It’s highly unlikely, as a Canadian, that I’ll ever be forced to choose between my religious beliefs and my life. If I’d been born in another country, being threatened with execution for my beliefs would be a fate I could consider, but here in Victoria being killed for believing that God sent us a prophet Who told us we are all one human family – its just not much of a possibility. If I start talking about my religious beliefs in public, I’m much more likely to be politely ignored.
In 1983, while I was reading Seventeen magazine and wondering if I could get my hair cut like Phoebe Cates, a high school student just 3 years older than me was being hanged in Shiraz, Iran. Mona was a Baha’i and had volunteered to teach children’s classes. She and 10 other women, after being interrogated and tortured for months, were hanged for refusing to deny their religion.
How do I take her example and feel, not guilt for my comfortable life, but motivation to DO SOMETHING? Especially something that might help Bahai’s and other oppressed innocent people who are today being held in prisons in Iran and elsewhere?
On March 5, 2008, Mahvash Sabet, a teacher and mother, was arrested, basically for being a Baha’i. On that same day, I was preparing for my daughter’s birthday party. Our big plan was that all the children would decorate their own cupcakes – I still remember the mess of sprinkles and icing. My daughter has had 5 birthdays since then, full of cake, balloons and presents, and Mahvash has been in jail for every one of those days. When I Google “Yaran” and look at her picture, she looks like someone I might meet for coffee. We’d talk about our kids, what’s happening in the Baha’i community, and what we’d like to do to make the world a better place. But instead I’m in a coffee shop writing about how she has been sentenced to twenty years in prison and I, with all my education and resources and freedoms, feel overwhelmed and unable to help her.
So, how do we live our lives in a way that honours the sacrifices these women and their families have made? How can we honour those who give up their lives, permanently or for 2 decades, for ideals that we believe in too?
Recently our family, along with millions of others, remembered Nelson Mandela - a man who was fully prepared to die for his ideals. His greatness comes from not only his willingness to die – but from what he did with his life when he didn't die. He lived for so many years, constantly working for what he believed in. He continued even in the years that were bleak; working slowly towards his goals, weathering setbacks, insults, and the weariness of day to day trivialities, while continuing to be of service to others. He even did it all with his sense of humour intact. So, armed with such a template for service, I plan to wake up tomorrow, stumble towards my locally roasted coffee, and start working, figuring out how to use the skills I have to help make this a safer and more just world.
Cathy Nash grew up in Victoria, discovered the Baha'i Faith while studying law at UVic, and has worked with vulnerable youth populations in Boston, Iqaluit and Vancouver.
You can view more articles from our interfaith blog, Spiritually Speaking HERE
