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Featured in: Our Story Is One: The Persecution of Baha'is in Iran
June 18, 2023 will mark 40 years since 10 Baha’i women were hanged in Shiraz. Their only ‘crime’ was their refusal to renounce their beliefs in a faith that promotes the principles of gender equality, unity, justice, and truthfulness. This collection highlights Baha’i Blog content relating to the ongoing persecution of Baha’is in Iran.
Hello and welcome to the Baha’i Blogcast with me your host, Rainn Wilson.
In this series of podcasts I interview members of the Baha’i Faith and friends from all over the world about their hearts, and minds, and souls, their spiritual journeys, what they’re interested in, and what makes them tick.
In this episode I interview Maziar Bahari, an Iranian Canadian journalist, filmmaker and human rights activist who was imprisoned and tortured by the Iranian government for five months in 2009. After he was released, he wrote his memoir called Then They Came for Me, which became a New York Times bestseller and is the basis for Jon Stewart’s 2014 film Rosewater. In the conversation I ask him why, even though he is not a Baha’i, he has been actively campaigning for the rights of the Baha’is in Iran. We talk about his religious background; his thoughts on tyranny; why the situation for Baha’is in Iran is so important for the Iranian people as a whole, and how he went from being a journalist to being an activist. He shares what he learned from his experience in prison, and he also offers some personal advice to the Baha’i community, and a message to the people of Iran and the world.
To find out more about Maziar Bahari, what he’s involved in, and some of the things we covered in the podcast, check out the following links:
* The Baha’is are the largest religious minority in Iran, and they have been killed and persecuted by the Iranian government ever since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. You can find out more about the situation of the Baha’is in Iran from this page on the Baha’i International Community’s website: https://www.bic.org/focus-areas/situation-iranian-bahais/current-situation
* Find out more about the “Education Is Not A Crime” campaign and initiative, plus how you can get involved here: www.notacrime.me
* Watch the trailer to the new documentary about the wall art campaign here: Changing the World, One Wall at a Time
* Purchase physical or audio versions of Maziar’s book Then They Came for Me (now called ‘Rosewater’), and watch the trailer to the movie Rosewater based on the book here: Rosewater [official trailer]
* Watch the trailer to Maziar’s documentary about the underground Baha’i universities in Iran here: To Light A Candle
Be sure to ‘subscribe’ to the Baha’i Blogcast for more weekly episodes on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify and Soundcloud.
Thanks for listening!
-Rainn Wilson
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Maziar and his works are living proof of the axiom that “the truth shall set you free.” He is yet another of the many guests on this program whom I would love to have an extended conversation with, myself. And even though that is unlikely, I find the open availability of these great talks truly liberating – energizing my own continuing education.
Keith J. Taylor (February 2, 2019 at 7:05 PM)