you pick up the "flowers and wine" that the 'liberated Iraqi's' will be greeting you with? I seem to have missed it in the liberal press when Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Powell, Rice and all the rest went to Iraq to pick these up... maybe you can collect it from these grateful citizens.
Also, hate to have facts get in the way, but the UN and Hans Blix never found WMD's in Iraq. Pope JPII also believed there weren't any there. I am absolutely convinced that Obama is president because he had the guts to say "no" to this war, like Pope JPII did.
Finally, the US would have been equally safe if we had invaded England or France.
Re your wondering about "Why are we still there?" The answer is the same as the Pottery Barn rule. "If you break it, you pay for it."
For fun, Cheney was absolutley right in this interview when asked in 1994 "Should the US have invaded Iraq?" He should have listened to his own words, but there was too much oil sitting there...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YENbElb5-xY
How quaint!
Of the 6 billion people on this planet, there is still someone out there who thinks that it was a good idea for the US to invade Iraq!
I think the odds of that are, lets see, one in 6 billion?!
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