The night Mahsa Amini was murdered by the police in September 2022, the streets of Iran acquired a new meaning. That night, the Iranian regime, which claimed divine inspiration, chose bullets and batons to respond to the grief of its people. One clear implication emerges: a regime that kills its own people cannot claim to be righteous.

Human rights organizations have documented thousands of people killed by the regime since the outbreak of the waves of protests, and many more injured, arrested, or missing, though some human rights activists have claimed tens of thousands, a figure that cannot be verified. Whatever the numbers, one thing is clear: the Iranian regime uses deadly force against its own people, who have been protesting for dignity, justice, and basic human rights. A government does not require evidence of human rights abuses to be condemned; it requires evidence of humanity, which the Iranian regime appears to have lost.

But one question continues to plague us: why does a government that claims to be guided by God’s will resort to violence first? Religion, at its core, is meant to be a source of morality, not immorality. A government that shoots its own teenagers, beats its own women for strands of hair, and sentences its own people to death after sham trials cannot claim to be guided by God’s will. Religion is a uniform, not a moral compass.

Power imposed under threat of fear has already failed. When people no longer consent to rule, and rule is imposed at the point of a gun, it is not the power that has failed but the legitimacy of the rule. What we see is a government in fear of losing power and confusing silence with security and graves with governance. This is not a strength; this is panic with a payroll.

People wonder why there is killing when there are prisons. The answer appears to be grimly logical. Prisons leave witnesses and martyrs alive and stories to be told. Death is intended to be final and serve as a warning inscribed across the public square. But history continues to laugh at this logic. Everybody begets more questions, more discontent, and more resolve.

What form of government must protect itself from its citizens and hunt them down in the streets? What form of government has forgotten the distinction between itself and the state, and law and loyalty? I refuse to accept the premise that order demands blood. An order based upon fear is weak and shatters like glass at the first sign of fear, losing its grip.
There is a wicked paradox at the core of this conflict. The government claims it fights to protect morality. But in doing so, it normalizes brutality. It claims it fights to protect life. But in doing so, it treats lives as nothing more than collateral damage. By doing both, it teaches a generation of citizens that authority is something to be endured rather than respected.

THAT’S a verse from the Gospel of St. Matthew. (8,17) It’s actually from the Book of Isaiah (53,4) expressing a prophecy that Christ fulfilled through the many miraculous healings he made while going around preaching.

It’s a truth of faith that we need to cultivate and keep deeply and strongly in our mind and heart, especially when we find ourselves hounded by all kinds of infirmities and suffering all kinds of diseases. This way we would not waste time suffering unnecessarily and would just learn to bear all the inconveniences, convinced that in the end Christ would take care of everything.

We should just have a sporting spirit, spiced with a good sense of humor as we go through the unavoidable sufferings we would encounter in this life. We need a sporting spirit because life’s true failure can come only when we choose not to have hope. That happens when our vision and understanding of things is narrow and limited, confined only to the here and now and ignorant of the transcendent reality of the spiritual and supernatural world.

Besides, life involves a till-death struggle against all sorts of enemies, starting with our own treacherous self, the ever-seductive world, and most of all, the spiritual enemies who certainly are more powerful than us.

Finally, life involves pursuing a goal that is much greater, yes, infinitely greater than ourselves. We should not be a bad sport who gives up easily without even trying, or who surrenders in the middle of an exciting and suspenseful game.

We therefore have to develop a strong spiritual sportsmanship in the tenor expressed in some words of St. Paul: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.” (1 Cor 9,24)

Aside from a strong sense of self-discipline and submitting ourselves in a continuing training program, an indispensable ingredient of this healthy sporting spirit is the sense of acceptance and abandonment that we need to deliberately cultivate. This does not come automatically, as if it’s part of our genes. We have to develop them.

We have to learn to accept things the way they are or the way they can be. Yes, it’s true that we can shape things and events in our life. We can even shape persons to a certain extent.

While some heavy drama may be involved, let’s be convinced that we are given a game plan that assures us of victory. It’s the game plan of hope in the ever wise, omnipotent and merciful providence of God. What is needed here is precisely a healthy sense of acceptance and abandonment in the hands of God.

Added to that is a good sense of humor which definitely has very salutary effects and advantages. It makes us see things better. It makes us more flexible and more able to handle varying situations.

It gives us some space and distance from events so that we would be able to assess and judge things calmly and properly. And all this aside from its immediate effect of making everybody feel good, which is already a tremendous thing.

In the face of severe trials, joy expressed in wit and humor is a precious element to have. It can only show one’s deep trust and confidence in the providence of God. There’s absolutely nothing to be afraid of. There’s the conviction that everything, including martyrdom, is an organic part of God’s saving plan for the person concerned and for everyone else.