(March 11, 2015 at 8:19 am)Aisha Wrote: I remember a couple of years back protests were going on in Iran for freedom of speech and a more secular government. (If I remember correctly)
I do wonder how the situation is there now, and if the youth in Iran feels like they are getting an opportunity for this, or might get one in the near future.
If there is anyone from Iran on this forum that can tell me more about that, I would love to hear about it.
I don't live there, but because I used to do so, I keep my eyes on the country, including maintaining contacts within the expatriate community here in America, who in turn hear from family members there regarding internal conditions.
They tell me that there is an underground life that goes on away from the stern eyes of the regime. The country is very young, demographically, and atheism/agnosticism amongst the youth is higher than we here in the west suspect. There's still the frustration with a lack of civil rights and the lack of a social voice that fueled the post-election unrest. The youth felt as if their votes didn't matter and took to the streets. They're angry over the economic doldrums that the regime's intransigence has brought upon the country, and want reform.
I think the government was shaken by those protests and that has caused them to permit an unofficial loosening -- but that the government will absolutely refuse to legally compromise the Islamic foundation of the state, for the simple reason that that will also compromise their own legitimacy to rule.
