From: bes@cco.caltech.edu (Behnam Sadeghi)
Subject: Re: The Baha'i Faith in Iran (was: Is U.S. Guilty?)
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 16:12:33 GMT

In article <1992Jul21.141027.5323@ryn.mro4.dec.com> hakim@bigq.enet.dec.com (Kamran Hakim) writes:

>In article <1992Jul20.150853.741@ryn.mro4.dec.com> hakim@bigq.enet.dec.com (Kamran Hakim) writes:

>BS>I refuted this by saying that we have people who advocated women's
>BS>rights and who have attacked the traditional Iranian oppression of women,
>BS>yet not only they weren't opposed, but they formed the exponents of the
>BS>Islamic movement in Iran.  
>
>No it is not a valid refutation of Mark's comment. There is a point which
>you miss totally. Less than one hundred years ago, when Muslim girls and 
>women were hidden inside chador and were confined to their homes (Please
>consider the directives of Prophet Muhammad to educate every male and
>female Muslim.), Baha'is, according to Abdu'l-Baha's directives opened up 
>schools and started to send their children to these schools. Girls were 
>sent to different schools from boys in order to minimize the objection of 
>hostile clergymen. These centers of education were the very first schools 
>built in Iran to educate children of both sexes, of all religions. The 
>religious leaders of Iran sharply criticized the act suggesting that 
>Baha'is are promoting prostitution by sending female children to schools, 
>and as a result all Baha'i schools in Tehran, Hamadan, Kashan and many 
>other locations were closed. 
>
>Behnam, please do not give excuses for the ignorance of the clergy. Where 
>were these "exponents of the Islamic movement" then to side with the 
>Baha'is and promote the education of female children?

First of all, I don't know what gave you the impression that I was 
trying to "give excuses for the ignorance of the clergy."  Up to this
paragraph where you bring up the clergy, we weren't talking about them.

Anyway, now that you brought it up, I don't think it would be correct to
say that the Iranian clergy of 150 years ago were ignorant.  Likewise,
it wouldn't be correct to say that they were not ignorant.  The religious
establishment, like any other group, is diverse and you can find all kinds
of people among them, ranging from geniouses down to ignorant and dumb ones,
from progressive ones to retrogressive ones.

If we consider their role on the average, they have had a positive role
as a whole [and this is certainly not to support every single thing they
did].  They were always at the forefront of safeguarding our country's 
independence and sovereignity (e.g. the Tobacco movement, the nationalization
of oil, and the Islamic revolution).

As to girls' education, I don't know about 150 years ago, but right now
I think most clergymen would have no objection to equal education for the
sexes.

In any case, my counter-example against Mr. Towfiq's argument still 
stands firmly (and it has nothing to do with the clergy per se).

>BS>I think this is a valid refutation of Mr.a
>BS>Towfiq's point.
>
>This is in reality the refutation of the truth of the clergy. 

What I said wasn't concerned with the clergy per se.

>People
>of Iran may be sleep now, however, they will refer to the books of 
>history and realize the truth of this matter.

Behnam Sadeghi


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