By In Iran, gender mixing can get you arrested.
It happened to 150 young people late July at what officials are calling an “illegal birthday party.”
Mixed gatherings are illegal in Iran, and deemed “un-Islamic” — in addition to drinking and premarital sex. The consequences of such actions can lead to severe punishment, including execution.
The Islamic Republic of Iran introduced these laws in the early 1970s, and much of the conservative push came as a reaction to the former pro-western leader, (talk more about this in relation to Iran’s previous leader being pro-West).
Although the upper-middle class has been quietly rebelling against these laws in the last few years, the government is pushing back.
While Iran is continuing to enforce its strict interpretations of Islam, world events teaches that the outcome will not be favorable. People revolt and the pendulum very often swings to the other extreme.
Many are taking to Instagram to protest by posting photos of things we take for granted everyday. Women are removing the mandatory hijab for even just a few moments at a time, in protest.
Just last April, the Iranian government announced that they would be hiring an additional 7,000 police officers that would be dressed in everyday streetwear. Their purpose? To catch people who were acting “immorally” — this includes interactions with the opposite sex.
Although the government claims that they are actually relaxing these ultra-conservative laws, their actions say otherwise.
While Iran is continuing to enforce its strict interpretations of Islam, world events teaches that the outcome will not be favorable. People revolt and the pendulum very often swings to the other extreme.
At the end of the day, what they are creating is a generation who will only associate Islam with oppression.
We’ve seen this in times of civil war and in authoritarian rule, where a leader will be forced out and the country will break out into chaos.
It’s evident in personal lives and in history-human beings moved away from what was brought onto them as force. In the case of Iran, it’s unclear how any religious leader could believe forcing a conservative interpretation of Islam onto its citizens could make them want to be followers of that faith.
As human beings, we have the ability to think critically and have autonomy of our own body, and what Iran and governments like the Iranian government are doing is depriving people their God-given rights of freedom and choice.
At the end of the day, what they are creating is a generation who will only associate Islam with oppression.