The Other Venezuela

I and many others bring up Venezuela, the (latest) example of socialism in practice, as potentially enlightening for members of the younger generation who might be amenable to evidence and logical argument when it comes to politics. But the assault of the left against Western civilization isn't just against economic freedom. Iran, like Venezuela, can serve as an example of what life can be like under one of the many cultures the left insists is superior to our own -- when the "racist" idea of individual rights is discarded.

Apparently, it's high time for such an admonition, given that a college student is being publicly harassed for refusing to try on a hijab. From that just-linked blog post coms the following from a news story covering ongoing anti-hijab protests in Iran:

The choice of wearing a headscarf should not be a matter of life, liberty, or even bravery. (Image via Wikipedia)

"We are fighting against the most visible symbol of oppression," said Masih Alinejad, who hosts the website My Stealthy Freedom where women in Iran post photos of themselves without hijabs.

Under Iran"s Islamic law, imposed after the 1979 revolution, women are obliged to cover their hair with a scarf, known as a hijab, and wear long, loose-fitting clothes. Violators are publicly admonished, fined or arrested.

"These women are saying, "It is enough - it is the 21st century and we want to be our true selves,"" the Iranian activist told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Iranian police said on Thursday that 29 women who took part in the campaign had been arrested in Iran for protesting against the country"s compulsory hijab rules, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

Those arrested were accused of public order offences and referred to the state prosecutor"s office, Iranian media reported. [bold added, link in original]

The fact that the student being harassed isn't taking things lying down is encouraging, but it is alarming that such things go on with administrative approval. Aside from the campus group in the blog post, I am thinking of an email that landed in my in-box from a government university, which suggested celebrating "World Hijab Day." Perhaps it helps that, despite government schools working to replace young minds with invincibly prejudiced vessels of leftist orthodoxy, some of their teachings are so blatantly at odds (women should be treated as equals vs. multiculturalism here) that it's getting hard to miss.

They may have government schools in a death-grip, but it is increasingly obvious that the Law of Non-Contradiction is not on their side.

-- CAV