The massive protests in Iran are of historic importance, although American news media are more interested in a book of anti-Trump lies and futile investigations. In a nation where Christianity is severely restricted, Iranian Christians are confronting the Islam theocracy with the help of social media. This phenomenon may ultimately resolve the nuclear threat by Iran, and it should grab your attention.
From 1925 to 1979, Iran was ruled first by Reza Shah Pahlavi, then his son, Mohammad Reza Shah. These were Iran’s progressive years characterized by a booming economy and strong western alliances, as well as advances in cultural and social development. In the 70’s, fundamentalist, disenchanted with western influence and the departure from traditional Islam, organized violent protests against the regime of Reza Shah, known as the “Shah.” Ultimately, the Shah was deposed by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a prominent Muslim leader. For the past 39 years, Iran, although claiming to have a freedom-seeking elected government, has been tightly controlled by fundamental Islamists. But, many of the Iranian people have recently rebelled against their oppressive government.
The protests, sometimes violent, are instigated by more moderate countrymen who are fed up with Iran’s antiquated traditions, the intolerance of non-Muslims, and animosity toward the western world. A large portion of these protesters are Christians who have for years been persecuted by the government. In spite of government crackdown, Christianity is growing faster in Iran than in any other country today. Iranians professing to be Christians now number over three million and are increasing exponentially by thousands per day. Of course, you will never hear this from American news media.
Iran appears to be again at the threshold of a revolution similar to that of 1979, but in reverse. A national civil movement away from the terrorist-supporting, antisemitic, warmongering theocracy is surfacing. This sea change in power structure would likely create a much greater acceptance of Christianity. It might also reduce or even eliminate the nation’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.
This movement has a distinct advantage over those previous–social media. Protesters now have apps like Instagram and Telegram giving them public access and targeted networks of messages and videos. Just last week, government authorities mandated that local providers block access to certain social media. However, it is next to impossible to completely eliminate the world-wide internet. The truth from the western world is getting through to those fighting for freedom and religious liberty.
Social media and the internet is leveling the ground between oppressive regimes and people seeking truth and justice around the world. For the first time ever, small organizations and even individuals can make an instantaneous difference in the lives of others thousands of miles away. My local church broadcasts every worship service on Facebook Live. We get encouraging comment back from viewers in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other places in that part of the world. My stats from this blog often show hits from Asia and the Middle East.
With this in mind, I have added a page to my blog site where I present the gospel in relative detail. I have tried to make it of interest to a wide spectrum of non-believers from declared atheists to those who may think of themselves as Christian under a false understanding of salvation. I call the page “Eternity,” and it asks 10 life-essential questions. I am excited about the potential of that page being seen by people locally and around the world. I pray that it might even be a tool for some of those Christians struggling in Iran.
I ask that you visit this page by clicking “Eternity” at the top of this blog’s homepage. After reading it, please consider sharing the page or this post on your Facebook timeline. You also may want to forward the link, http://terrythompson.org/eternity, to someone. Let’s use the technology of social media and internet to God’s glory.
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