"Iran's crimes against children"

"The world should not be silent in the face of these executions.."
  Hadi Ghaemi/dir,Int'l campaign for human rights in Iran

On Auguts 15, 2004, Atefah Sahaaleh was publicly hanged on on a boom crane in her hometown in Neka, Iran. The judge, Haji Rezai, who carried out the execution himself, was quoted as saying, "This will teach you to disobey!" Atefah was only 16 years old.
Iran is a signatory state to the International covenant on civil and political rights. Article 6.5 states that, "sentence of death shall not be imposed for crimes committed by person below 18 years of age."
Aricle 37 of the CRC (Covenant of the rights of a child) explicitly states, "Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release, shall be imposed for offenses committed by persons below 18 years of age."

Yet in defiance to the international law and covenants, Iran continues to execute minors below the age of 18 for drug related crimes and crimes against chastity. The United Nations special rapporteurs on Iran have condemned the public executions of juveniles as a violation of their international obligations and is calling for a moratorium against this practice. Although the total number of child executions is unknown, as least three have been accounted for in 2011.
Iran continues to shock the world with its increasing number of human rights violations. Hundreds of journalists, political prisoners, filmmakers and accused spies fill their prison system. Most of them are denied access to lawyers and fair trials.
Hadi Ghaemi, Director of International campaign for human rights in Iran,summarizes the plight of Iranian children in a powerful proclamation:
"The world should not be silent in the face of these executions. Children are the most vulnerable members of society, the majority of these child offenders were either framed or suffer psychological illnesses and have no access to fair trials."
We must not remain silent, but speak out against the gross injustices and crimes against Iran's children. Atefah Sahaaleh was only 16 years old when she was publicly hanged. Will there be others? It's up to you and me!

"Fear not, For I am with you."

"Fear not, For I have redeemed you. I have called you by My name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you.
When you walk through the fire you shall not be burned
and the flame shall not consume you.
(Isaiah 43: verses 1-2)

My new book, "The Promise: We will meet again," is a living testimony to this incredible promise of God.
Hannah and Rachel are two young Jewish girls growing up in the Warsaw Ghetto during the German occupation. Their lives are turned upside down by the cruelty, hatred and murderous acts of Nazis. The Nazis invade their city, build a wall around it and begin a cruel campaign of starvation, murder and oppression of the Jewish inhabitants. Realizing their only hope for survival is escape, Hannah's family decides to go into hiding. Hannah must now say a tearful goodbye to her best friend Rachel. They meet together at the ruins of a synagogue and make a pledge to each other that if they survive the holocaust, that they will search for each other after the war is over.
The Promise is about the incredible providence of God guiding Hannah and Rachel's lives in the midst of the Nazi extermination of the Jewish race. It is a book of hope and survival and love. In every situation Hannah resists the cruelty and hatred of the Germans by trusting in Hashem(Hebrew word for God) . She does not stand by and watch her people suffer but courageously becomes involved to protect them from the oppression of the Nazis.

This book will take the reader on an nonstop adventure of survival, hiding from the nazis, and enduring the harsh and brutal circumstances of the Auschwitz death camp. Hannah gives us all hope and determination to survive and overcome in the darkest of circumstances, trusting in the promises of God. God has promised to  be with His people in every circumstance and tells us not to fear. Hashem was with Hannah in her every circumstance and kept his promise. There is a very happy ending to my book, "The Promise." The ending will demonstrate that God is with us through our suffering and pain and that he truly does keep his promise.

Christianity is a love relationship with God

                "God is Love" (1 John 4:16)
           
  This short little affirmation tucked into the 16th verse of John's first epistle sums ups the nature of God. God is loving, compassionate, merciful and forgiving. The God of the Bible pursues us with his irresistible love. The length, width, height and depth of His love cannot be measured. It is unfathomable!

  The Scriptures declare that, "God demonstrated his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us," (Romans 5:8)  God put His love on display two thousand years ago. His love was not mere words or sentimental feelings, but an open display on a wooden cross where He gave his life so that we might live.

   The Bible is filled with pictures of God's irresistible love. The tender care of a shepherd for his sheep. And when he loses one, He searches everywhere until He finds the lost sheep and then rejoices. The picture of a Merciful father who pursues his wayward prodigal son and when he finally finds him, he runs to him and throws his arms of love around him in forgiveness.

   These are pictures and illustrations wonderfully painted in the teachings of Scripture. Jesus, the master storyteller loved to paint pictures of God's love in his teachings. He was grieved by the heavy burdens of the law put on the Jewish people by the religious scribes and Pharisees. They painted the picture of a stern and demanding God expecting his people to live up to an endless list of standards. Instead of putting more religious demands on people, Jesus held out his arms of compassion, inviting sinners to himself, saying, "Come to me, you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)

    Are your resting and trusting in the perfect righteousness of God as a gift or are you trapped on a performance treadmill trying to earn the love and grace of God? On the Day of Judgment God will not ask you how many times that you prayed or fasted. Instead he will ask, what did you do with My Son?

   Christianity is a love relationship with God. It is based on an invitation to rest in the love and forgiveness of Jesus. Religion or relationship. Which will you choose?
             

No Compulsion of religion

"There shall be no compulsion of Religion"
(The Quran: Surah 2:256)

Pastor Yousef is on death row in Iran for converting from Islam to Christianity. The remarkable irony of his sentence completely contradicts the teaching of the Quran. The Quran explicity states that "there shall be no compulsion of religion."
How can this be? How can the government of Iran hold to the teachings of the Quran and at the same time sentence a Christian pastor to death, when their own holy book says that religion cannot be forced on anyone?
There is a serious contradiction here.
Pastor Yousef has been in prison for over a year and has suffered both physical and psychological torture. He has endured grueling interrogations and tactics in an attempt to make him recant his faith.
Yet the Quran declares that there is no compulsion of religion.
The government has arrested thousands of protesters since the 2009 bloody election and will not allow them to disagree, speak out or assemble a rally. There is no freedom of conscience, assembly, speech or religion in a country that claims the authority of the Quran.
Yet in the Bible, we are given a choice!  Jesus says in Revelation 3:20, "Behold. I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him and he with me."
This is clearly an invitation in contrast to the harsh tactics employed by the Iranian government to recant one's faith.
God invites you and me to have a love/relationship with him. We have a choice that is not coerced. We are invited to come freely on our own without being forced against our wills.
Pastor Yousef should be given the same opportunity and not be punished to death for his choice.

I agree with the Quran. "There is no compulsion in Religion." Let's Pray that God opens the eyes of the government leaders to believe their own book.

"Will you cast the first stone?"

"Jesus declared, "Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!" (John Chapter 8, verse 7)


Can you imagine for one moment a woman dying under a rain of stones while buried in the ground up to her breasts? What thoughts went through her mind during the last moments of her life? What could possibly justify the application of such a cruel and barbaric form of punishment to a woman?

Iran's Islamic penal code allows for a woman to be stoned if she is found guilty of adultery. Just last year, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a 43-year old Iranian woman was sentenced to be stoned until an international outcry prevented the execution from being carried out.
In the Bible, there is a powerful scene where the religious leaders bring to Jesus a woman caught in the act of adultery.Instead of being zealous to uphold the law of God, they use the woman to try and discredit the ministry of Jesus and expose him as a false prophet.
"Teacher this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?'
The scribes and Pharisees are convinced they have cornered Jesus and he has no way out! If Jesus agrees to stone the adulterous woman, then his reputation of being compassionate and a friend of sinners will be called into question. If, however, Jesus says to spare her, then He is contradicting the Law of Moses and will be exposed as a false prophet. What Does Jesus do?
In what can be best described as an incredible display of compassion and wisdom, Jesus kneels down and writes in the dust with his finger. Then he gazes intently into their eyes with a masterful answer. "Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!"
I can picture the utter shock and conviction on the faces of the religious leaders. They never expected an answer like that. Jesus has pointed his finger at the greater sin in this situation. The hypocrisy of the religious leaders! They weren't  interested in upholding  the law of God but rather using the sin of a woman to further their crusade of lies and deceit. The statement of Jesus silenced their accusations. One by one they dropped their stones and departed.
Was Jesus being soft on the Law of God? Absolutely not! He turns to the woman and asks, "Where are your accusers? Does no one accuse you?" The woman answers meekly, "No Lord." Jesus looks with compassion in her eyes and says, "Neither do I. Go and sin no more."
This story in the Gospel of John beautifully illustrates the mercy and Grace of Jesus. He affirms that she has broken God's law. Yet instead of agreeing to the execution, Jesus covers her sin with His mercy and compassion. This is precisely what Jesus did for us at the cross. He willingly took the wrath of God in our place so that we could be spared and forgiven.
I believe Jesus would utter the same words to the leaders of Iran. He would not tolerate the unjust and cruel punishment and discrimination of women. He would expose their religious hypocrisy. There is only one who is sinless and has the right to cast the first stone and that is of course Jesus.
The next time you and I are tempted to pronounce judgment,  we need to pause and remember the words of Jesus. "Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone."
Like Jesus, our response should be one of mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

"Of the people, by the people and for the people"

"He will rescue the poor when they cry to him.
 He will help the oppressed, who have no one to defend them."
(Psalm 72: verse 12)

"And the government: of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
These famous words, known as the Gettysburg Address, were proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln during the one of the bloodiest battles of our nation at the time of the Civil War.
This declaration uttered by President Lincoln contains the core principles that establish and govern a true democracy and serve as a model throughout the world of what true government looks like.
I have a friend named Sahar who lives in Tehran, Iran. Her dream is that one day she will live to see a Free Iran that is free from oppression and tyranny and is governed by these principles.
Freedom. My Iranian friends long for true freedom where they are free to assemble, think and speak without fear of imprisonment and torture. Since the 2009 Election in Tehran where there was bloodshed and violence, there have been thousands of arrests, hundreds of deaths and to date there is still over 600 political prisoners still imprisoned. Just recently in the national news, Iran is determinded to execute a Christian Pastor, Youcef Nadarkhani. What is his crime? Converting from Islam to Christianity. In Iran that is known as the sin of apostasy which is punishable by death from hanging.
A well known Woman's rights activist, Bahareh Hedayat, is serving a nine-year sentence in Evin Prison for protesting for equal rights for women. And the list goes on.
The oppressive tactics of the government in Iran seek to put an end to peaceful protests, rallys and assemblies and those who participate are caught and arrested and undergo psychological torture and solitary confinement in prison.
What then is the answer to this government oppression? The first response is to speak out and refuse to be silent and bullied by an oppressive government. The second is prayer. Psalm 72, verse 12 reveals that God indeed hears the cry of the oppressed and will defend their cause. God is there and He is not silent as the late famous Christian Theologian Francis Scaheffer once proclaimed.
A true government is for the people, establishing laws for protecting society and defending them against evildoers. Government is by the people. We have the right to vote and choose our leaders and if they fail to do the job, we can fire them. Government is for the people. True government is a servant for the well being and prosperity of our society.
The famous words of Abraham Lincoln still serve today as a true model of how government should function. My Iranian friends are crying out for this type of government in Iran. They long for what you and me take so much for granted. Democracy!

Lets speak out for freedom and democracy and most importantly, let's pray. If we do these things, My Iranian friend Sahar will one day realize her dream come true for a Free Iran. Lets let our prayers and voices be heard!

"But that is my right!"

Lord, You know the hopes of the helpless.
Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them
You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed
so mere people can no longer terrify them
(Psalm 10: Verse 17)

"But that is my right!"
.How many times have you heard that from someone at a protest rally? Or in a heated debate over a controversial subject? Living in a democracy, we have a first amendment right to free speech, to say what's on our mind and voice our opinion. Our founding fathers took careful measures to guarantee this God-given privilege to speak our mind when they drafted the Constitution. Freedom of speech and voicing our opinion is a privilege that we take for granted. In Iran, this special privilege is almost non-existent.
Bahareh Hedayat, a student and women's rights activist was arrested and sentenced to nine years in Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran for speaking her mind and voicing her opinion. She was a leading member of Iran's pro-democracy movement and was active in the one millions signatures campaign for women's equality. She spent three months in solitary confinement suffering under harsh and grueling conditions in the women's ward at Evin Prison. Bahareh is being punished for disagreeing with Government policy and speaking out against the oppression of women in Iran.
This is the harsh reality of living in a non-democratic society where speaking out has severe consequences. Yet The Lord knows and understands the hope of the helpless. Psalm 10 says, He hears their cries and will comfort them and bring justice to the oppressed. I pray daily for my Iranian friends that they will one day have freedom and the priceless privilege that you and me have, the right to freedom of speech.

On my facebook page is a special petition that I urge you to sign in behalf of Bahareh Hedayat. Bahareh desires to have the freedom one day to disagree with the government and not have to suffer such harsh consequences. Please take a moment to sign the petition and lift your voice in prayer to our Great God that he will speedily bring justice to Bahareh and all Iranians desiring freedom. They want to one day be able to freely say without fear, "But that is my right!" Let's together pray that will soon happen.