As part of its continuing service, Iran Press Watch is instituting a series of editorials which comment on conditions in Iran as well as potential pathways to solutions which could be explored through the Baha’i writings and related materials.

The Baha’is of Iran are eager to contribute actively to the social and economic improvement of that country and have had a long and cherished record of doing so through the formation of many schools, moral training classes, building of hospitals, hospices, motels, bathhouses, and much more.

Although Iran Press Watch was founded in order to provide independent and academic information on the persecution of Baha’is in Iran, we also look forward to a time when Iranians of all religious, ethnic and tribal communities can work together for the betterment of their homeland.

Towards this goal, we invite our readers to contribute short essays that might be suitable as editorials, which are oriented toward two very broad subjects:

1. Current conditions in Iran, and why they have led to the state of the country as it exists, from a social or economic perspective.

2. Outlines for how some of the ideas presented in the writings of the Baha’i faith-community could suggest solutions to social, economic or governance issues of Iran.

A few possible topics:

• Why such a small minority as the Baha’is, obedient to government and laws, attracts such intense hatred over such a long period of time
• The coming trial of the Yaran, and its effect on the image of Iran abroad
• The effect of the recent upheavals on Baha’is’ relationships with their Muslim neighbors in Iran
• The Baha’i approach to elections — indirect (electing local electors, who then elect national leaders), no parties, no politicking — and how such an approach might be of interest in areas of the world where the politics of disunity has led to national unrest
• The usefulness of integrating Iran socially and economically with the rest of the world
• The usefulness of orienting the encouragement of certain social norms toward rewards for desired behavior more than punishment for not behaving as desired
• The importance of trustworthiness in government
• Importance of the equality of men & women, and women’s education
• Usefulness to Iran of reducing extremes of wealth & poverty

And many more.

The point to this series is that the Baha’i writings are not merely abstract indicators for a future perfect society, but are highly relevant to specific currently existing conditions in the Iranian republic; they point to ways to improve that society through their consequent effects.  Editorials in this series will make this link explicitly and in some detail.