"Happiness is a crime in Iran."

"It is beyond sad that these kids were arrested for trying to spread happiness..."
                              ...Pharrell Williams....



Thomas Jefferson, the original architect, of the Declaration of Independence, is credited with the "often quoted phrase" that has revolutionized the world's thinking on the subject of "God-given" rights.
Jefferson writes, in the preamble of the famous declaration:

                 ....."We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness....."

Jefferson in his eloquent style, clearly outlined that there are certain rights given by God to men that are undeniable. His point is that no matter where one lives, they have certain unalienable rights that must be respected and recognized.
Life is a gift from God. Freedom is a gift from God..and then the famous last statement that is quoted most often...the pursuit of happiness.....

While it is true that happiness is often defined differently from other cultures and other peoples, the point is that happiness as well as life and freedom, is a "God given" right that should be respected by others and not suppressed by tyrannical governments.
Unfortunately, The Islamic Republic of Iran doesn't seem to agree with the famous words of Thomas Jefferson.
Recently six youth were arrested in Tehran for making a video glorifying the "God-given right" of expressing happiness. The video was a remake of the "Pharrell William's," chart busting hit single entitled, "Happy."
Williams had challenged the world in a global campaign to upload videos and photographs of every day people engaging in happiness. The youth of Tehran excitedly responded and with the help of a director put together a dazzling video showing them dancing on the rooftops of Tehran. The video was an immediate hit all over the world, scoring more than 100,000 hits. But there was one small problem..The Iranian Police were not so excited about the project. It is against Islamic law for women to appear in public without their hijabs and equally against the law for them to be dancing with males.
Within hours of the video being posted, the police descended on the "happiness project," and arrested the six participants. They raided the home, bashing and destroying everything, confiscating computers and hauled them off to the Vozara police station. On the second day they were transferred to solitary confinement and interrogated. The female participants were humiliated and forced to strip naked performing squats before female officers.
In the end, the youth were paraded before live state run television and forced to give a public apology for making the video. Each of the participants were fined for their actions and required to pay 40 millions Tomans ($10,000) bail.

It is beyond comprehension to me that these young, brave Iranian youth have had to suffer so much for simply showing the world, (in their own words)  "We still have moments of happiness even though we face so many problems in Iran..."
One of the participants, Siavash Tavarti, is quoted as saying, "They were only showing their happiness and they were arrested for that!"

Make no mistake, The "God-given" right of happiness, is considered a crime in Iran. A great example of this is demonstrated during the "day of Ashura." The day of Ashura is a very special event in Iran commemorating

 the martyrdom of Husayn Ali, considered by Shia Muslims, the legitimate successor of the prophet Muhammad. It is during this time that Iranians are supposed to engage in public mourning for Ali who was killed in the battle of Karbala for defending Islam against corruption from other nations. Many of the participants during this time of public mourning, bring with themselves chains and engage in a type of "self flagellation" showing their sorrow for what happened to Ali.
My point is, the climate of Iran, the culture of Iran, is a culture of sorrow and mourning based on the history and teachings of Islam. Many of my Iranian friends have privately shared with me their utter dismay for how the government expects them to always be sorrowful and be in a state of mourning for the Imams. When considering this background, one can now understand why making a video about happiness is really frowned upon by the Islamic Republic. It is more than just the fact that the participants weren't wearing their hijabs or dancing with the opposite sex..it goes beyond just that....Happiness is a crime in Iran...And the youth were desperately trying to make a statement to the world..to let their voices be heard...They were literally shouting from the rooftops that, "We know how to be happy just like everyone else in the world!!"

Let me say emphatically..Let me shout this from the rooftops!!!  God has created you and me to express to the world that He is a God of great joy, of great creativity, of great freedom, of great love!! God is not a depressed, mean, angry Orge, who spends all of his time in mourning, rather God is a being of great Truth, joy, happiness, love..etc!!

I salute these brave and courageous Iranian youth for showing the world that they too can be happy regardless of their circumstances. They have taught you and me a great lesson that we need to learn. Happiness is a gift from God...He has given each one of us the right to pursue our own happiness.
The young people of Iran need our constant prayers every day. Despite living in a society where individual freedoms are not respected, they have chosen to "break the law" and make a statement to us in the west.
We really have no right to complain. We should be the ultimate examples of happiness because where we live there is true freedom!
Let's all celebrate freedom and happiness while we can. Please type the hash tag  #FreeHappyIranians on Twitter and support these courageous youth today!






             
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