Word: iranian
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...misunderstanding continues in our perception of independence in Iran. It is easy to cite any number of Iranian laws that can serve as proof for an alleged lack of respect for individual freedoms. Indeed, Iran, like any country, is far from perfect. And like every country in its youth, it is even more so. Remember, twenty-five years after America’s founding, it was legal to keep a human being as a slave...
...some Iranian laws that seem, to us, at odds with the idea of individualism simply are the result of a slightly different understanding of what freedoms of the individual may harm the society. This does not represent a fundamental opposition to the idea of the importance of individual freedom, but a balancing of belief in individual freedom with concern for the common good. Even in America, freedom is not an all-encompassing word—our freedoms are also balanced with a concern for the public good. The very controversial question is what, exactly, that balance should...
...When the Iranian government prohibited dressing in an un-Islamic way—requiring men and women to dress modestly, which, for women, includes wearing a headscarf—it was acting out of a concern for the common good. It believes that immodest dress in human society results in an excessively sexual society. By observing our society today, any skeptical American can understand what an excessively sexual society is, and what the repercussions of creating such a society...
...even while the Iranian government compels women to wear scarves over their hair, a shirt extending to at least mid-thigh and an article of clothing over the legs, women are allowed to choose exactly how strictly they want to observe the Islamic dress. Many young women, mainly in Tehran, wear scarves that only cover half of their hair, revealing hair in both the front and back. Sometimes, scarves are near-transparent. Their long shirts—called montos—can be tight and decorated with attention-grabbing buttons or zippers. They wear capri pants and high-heels...
While it may legitimately be argued that forcing women to dress modestly is a breach of individual rights too serious to be excused in the name of creating a more modest society, such an argument should be made with the assumption that the Iranian government does not, like America, value the idea of individual freedom. It was love of the idea of freedom that spurred the Iranians to climb over the shah’s towering walls and force him out of his palaces, installing, in his place, a regime infinitely more supportive of individualism...