Iran: Do people want freedom?

It’s easy for us as Americans to interpret the current political and social crisis in Iran through our own historical and ideological lenses.  We find empathy in any context where people rise up against a perceived tyranny just as our forefathers rose up against tyranny and established the United States.  But, is this perception an imposition of tyrannical ideology upon others whose situation, context, and history are vastly different from our own? 

There is an increasing globalization of the idea that people have the right to choose their lifestyle; their economic and political context.  The idea of choice has made democracy a potent force in the past few decades.  But, this doesn’t mean that people necessarily want the version of democracy found in the United States or agree with the lifestyle and culture that dominates the United States.  People want a democracy that enables them to choose how they will live. 

I think we need to tread carefully in our assessment of the Iranian situation.  President Obama has been careful and wise for the most part in staying on the sidelines so that the Iranians can wrestle with their issues without a biased and unjust meddling from a superpower.  Instead we need to understand and respect that many Iranians values the ability to choose their leaders in as much as they value their Islamic revolution.  The protests in the streets is not a protest against Islam but demand for justice and choice within Islam. 

People want and need freedom to pursue those things that provide humanity with dignity and significance.  Americans often equate freedom with the ability to live anyway a person desires giving rise to our destructive consumptive lifestyle.  True freedom is not about living any way the heart desires which leads to anarchy since our hearts can deceive us in the pursuit of selfishness.  Instead true freedom is a reality when all people have the ability to pursue those things that provide human dignity; having access to housing, food, education, a clean environment, living peace, etc. 

True freedom comes in the dignity of love.  Not a love of self but love for others as much as we love ourselves.  Jesus taught us that the golden rule is to love God with all our heart, mind and soul and to love our neighbors as ourselves.  When we live out this kind of love we have freedom from the tyranny of consumptive lifestyles and the strength to oppose oppressive theocratic regimes. 

Let’s pray for the people of Iran to have freedom to choose the outcome of their history and live in a peace with significance and human dignity.