Jul27
LA Times: Two countries are worlds apart for Baha’i faithful
On July 27, 2009, the Los Angeles Times published the following article by Kate Linthicum and Amber Smith about how Baha’is in southern California have responded to the ongoing persecution of their religious brethren in Iran.
Article excerpt:
- The 2,700 or so followers of the Bahai faith in Southern California enjoy a life their brethren in Iran have cause to desire.
Here, they have access to education, work, and, most importantly for them, the right to worship.
Iran’s fundamentalist Shiite government has barred the country’s 300,000 Bahai from holding government jobs, attending universities and practicing their religion, according to human-rights groups and the United Nations. Conditions have worsened in recent years, observers say, and now seven leaders of Iran’s Bahai community are held in Tehran’s Evin prison, where they face charges of espionage and possible execution.
Their imprisonment has been condemned by the United States and human-rights groups, who see it as evidence of Iran’s persistent persecution of Bahais, its largest non-Muslim minority. It has weighed heavily on the faith’s adherents in Los Angeles.
Comments OffMEDIA COVERAGE
