Ah I see I misread the article, The Cleric was on the way to the mosque, the girls however were not on their way to the mosque. "Hojatoleslam Ali Beheshti said he encountered the girls on his way to the mosque in the village of Shahmirzad for noon prayers in late August." My bad. In this case, he does not have the right to tell them anything. But he still doesn't deserve to get assaulted. Yes the cleric may have over stepped his boundary, but assaulting someone for a comment? That is definitely over the top. Also This happened in Iran, not US, where standard of living and normality are different than in US.
This is obviously an issue because of how repressive the Iranian theocracy is but lets not forget that in practically every society that people judge, call out and harass each other based on what they wear. How many times have any of you heard, or even you yourself, criticized some kids wearing pants with the waist halfway down their butts? I am not defending the Iranian regime and hope that these girls don't suffer harshly from this this but if something like this happened in the US where an older guy was criticizing some young girls for what they were wearing and they got beat up that would be considered assault.
LCAhmed, do you know any Iranians who lived a lot of their life in Iran? You should ask them. You can ask migrant Iranians, but they are usually Shah loyalists so while they will corroborate what I'm saying and more, their bias is too strong and their experience too little.
First, it is obviously illegal to attack someone for something they said. Second, we only have his version of the story. Third, criticism is one thing. Would you ever repeatedly demand that someone raise their jeans? Dress more modestly? Again, this is not some guy. This is the type of guy who is TELLING you what to do with the implied authority to do something about it. Iran is the type of place where clerics transcend all boundaries of law - the same cleric will hear your trial, marry you off, give you a parking ticket and tell you what to wear with real authority. Believe me when I say it wasn't a passing comment, it was absolutely a threat.
True we don't which is why I am hesitant to rush to quick judgement. Would I myself, probably not but I admit to having criticized some kids for wearing jeans hanging down their butts and have seen adults harangue kids over their fashions. Heck once when I was in Japan I got chewed out for a minute straight, outside of a shrine, by an older Japanese guy for wearing shorts. I can agree with everything you say here and as I said I am not defending the Iranian regime but I am pointing out that yes we don't know the full story and that young girls beating up an older guy who criticized them for their fashion sense in most societies is considered assault.
Sorry my post was too reactive. I can see what you're saying and it makes sense, I just wanted to highlight the context. Those people make my blood boil. I can't wait for the day.
No problem. Understandable and I think the sooner the rule of the Ayatollahs is over in Iran the better it will be for the region. I am just looking at this specific case and not about Iran as a whole. Expanding on this though I fully agree to the extent that this cleric is empowered by law to enforce his views on these girls is a problem. I don't see in principle a problem with an old guy with conservative beliefs calling out some girls for what he sees as inappropriate fashion but when that is backed up by law with harsh and brutal penalties is where the problem is.
Just to understand - those people like this cleric in Iran and the "religious police" in Saudi, Indonesia and other countries where they are active?
I know you would love to silence me - but this is not Saudi Arabia, your dream country, where you might manage to do that.
I agree. I know for a FACT that the priests of the Temples of Syrinx, for example, don't stand for that kind of thing.
Exactly. What makes this more sad is that the inappropriate fashion in this scenario is undoubtedly 1 or 2 inches of their hair above the forehead. If it was anything else, they usually tell them to go home, but when it's the hair they stand there and make them pull down the veil so that it covers their hair from the front.
Why does it matter how you are dressed in church? supposedly we are all children of God, the aren't we all "naked" in his eyes? I am not saying that we should go to our respective places of worship ass naked but having a dress code to go and pray is just plain asinine and stupid. This has nothing to do with God but rather the religious bourgeois trying to control society. Where exactly does the Bible/Koran describe the proper dress code to go pray?
I feel sorry for the girls. They will likely be arrested, raped in prison by the guards, and sentenced to death.
Since the cleric did not file a report - how would there be an update? Since you are acting as if you are interested, we will appreciate you monitoring these news and updating us. Thanks in advance.
