Scripture: 2 Corinthians 9:7 – “Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not regretfully or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (NRSVUE)
On September 16, Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman was beaten to death by the “Guidance Patrol”, the morality police of Iran, because she was wearing her head scarf, called a hijab, improperly. In 1979, after the Iranian Revolution, it became mandatory that all women wear hijabs as a sign of their Islamic faith. Those who did not were faced with increasingly harsh fines and sometimes worse, as Amini’s death proved.
In France, thoughts about the hijab are different. In 2010, the Senate of France passed a law banning niqabs, headscarves that also obscure the lower face. This was not done just for security reasons, but to enforce the French policy of secularism. Overt signs of religiosity were deemed inappropriate for a nation that valued freedom of, and increasing freedom from, religion in public spaces. Today, hijabs are still allowed, but are frowned upon in general, and banned in governmental and academic settings. Last year, President Emmanuel Macron withdrew support for one of his party’s candidates after she wore a hijab in a campaign poster.
So, in our position as Americans, we can agree that the hijab is bad, right? It is a sign of oppression and superstition. But that is not what I have heard from my Muslim acquaintances. When they wear a hijab, it is a sign of their faith. It is a way to show modesty, not before men, but before God. It is part of a tradition which they love.
I mention all this not to weigh in on foreign political issues, but to talk about how we should approach our own faith. Should our faith be mandated? I think many of us would believe that all people should know the love of Christ, but if they were coerced into that faith, would they really be Christian? Would they truly have a deep relationship with God, or would it be surface deep just to avoid persecution? What kind of church would we be if people felt this way?
I think it comes down to freedom. In my opinion, both Iran and France are wrong, because while many Christians believe that hijabs are signs of the oppression of women, we should trust in the ability for Muslim women to make up their own minds about their faith, and not have their husbands or their governments force them to do one thing or the other. Think about how wonderful your faith is because you are able to make your own decisions about it.
Christianity has always valued this freedom. In Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians, the apostle is trying desperately to raise money for poor and oppressed Christians in Jerusalem. As the founder and spiritual leader of the church, he could easily have said that giving to the poor was a requirement for being Christian, but he knew what kind of Christians they would be under this kind of coercion. He wrote, “Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not regretfully or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” Being Christian means being free from sin, but also free to love. Love which is demanded is not love, but slavery. So, in your prayers today, thank God not only for the beauties of life, but also for freedom. Pray that all may have freedom of conscience, so that they may discover the love of God in all its wonderful forms.
Prayer: God, we thank you for the freedom to give our hearts to you. Help us to fight for others’ freedoms, even if we do not always agree with them. Amen.
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