Iran's 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' Policy

I've known for a long time about tolerance in the great land formerly known as Persia. In Iran, the maximum penalty for being gay is death. But the Religion of Tolerance does allow you to be a Christian. See, tolerant. However, if you try to practice your Christianity and follow the Great Commission you will be thrown in jail. And if you happend to convert to Christianity? Jail--or worse. The maximum sentence for conversion to Christianity in Iran is death.

Today a knew one for me. In Iran, it appears Christians are also barred from military service. Compass Direct:

Yesterday a Tehran military court sentenced Iranian Christian pastor Hamid Pourmand to jail for three years, ordering his immediate transfer to a group prison cell in TehranÂ’s notorious Evin Prison.

The former army colonel was found guilty of deceiving the Iranian armed forces by not declaring when he acquired officer rank that he was a convert from Islam to Christianity. Under the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran, it is illegal for a non-Muslim to serve as a military officer.

During yesterdayÂ’s hearing, PourmandÂ’s lawyer produced several documents in which his clientÂ’s military superiors had acknowledged years ago that the colonel was a Christian. He had even been excused by his commander from observing the Muslim month of fasting, an exemption granted only to non-Muslims.....

The next part sounds eerily similar to the way in which Muslim states treat Jews. Jews are routinely accused of being spies for Israel and are forbidden from making any contact with family members in 'The Zionist Entity. The mass migration of 500,000 Jews out of Muslim dominated countries to Israel can be partially blamed on this scapegoating of Jews as 'Zionist spies'.

During the hearing, prosecutors also questioned Pourmand closely on accusations that he had been involved in spying against his country. “They have nothing at all to prove this,” one acquaintance of the lay pastor told Compass. “He denied it, because he really had no contact with foreigners at all. He is not that kind of person.”

In 1990, the Iranian regime used trumped-up spying charges as a pretext to arrest, try and execute a convert Christian pastor from Mashhad for alleged “treason.” ...

A lawyer acting on behalf of PourmandÂ’s family said he will appeal the verdict to the Supreme Court. Simultaneously, he hopes to block efforts to put Pourmand on trial before a sharia court of Islamic law, where under charges of apostasy and proselytizing he could be sentenced to death.

ht: Robert Spencer

Posted by: Rusty at 09:51 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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