24 Friday, May 25, 1984 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS The Orchards Children's Services Window Fashion Sale Presents For Parent's Only 60%, Discounts to An Educational Series on Teenage Alcohol and Substance Abuse June 19 Free Measuring Y. ROBERT ST. JOHN Concern for Bahais } Topic: Pharmacology Drugs commonly used by teenagers — how to recognize them Presenter: Richard H. Smith M.A. June 27 Topic: Early Warning Signals of Abuse in your Teenager - What to Look for Presenter: Michael Abramsky Ph.D. J I 1 5 r _ _ • July 3 Topic: Use/Abuse/Addiction (Myth vs. Fact) Presenter: Fred Shade ACSW • • • • • • • July 10 Topic: Help! Locating an Appropriate Referral Source and what to expect from Treatment Presenter: Virginia Franklin-Vater B.S., S.W. Series Moderator: Jerry Johnson B.S. Director of Professional Services: David Maiseloff ACSW 16400 W. Twelve Mile Rd,. 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Maple • Birmingham, MI • 644-1651 MON. - SAT. 10 am - 5:30 pm THURS. & FRI. 'Til 8:30 pm There are many reasons why the fate of the 300,000 members of the religious organization known as the Bahais living in Iran should • be of concern to Jews. Although the Bahai faith is an offshoot of Islam, it has taken much of its beliefs and • teachings from Judaism. Although it had its origin in Persia, its holy city is Haifa. (Thousands of Jewish- Americans on toursto Israel have seen the golden dome of the Bahai Shrine half- way up Mount Carmel, glis- tening in the sun, Haifa's most brilliant landmark and one of its most dramatic tourist attractions.) Although El Bab, the founder of the Bahai religion, was assassinated in Persia, his bones were transported to Haifa for bu- rial. Also, the Bahais' "trut prophet," Baha'u'llah, was imprisoned for almost a quarter-of-a-century at Acre (AkkO) and there wrote his teachings in more than 100 books and letters, and was buried in that area. But there is a more com- pelling reason that Jews in general and Israelis in par- ticular should be concerned about what is happening to those Bahais still living in Iran. Historians have a right to judge a civilization, a people, a country, by the treatment it accords its minorities, especially its religious minorities. Nothing better illustrates how Israel and Iran should be judged than by the way those two countries are right now treating their minorities. What is happening in Is- rael and Iran to members of the Bahai faith is a good place to see the difference. The Jews of Israel not only encouraged the Bahais to establish their world headquarters in Haifa, but have accorded them every facility for the practice of their religion. The Bahais pay no taxation to the municipality on their reli- gious buildings. They have free movement in and out of the country. They are not molested in any way. Their shrine is on all the Israeli tours and Jewish Israeli guides give visitors a friendly description of the religious beliefs of the movement as the tour buses climb past the shrine and past the Parthenon-like building that houses the Bahai museum and arc- hives and is world head- quarters for what is known as the "Universal House of Justice." By contrast, in Iran the Khomeini regime has branded the Bahais "a wayward sect of Islam" whose members must either be wheedled back onto the path of orthodoxy or be annihilated. They are called, by the Iran govern- ment, "hypocrites" who are "trafficking with the devil." Anyone in Iran who gives employment to a memb f Bahai is severely punis Businesses owned by Bahais have been confis- cated. Hospitals which have admitted Bahais have been shut down. Bahai villages have been burned to the ground. Most of the Bahai leaders have been arrested — and then have vanished. Doesn't the pattern sound familiar? Worse than all that, thousands of members of Nothing better illustrates how Israel and Iran should be judged than by the way those two countries are treating their minorities. this sect, which teaches that all men are equal regardless of race, color, nationality or religion, have been put to death. How many of the 300,000 are still alive no one knows. Genocide is defined in my dictionary as "the systema- tic, planned annihilation of a racial, political, religious or cultural group." What the Khomeini people are doing to the Bahais is, therefore, genocide. For that reason all men of goodwill, and especially Jews, should be concerned about what is happening to this other minority. There are ways to express that concern. We can write letters to the editor, giving publicity to that concern. We can urge that our repre- sentatives in the United Nations raise their voices. It may not stop the slaughter, but it will put us on record as trying. We can show in many ways that we care Several weeks ago, de came to Pastor Neimuller. He is remembered best for a quotation that should be engraved in stone: - "First they went after the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not object. Then they went after the Catholics, but I was not a Catholic so I did not object. Then they went after the Trade Unionists, but I was not a Trade Unionist so I did not object. Then they came after me, and there was no one left to object."