Mahsa Amini was a 22-year-old from Iran’s Kurdistan region. She was detained by the morality police in Iran for failing to fully cover her hair with her hijab. She was beaten and died three days later.
Thousands of Iranians, mostly women, hit the streets in protest. Risking their lives, they burned their head coverings and danced defiantly in the streets - this is real courage.
Women in Iran have seen their equal status and rights gradually eroding since the country became a theocracy in 1979. Today, they cannot work with men, ride bicycles, or dance in public. Iranian women face undeniable cruelty and oppression, and Mahsa's death was a tipping point. Many feel that this may be their last chance to fight for equality as the situation is only getting worse.
This tragedy reveals something crucial about humanity. God created every person with profound value and dignity. When it’s taken away, history shows we will fight to defend it.
This is an irrepressible part of the human spirit. As the frontman for the band Rage Against the Machine, Zach de La Rocha, puts it in their song “Millenium homes,”
Hungry people don't stay hungry for long
They get hope from fire and smoke as they reach for the dawn
In the west, we see individual human rights as axiomatic. Our movies, musicians, and celebrities are constantly preaching this message. A few days after the death of Amini, in front of tens of thousands of people the artist Yungblud said,
“I’m not gonna stand here and question someone’s religion, but I'm going to f-ing fight for expression. I’m going to fight for freedom…”
I respect his passion, and his concern for others is obvious, but do you notice the problem? How can I “fight for freedom and NOT question someone’s religion”? What if someone’s religion inevitably curtails somebody else’s freedom?
This is an incoherent view of the world.
The West has forgotten the debt it owes to Christianity. The idea of the worth and value of each individual is the result of Judeo-Christianity, not biology or science.
Recognizing this is critical because we jeopardize what we value most by taking it for granted and denying its source. As a secular historian, Tom Holland, points out,
“If secular humanism derives not from reason or from science, but from the distinctive course of Christianity’s evolution—a course that, in the opinion of growing numbers in Europe and America, has left God dead—then how are its values anything more than the shadow of a corpse? What are the foundations of its morality, if not a myth?” (Dominion)
A firm foundation for the equality of all people is far from an academic issue - it’s life and death. As followers of Jesus we should affirm the deep moral intuitions we share with the secular world, while gently pointing out that in the absence of God, these intuitions do not make sense. If we don’t, all we will be left with is empty slogans and cliches, and that’s not good enough.
In all of this, our hearts should break for the people of Iran. We should be active and engaged Global citizens. We should be aware of what’s going on, but more than that we should care. This is not just another news story or interesting talking point but an oppressed people that God cares deeply about.
We need to ask God what we could do to help. God cares deeply about justice - the Bible makes this undeniably clear. He calls all of us to bring an end to injustice wherever we find it.
Being faithful to this call will be our greatest witness. After all, our willingness to give our lives to fight injustice, not just talk about it, will give the greatest evidence of the depth of our worldview and the power of our God!
Want to listen to the full conversation? Listen to Episode 449: Mahsa Amini, the Iranian Uprising, and What It Says About All of Us
