Pray for the Martyrs of Iran

iranianmartyrs
Originally uploaded by Randuwa.

I have really kept my post very personal, and not really very tied to the present political culture. I have done this intentionally as I want this space to be a place of my personal reflections and memoirs. Yet, there are moments that demand a response. Incidents that haunt the soul profoundly -- and what on earth is more personal than that?

You see two young men in this photo moments before they were murdered. Over 14 months before this moment, they were taken into custody and held in a jail in Iran after being accused of committing homosexual acts with one another. At the time of this incident, they were both younger that 18. There is no hint of force in this action, i.e. both were aware of their actions and engaged in them of their own free wills.

In the last 14 months of their lives they were not only tortured, interrogated, convicted of this "crime", but they were daily flogged for weeks upon end.

When I learned of this, my heart clinched within my breast. I know that the men responsible for their fate believed that they were about God's work. And this is simply abominable in the presence of the God that I know. What strange evil grips the minds of people who kill children? Can you tell me? And how is any consensual act of intimacy so threatening that its appropriate response is torture and murder? Can you tell me?

In my 21 years as an elementary school teacher, I have enjoyed meeting thousands of parents and students. I have taught and created relationships with people of every major religion and cult in the world and from all continents and countless nations. One group that stands out as the most generous and supportive of education and me are the people of Iran. I have told friends this for years now. So how does such a civilized and generous people create a system of justice that allows for such barbarism?

I guess when I ask this, I ought to keep the mirrors close at hand for anyone from the U.S. willing to consider my plea.

A link that I commend to you is: http://www.ncr-iran.org/content/view/222/69/