February 09, 2010
 
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| Evil, In the Name of God |
| by Deal W. Hudson |
| 5/31/09 |
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On June 26, a powerful film about the stoning of an Iranian woman accused by her husband of adultery will open in ten cities around the country. When a friend called to invite me to see a preview of The Stoning of Soraya M., I was initially hesitant.
"Is the film trying to demonize Muslims?" I asked her.
"Absolutely not," she answered. She explained that the movie is based upon a book relating to the true story of Soraya Manutchehri, who was stoned to death in August 2006. As she described to me the different characters in the small Muslim village, I realized that this was the kind of human tale that, sadly, can happen in any community where the power of life and death is held in the hands of an unaccountable few.
Arthur Miller told the Christian version of the same story in "The Crucible," which was set in the midst of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.
The film, as it turns out, was overwhelming. The Stoning of Soraya M. reduced everyone in the room to stunned silence. I was so affected, my own voice could hardly rise above a whisper after I left the screening. This is a film that needs to be seen by every earnest person of faith who wishes that "something could be done" about the degradation of our society. There are indeed temptations, lurking just below the surface, for those who act to enforce "community standards."
The character pushing the plot is the husband of Soraya -- Ali -- played with villainous gusto by Iranian actor Naven Negahban. When we first meet him, Ali has fallen for another woman -- the 14-year old daughter of a wealthy man -- and is looking for a way to be rid of his wife. He enlists the village leaders to force her to work for the recently widowed Hashem. But Soraya's presence in the house of another man provides Ali with the opportunity to accuse her of adultery.
Ali enlists the local mullah and mayor to support his claims, which everyone knows could lead to Soyara's death by ritual stoning. The mullah, played well by Ali Pourtash, is corrupt but abuses the community's reverence for Islam to maintain his power. The mayor, Ebrahim (David Diaan), a man of good will and conscience, initially doubts Ali's claim and distrusts the mullah. Watching him gradually pulled into Ali's conspiracy gives the film its universal scope. The village of Kupayeh, you realize, is no different from any city where ideology or religion strictly guides the daily life of its citizens.
The tide turns against Soraya when Hashem gives false evidence against her. He initially refused but caves in after the mullah threatens to use the power of Sharia law to kill him and send his son to a mental hospital or prison. "God forgive me," Hashem utters as he lies to protect himself and his son.
The heroine of The Stoning is Soraya's aunt, Zahra, played with unforgettable poignancy by Shohreh Aghdashloo. (All the actors are Iranian, with the exception of Jim Caviezel, who plays the journalist Freidoune -- an accidental visitor to the town.) Zahra sees Ali's schemes, warns Soraya, and fights the husband, the mullah, and the mayor, risking her own life to save her niece. When she can't save Soraya, she seizes the opportunity presented by Freidoune's arrival.
The final scenes of the movie show the stoning. Soraya is buried up to her waist in the sandy soil, with her arms bound behind her back. Her father, who has joined the angry mob, is given the first stones. "She is no longer my daughter," he yells as he throws them. When they fall nowhere near his daughter, Zahra tries to intervene, saying this is a sign the stoning should stop. Some of the women shriek their agreement as Zahra is dragged away. Ali, seeing the mood about to change, grabs some stones himself, and makes sure he finds his target. When Soraya's two boys take stones in their hands, I realized I was watching a kind of abortion in reverse.
"I will tell the world," Zahra tells Soraya as she prepares for her death. She kept her promise, and both the book and this film are her witness. Most movies we watch are enjoyed and forgotten overnight -- The Stoning of Soraya M. will leave you changed and forever on guard against the abuse of divine law.
Deal W. Hudson is the director of InsideCatholic.com and the author of Onward, Christian Soldiers: The Growing Political Power of Catholics and Evangelicals in the United States (Simon and Schuster). Readers have left 8 comments. Deal, Very appropriate column, given today's events.  Written by JC While what you say may be true, Deal, I did not take that away from the movie, which I saw in LA this week. Soraya M. is not stoned because of religious zealotry. Ali, the husband, is just plain evil: lustful, selfish and violent; he compels the mullah to go along by blackmail, and the mayor has made a habit of accommodation to evil in the Ayatollah's Iran and therefore makes only the slightest effort to see if the charges are true because it is easier for him to go along with the others. You thought him a man of conscience?! He prays for a sign that the stoning should not proceed, and then he gets his sign, but decides to ignore it. This reminds me of those who think abortion is okay if the woman has agonized over her choice. The issue of this movie is that women in this and other cultures have no defense in law against such actions. All that prevents such stonings from happening more frequently is that most men are not the monsters that Ali was. It was a powerful movie, though I couldn't make myself watch the stoning. The question is, will it be watched in those countries where it most needs to be seen? Written by Angela Lessard I have not seen the movie, but I have read of various stonings in media reports. Also, several young men were hanged for being gay. How do we deal with a country where such things happen? We certainly have more than our share of problems, however, these kind of things happening indicate that Iran is a nation which has moved back to the Middle Ages. Can we nudge them with tough diplomacy? I tend to think not, given this sort of insanity. In Europe Christians used to burn people at the stake for various "offenses", although this was more often done by civil authorities and mobs as opposed to the Inquisition. We seem to have moved beyond this, however, Iran has gone back to it. Our Founding Fathers knew what they were doing with the Constitution and Bill of Rights. There is nothing more dangerous than fanatics and corrupt men with unlimited power. Written by Austin <I>The Stoning of Soraya M. will leave you changed and forever on guard against the abuse of divine law. </I> I haven't seen it and I don't plan to but I do hope it leads more Americans to conclude it is a horrible idea to allow Muslim Immigration into America. Written by I am not Spartacus This film must be a remarkable piece of propaganda to cause Deal Hudson, an intelligent and articulate man of the right, to apparently question the basic principle of conservatism: the right and duty of every particular culture to publicly embrace a non-utilitarian vision of justice and the human good, and to embody this vision in custom, hierarchy, and law. And, of course, any vision which embraces loftier goods than freedom and pleasure is likely to be connected to that people's religion. So far as I can tell, the only argument this movie makes against traditional societies is that the powers they grant to enforce social control can be abused. But what is the alternative? Give all power to atheist liberals, who will pretend to be "neutral" between different theories of the good, as all the while they ruthlessly attack parental authority, chastity, filial piety, and religion? Should these pious Muslims throw away their reverence for the marriage bond, so that, like we swinish Westerners, they loose the ability to be horrified by adultery? Written by Bonald Propaganda? Sometimes the truth is powerful enough to persuade. And the truths that Deal remarked upon in this movie are the truths have nothing to do with reactionary fears against the anti-religious animus prevalent in today's West. Rather, it's a story about lies, deceit, corruption and vice combining with a theocracy, causing the death of an innocent woman. If you see that as some sort of propaganda, you might want to re-think your premises. Written by Jason Negri I haven't seen the movie--it sounds like a powerful and worthwhile film. However, I think the message Deal Hudson seems inclined to draw from it needs to be thought through a little more. If the story is as he describes it, there must have been a corruption of souls here that reached far beyond two or three people at the top, so the problem is not primarily with power being consolidated in the hands of a few. Furthermore, the problem with the men who perpetrated this great evil, or those who went along with it, was not that they wanted to enforce community standards, or that they wanted something done about the degradation of society. Everyone by definition wants to act to enforce some community standards--including people (hopefully all of us) who would wish to prevent evils such as the one portrayed in this movie. Written by Darcy As an ex-muslem I can truly say that the root of this evil is Koran and the life and explicit teaching of Muhammad on this matter. As long as Koran will be considered as the word of God, evil behavior like this one will always be justified. whereas aberrations made by Christians are always in contradiction with the life and teaching of their Founder. That's why I chose Jesus and left Muhammad. God Bless Written by Paul.D |
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