http://denial.bahai.org
Read this. Whether you’re a Baha’i or not…if you’ve ever had access to higher education, even if you didn’t take advantage of it…you’re luckier than the Baha’i youth in Iran.
The government has used a very simple mechanism to exclude Bahá’ís from higher education: it has simply required that everyone who takes the national university entrance examination declare their religion. And applicants who indicate other than one of the four officially recognized religions in Iran — Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism — are excluded.
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Like young people everywhere, Bahá’í youth in Iran desperately desire the opportunities and insights that come with higher education. This is especially so because the teachings of their faith stress the importance of knowledge and learning — and because those same teachings also emphasizes the importance of contributing to society at large.
Over the last 25 years, the only source of protection and encouragement for the Iranian Bahá’í community has been international concern, as expressed through the United Nations, by governments, and in the news media.
One can only hope that the world’s academic leaders will now follow suit in protesting the blatantly unjust oppression that continues to confront the young people of Iran’s Bahá’í community.
4 thoughts on “Denial of Education to Baha’i youth”
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Outrage just about flows through my entire being…must convert to positive energy. It’s like transmuting lead to gold, except less able to buy me pretty things.
Good call, Loehle. I think i’ll borrow your good idea.
time to take action about this. i’m saddened by the efforts of the iranian govt to deprive bahais of higher education…. but resolved to spread the word and do something about it…. this is going to be exciting.
The best thing we can do is to read the letters that the NSA wrote on this topic (usbnc.or) and then educate other educators/administrators about this injustice. In turn, THEY will make the difference with reinstating this right. So the Baha’is are educators–in helping others to make a difference. Very cool, very different.