Irreligion in Iran

Irreligion in Iran is marginalized and by official 2011 census 265,899 persons didn't state any religion (0.3% of total population).[1] However, religiosity is strongly attached to Iranian national identity and number of nonpracticing Muslims is significantly higher.[2]

Within Iran

Question of irreligion in Iran is often a political one. Mehdi Bazargan noted "to oppose Islam to Iranian nationalism is tantamount to destroying ourselves. To deny Iranian identity and consider nationalism irreligious is part and parcel of the anti-Iranian movement and is the work of the anti-revolutionaries".[2] According to the Ali Reza Eshraghi, religious pressure and inadequate governing from the Iranian government have made Iranian people less religious.[3] Some Iranian feminists have also been noted as being irreligious and atheistic.[4]

The irreligious Iranian youth are banked on to eventually moderate Iran.,[5] and the Iranian youth are among the most politically active among the 57 nations of the Islamic world.[6] As the most restive segment of Iranian society, the young also represent one of the greatest long-term threats to the current form of theocratic rule.[6] After the 2009 presidential election, youth was the biggest bloc involved in the region’s first sustained “people power” movement for democratic change, creating a new political dynamic in the Middle East.[6] Iran is one of the most tech-savvy societies in the developing world, with an estimated 28 million Internet users, led by youth.[6] Most young Iranians are believed to want to be part of the international community and globalization.[6]

Irreligion of Iranian Americans

According to Harvard University professor Robert D. Putnam, the average Iranian is slightly less religious than the average American.[7] Iranian-Americans are distancing themselves from Islam, having accepted the negative characteristics associated with the religion.[8] This is due to Islam being imposed on the Iranians through war and invasion, equating to authoritarianism, brutality and corruption.[8] In the book, Social Movements in 20th Century Iran: Culture, Ideology, and Mobilizing Frameworks, author Stephen C. Poulson adds that Western ideas are making Iranians irreligious.[9]

Nearly as many Iranian Americans identify as irreligious as Muslim, and a full one-fifth are Christians, Jews, Baha’is, or Zoroastrians.[10] Additionally, the number of Muslim Iranian-Americans decreased from 42% in 2008 to 31% in 2012.[11][12]

Irreligion of European Iranians

The Central Committee for Ex-Muslims was founded by Dutch-Iranian Ehsan Jami with an aim to support apostates and to bring forth the reality of women's rights violations in the religion.[13]

Organizations

A British-Iranian organisation, “Iranian Atheists Association”, has been established in 2013 to form a platform for Iranian atheists to start debate and question the current Islamic republic’s attitude towards atheists, apostasy and human rights.[14] A significant number of Iranians abroad, especially Iranian-Americans, are irreligious, agnostic or atheist.[8][15][16]

See also

References

  1. ↑ SCI (2011). Selected Findings of National Population and Housing Census. Tehran: Statistical Centre of Iran, p. 26, ISBN 978-964-365-848-9.
  2. 1 2 Iranian identity iv. 19TH-20th centuries at Encyclopædia Iranica
  3. ↑ "Iranians under the Islamic regime: more or less religious?". aljazeera.com. August 6, 2013.
  4. ↑ Making History in Iran: Education, Nationalism, and Print Culture. Stanford University Press. 2015.
  5. ↑ "A different view of Iran's soldiers". Los Angeles Times. September 14, 2008.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "The Youth". usip.org.
  7. ↑ "Losing Our Religion: The Growth Of The 'Nones'". NPR. 13 January 2013.
  8. 1 2 3 "Disparaging Islam and the Iranian-American Identity: To Snuggle or to Struggle". payvand.com. 21 September 2009.
  9. ↑ Social Movements in 20th Century Iran: Culture, Ideology, and Mobilizing Frameworks. Lexington Books. 2005.
  10. ↑ Multicultural America: A Multimedia Encyclopedia, Volume 1. Sage Publications. 2013.
  11. ↑ "2012 NATIONAL PUBLIC OPINION SURVEY of IRANIAN AMERICANS regarding Potential Military Strike Against Iran" (PDF). paaia.org. 2012. Retrieved 2013-07-20.
  12. ↑ "Public Opinion Survey of Iranian Americans" (PDF). PAAIA. December 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 21, 2008.
  13. ↑ "Reacties stromen binnen bij Comité voor Ex-moslims" [Reactions flows within the Committee for Ex-Muslims], NU.nl (in Dutch), 2 June 2007
  14. ↑ "Iranian Atheists Association: About Us". Iranian Atheists Association.
  15. ↑ Public Opinion Survey of Iranian Americans. Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA)/Zogby, December 2008. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Persian NYers Show Their Pride at Murray Hill Parade". Time Warner Cable News. Retrieved April 20, 2014.


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