{"id":1302,"date":"2014-03-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-03-28T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/news\/mp-speaks-out-in-parliament-against-persecution-of-bahais\/"},"modified":"2017-10-14T04:51:43","modified_gmt":"2017-10-14T04:51:43","slug":"mp-speaks-out-in-parliament-against-persecution-of-bahais","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/mp-speaks-out-in-parliament-against-persecution-of-bahais\/","title":{"rendered":"MP speaks out in Parliament against persecution of Baha\u2019is"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"MP
Mr Rob Stokes MP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A member of the NSW State Government has spoken out in Parliament against the persecution of members of the Baha\u2019i Faith in Iran.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mr Rob Stokes, MP for Pittwater and Parliamentary Secretary for Renewable Energy, told the Parliament last week that the ongoing persecution of Baha\u2019is was \u201csenseless\u201d, and said he hopes that those imprisoned would soon be released.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith a message and foundation of tolerance, respect and peace, it is disturbing, puzzling, and ironic that Baha’is have been the subject of such widespread rejection, persecution and outright violence in the land from which the Baha’i Faith first developed,\u201d Mr Stokes said.<\/p>\n

In his address to the NSW Parliament on 18 March 2014, Mr Stokes said that the Baha\u2019i Temple at Ingleside is one of two internationally renowned cultural heritage landmarks in his electorate and is \u201ca vibrant and active place of learning, human interaction and prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhilst I follow a different faith, one of my real joys in being the local member for Pittwater has been getting to know and understand the people who sustain and celebrate the life and work of the Baha’i Temple.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach and every one of them is a powerful and persuasive example of the peace, joy and human development they have experienced through their faith. Baha’is are noticeably different in their patience, respectfulness and other person-centredness.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir monotheistic faith is based on the concept that there is one God and that all religions are ultimately focused on this same God as their spiritual source and foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Stokes said Baha’is are among several religious minorities in Iran subject to varying degrees of persecution, including Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians.<\/p>\n

\u201cPaul Marshall of the Hudson Institute noted that while Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians have limited rights under the constitution of Iran, the Baha’i faith has no legal status and its members therefore have no rights,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Baha’is are the most intensively persecuted religious group in Iran, and murdering a Baha’i or any other apostate carries no punishment — the Government continues to target Baha’is, he said.<\/p>\n


\nSeven leaders<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mr Stokes reminded the Parliament about the 2008 arrests of seven Baha\u2019i leaders, who remain in jail serving 20 year sentences.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Baha’i faith in Iran is also persecuted through not having access to many government jobs or being allowed to undertake higher education.<\/p>\n

\u201cConsequently the Baha’i community organised its own university but on 22 May that year [2011] authorities raided 39 homes of the administrators, staff and students of the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education and detained many of them. This is an example of the persecution that the Baha’is in Iran face.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am appalled that the peaceful, friendly and selfless people that I have met are faced with such senseless persecution, and I earnestly hope and pray that those imprisoned might soon be released.”<\/p>\n

He concluded his address to the Parliament with words of Baha\u2019u\u2019llah (1817-92), the Prophet-Founder of the Baha\u2019i Faith:<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the learned and worldly-wise men of this age were to allow mankind to inhale the fragrance of fellowship and love, every understanding heart would apprehend the meaning of true liberty, and discover the secret of undisturbed peace and absolute composure.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

For more on persecutions: https:\/\/www.bic.org\/media\/Current-situation-Bahais-in-Iran<\/a><\/p>\n

Baha\u2019i Temple https:\/\/www.bahai.org.au\/Participate\/Temple.aspx<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A member of the NSW State Government has spoken out in Parliament against the persecution of members of the Baha\u2019i Faith in Iran.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media-releases","category-uncategorised"],"yoast_head":"\nMP speaks out in Parliament against persecution of Baha\u2019is - Australian Baha'i Community<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/mp-speaks-out-in-parliament-against-persecution-of-bahais\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MP speaks out in Parliament against persecution of Baha\u2019is - Australian Baha'i Community\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A member of the NSW State Government has spoken out in Parliament against the persecution of members of the Baha\u2019i Faith in Iran.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/mp-speaks-out-in-parliament-against-persecution-of-bahais\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Australian Baha'i Community\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-03-28T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-10-14T04:51:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/Portals\/0\/Rob%20photo%202012.JPG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"it-admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"it-admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/mp-speaks-out-in-parliament-against-persecution-of-bahais\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/mp-speaks-out-in-parliament-against-persecution-of-bahais\/\",\"name\":\"MP speaks out in Parliament against persecution of Baha\u2019is - Australian Baha'i Community\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/mp-speaks-out-in-parliament-against-persecution-of-bahais\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/mp-speaks-out-in-parliament-against-persecution-of-bahais\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/Portals\/0\/Rob%20photo%202012.JPG\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-03-28T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-10-14T04:51:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/#\/schema\/person\/27e40e806cfb1ed651dbd81accc2b48f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/mp-speaks-out-in-parliament-against-persecution-of-bahais\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/mp-speaks-out-in-parliament-against-persecution-of-bahais\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/mp-speaks-out-in-parliament-against-persecution-of-bahais\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/Portals\/0\/Rob%20photo%202012.JPG\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/Portals\/0\/Rob%20photo%202012.JPG\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/mp-speaks-out-in-parliament-against-persecution-of-bahais\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"MP speaks out in Parliament against persecution of Baha\u2019is\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/\",\"name\":\"Australian Baha'i Community\",\"description\":\"The official website of the Baha'is of Australia\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/#\/schema\/person\/27e40e806cfb1ed651dbd81accc2b48f\",\"name\":\"it-admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0defdebd8063ec2ce723629dbfefdb5171c04bb384ad103a85d694485f46ddbe?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0defdebd8063ec2ce723629dbfefdb5171c04bb384ad103a85d694485f46ddbe?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"it-admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/author\/it-admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"MP speaks out in Parliament against persecution of Baha\u2019is - Australian Baha'i Community","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/mp-speaks-out-in-parliament-against-persecution-of-bahais\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"MP speaks out in Parliament against persecution of Baha\u2019is - Australian Baha'i Community","og_description":"A member of the NSW State Government has spoken out in Parliament against the persecution of members of the Baha\u2019i Faith in Iran.","og_url":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/mp-speaks-out-in-parliament-against-persecution-of-bahais\/","og_site_name":"Australian Baha'i Community","article_published_time":"2014-03-28T00:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-10-14T04:51:43+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/Portals\/0\/Rob%20photo%202012.JPG"}],"author":"it-admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"it-admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/mp-speaks-out-in-parliament-against-persecution-of-bahais\/","url":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/mp-speaks-out-in-parliament-against-persecution-of-bahais\/","name":"MP speaks out in Parliament against persecution of Baha\u2019is - Australian Baha'i Community","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/mp-speaks-out-in-parliament-against-persecution-of-bahais\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/mp-speaks-out-in-parliament-against-persecution-of-bahais\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/Portals\/0\/Rob%20photo%202012.JPG","datePublished":"2014-03-28T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2017-10-14T04:51:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/#\/schema\/person\/27e40e806cfb1ed651dbd81accc2b48f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/mp-speaks-out-in-parliament-against-persecution-of-bahais\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/mp-speaks-out-in-parliament-against-persecution-of-bahais\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/mp-speaks-out-in-parliament-against-persecution-of-bahais\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/Portals\/0\/Rob%20photo%202012.JPG","contentUrl":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/Portals\/0\/Rob%20photo%202012.JPG"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/mp-speaks-out-in-parliament-against-persecution-of-bahais\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"MP speaks out in Parliament against persecution of Baha\u2019is"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/#website","url":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/","name":"Australian Baha'i Community","description":"The official website of the Baha'is of Australia","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/#\/schema\/person\/27e40e806cfb1ed651dbd81accc2b48f","name":"it-admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0defdebd8063ec2ce723629dbfefdb5171c04bb384ad103a85d694485f46ddbe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0defdebd8063ec2ce723629dbfefdb5171c04bb384ad103a85d694485f46ddbe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"it-admin"},"url":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/author\/it-admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1302"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1545,"href":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1302\/revisions\/1545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahai.org.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}