Bringing Injustice to Light

Laurie Goodstein writes in yesterday's New York Times of the recent imprisonment of 54 Bahá'í youth who were engaging in a community service project in the city of Shiraz, and of the general ratcheting up of persecution of the Bahá'ís in Iran. The article states:

The developments have alarmed human rights monitors at the United Nations, who say that since December, the government newspaper in Tehran has published more than 30 articles denigrating the Bahai faith — even accusing Bahais of sacrificing Muslim children on holy days. The arrests coincided with raids on six Bahai homes, in which notebooks, documents and computers were confiscated. More than 70 other Bahais have been arrested since January 2005 in smaller clusters, and some are still being held, the monitors said.

A few thoughts come to mind in light of this important work of journalism: First, the lofty station of anyone who defends the Cause of God in their writings, as described by Bahá'u'lláh:

If any man were to arise to defend, in his writings, the Cause of God against its assailants, such a man, however inconsiderable his share, shall be so honored in the world to come that the Concourse on high would envy his glory.

Second, the great bounty in this day of the nearly instant availability of information about the circumstances and sufferings of peoples around the world and the significance of this expression of concern by people in one part of the world for the well-being of people in another part ofthe world, regardless of race or creed.

Third, that despite these positive signs, the immediate future for the Bahá'ís of Iran remains quite foreboding.