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Partnering makes vital community happenReview Date: 2007-06-12
Neighbor Power---Jim Diers says "Power to the people!"Review Date: 2005-01-07
Great Ideas for Community BuildingReview Date: 2004-12-02
Inspiring!Review Date: 2004-12-01
Reader Review of Neighbor PowerReview Date: 2005-01-30
If you're an activist, you'll find some concrete, useful theories and techniques on how to accomplish your goals. I'm no activist. But reading about these small, very important changes--made by common citizens--could make an activist out of anyone.


Finally, justiceReview Date: 2009-03-27
The Tale Of Two Heroes - An Amazing Tale of The LawReview Date: 2001-01-05
Beckwith was tried twice for the crime; each time the jury was hung.
A quarter of a century later, an intrepid reporter named Jerry Mitchell of the Jackson Clarion-Ledger shook Mississippi to the core when he uncovered new evidence that pointed to Beckwith's guilt. Myrlie Evers, an amazing woman who was widowed by Beckwith's bullet, took that evidence to the Hinds County District Attorney's Office and asked that the case be reopened.
At first, the DA was sympathetic but skeptical. Then a brilliant Assistant District Attorney, Bobby DeLaughter, began investigating the possibility of indicting Beckwith.
This is the true story of DeLaughter's dogged, relentless search for justice. The story was partly told in the film "Ghosts of Mississippi" in which DeLaughter was played by Alec Baldwin. However, DeLaughter's real life account of the trial is far more captivating, amazing and, ultimately satisfying than the movie's version.
This book has the passion and riveting surprises of the best of Grisham or Turow, combined with the emotional impact of "Eyes On The Prize" and "The Long Walk Home." DeLaughter, a fluid and powerful writer, takes us deep into the heart of evil as he investigates a powerful Klansman.
In the end, this book is a triumphant and uplifting reminder of how the legal system can still bring justice.
Highest Recommendation.
A Bible For Young Lawyers Like MeReview Date: 2004-03-22
I am a Filipino, there is no racial discrimination in our country... yet I cried many times while reading this book.
If you read this book you will really learn to appreciate the value of human dignity.
Thought provoking wonderful narrativeReview Date: 2002-07-22
Justice delayed but thankfully not denied.Review Date: 2001-04-19
This is a great read, so compelling I could not put it down. In many ways this book reads like a mystery. So much of what was needed to prepare the case against Byron De La Beckwith was lost during the long period between the killing and the final trial. Twice shut out, the stakes couldn't have been higher for the prosecution in this third outing. The book is no less suspenseful because the verdict is known. Although an intensely personal account, Mr. DeLaughter clearly and consicely explains the legal hurdles the prosecution faced and incisively analyzes the behavior and motivations of the defendant. Mr. De Laughter is widely descibed as very private, but in his writing he and his experience are so accessible the reader feels as if s/he is there every step of the way. This is an intelligent and inspiring work that should not be missed.


"A must read for every American Jew"Review Date: 2008-09-14
Helping Jewish Americans Help ThemselvesReview Date: 2008-01-29
Intellectually excitingReview Date: 2008-01-12
I am also very pleased to discover Dr. Blecher's careful, impressive scholarship. So many books contain only a superficial nod towards actually doing your homework in service of gratifying the author's ego. It is a joy to spend time in the company of such a learned mind! This book combines a deep knowledge base with fresh ideas about the future of Judaism. I love to see books that make us question our assumptions, particularly when an author is not afraid to challenge an establishment.
His purpose is to make Judaism more meaningful, to invigorate discussion, and get us all thinking. He offers a new perspective on the role of rabbis, synagogues, and Jewish families in their communities. I would love to see this book provoking long needed national and international self-examination for all of us interested in exploring what it means to be Jewish, and what it means to offer this tradition to our children.
A refreshing voiceReview Date: 2007-11-23
Enlightening, Passionate, Refreshing Review Date: 2007-10-18
Dr. Blecher challenges many "myths" being pushed in the mainstream Jewish world such as the children of interfaith marriages are less likely to identify as Jews and that interfaith marriages themselves harm the Jewish community.
While much the New American Judaism focuses on demonstrating that these "myths" are repeated without any imperical evidence, Rabbi Blecher provides the reader with solid and positive data and anecdotal evidence to show that indeed Judaism is thriving and that interfaith marriages enhance rather than detract from this fact.
Blecher's book should bring American Jews and non Jews in Jewish families (and their families) to a place in which they can see a new and postive and extremely INCLUSIVE approach to Judaism in the US.

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Pure Jeffersonian RepublicanismReview Date: 2002-05-14
domination of one section of the union over the other are prophetic. Anyone who believes in states rights, republicanism, and democracy should read New Views. This friend of Thomas Jefferson deserves the look. He espouses pure Jeffersonian Reoublicanism.
A States' Rights BibleReview Date: 2005-03-11
The language of 180 years ago, coupled with Taylor's agonizing repetitiveness, make this a somewhat tedious and difficult read, but one that is certainly worth the effort. The basic theme of the book is how nationalism was proposed and defeated in favor of federalism at our Constitutional Convention, however, there has been, from the beginning, a behind the scenes push to propagate a system of nationalism by what would be considered today, a liberal governmental faction. Taylor meticulously explains how this objective was set into motion and its consequences of the deterioration of states rights and personal freedoms. It doesn't take much effort for the knowledgeable reader to see how that battle has been furthered in the years since Taylor first exposed the nationalism gameplan.
Americans today tend to look upon the misdeeds of government and ask, "How can they get away with doing that?" Taylor clearly illustrates how it all began and that there is nothing new under the sun. But he also goes further in explaining various ways of "righting the ship" so to speak, and discusses the consequences of each differing course of action.
Oh, if we could only find a congressman today who possessed the clear headed tenacity of John Taylor of Caroline. A person who would fear not the consequences of unpopularity and stand tall to examine the true principles upon which our founding promoted.
If you are conservative, this book is a must read and will arm you with ammunition to clearly discuss states' rights and original intent. If you are a liberal, this outstanding book will help cure your mental condition and lead you down a path of understanding.
As an endnote, I don't normally comment on the quality of the book itself, but this one warrants comment. The book is printed on quality acid free paper and comes with a cloth bookmark. A nice touch.
Monty Rainey
www.juntosociety.com
essential reading for political science majorsReview Date: 1997-12-24
Still the definitive treatise on the ConstitutionReview Date: 2004-01-30
Martyn Babitz, Esquire - author of THE ILLUSION OF FREEDOM: How To Restore The True Constitution And Reclaim Liberty Now
A Remarkable Defense of States' Rights and the Compact ViewReview Date: 2005-04-28
Justice Joseph Story, a champion of judicial nationalism, scoffed at the book for its title and never read it. "I once saw a book advertised New Views of the Constitution. I was startled! What right a man to start new views upon it?" Though, Taylor wrote his book to answer the perennial question, "What is the American form of government-national or federal?" Utilising recently published notes from Robert Yates which were sealed as was most the proceedings at the convention for years, John Taylor sought to give clarity and insight on the Constitution. Taylor makes it abundantly clear that the nationalising tenets of the consolidationist-monarchist camp were aired and summarily defeated at the convention following ratification. The ratified Constitution was the consensus produced which was wholly "federal" and not "national." Hamilton's nationalist motions were all struck down in the Convention. "Although, neither the Virginia plan nor Mr. Hamilton succeeded in the convention, they embraced a mass of talents, too proud and powerful for humility and submission; and they resorted to the engine of construction, to be directed by many an Archimedes," notes Taylor. And this is precisely what Hamilton did, as he tried to conflate the teleocratic principle of "general welfare" expressed into the preamble into a grant of power. The so called "general welfare" clause was merely the expressed interest in which delegated powers were to serve, and is hardly a grant of power in itself as Hamilton would postulate. The language of the Constitution was to be subverted by the nationalists through construction: they would malign the "necessary and proper" clause, they manipulated the so called national supremacy clause, and lastly they animated the "We the people" clause in the preamble with an esoteric democratic nationalism as if the American people were one consolidated mass. If one studies the debates, and the deducible nature of sovereignty which flows from the States, it should be readily apparent that the United States was framed as a federal republic and not a national unitary state. John Taylor championed a true federal polity and the Constitution which he saw as compact among sovereign States. The States delegated certain, expressed enumerated powers to the general government, and the interlocking structures set by the Constitution embodied the whole federal polity. The Tenth Amendment clarified the consensus at the 1787 Convention: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." Taylor was keenly aware of the lessons of history, and that "the Roman republik" having been subverted into centralised imperium "was secured by republican words." For this reason, he would not stand idle as centralizing sophists tried to engage in such chicanery, so as to disfigure the American republic.
All things considered, John Taylor of Caroline offers a remarkably insightful work and this neglected classic is pivotal in gaining valuable introspection on the study of the constitutional debates and the convention of 1787. The "Sage of Hazelwood" was a great American patriot, a principled republican and a champion of states rights. His exposition is a keystone for true federalists and defenders of states' rights.
"Sovereignty is the highest degree of political power, and the establishment of a form of government, the highest proof which can be given of its existence. The states could have not reserved any rights by articles of their union, if they had not been sovereign, because they could have no rights, unless they flowed from that source. In the creation of the federal government, the states exercised the highest act of sovereignty, and they may, if they please, repeat the proof of their sovereignty, by its annihilation. But the union possesses no innate sovereignty, like the states; it was not self-constituted; it is conventional, and of course subordinate to the sovereignties by which it was formed." -John Taylor of Caroline.

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Garbus continues Darrow's tradition!Review Date: 2008-01-02
This book is must reading for anyone who is concerned about fairness and compassion in the meting out of justice by the federal judiciary. It is an easy-to-read constitutional history of the most significant cases and their effects on Americans.
There are a few errors that should have been caught during the review and editing. For example, on page 56, the name of Richard Mellon Scaife is given as Richard Scaife Mellon, and on pages 110-111, the date of Baker v. Carr is incorrectly listed as 1959, rather than the correct date of 1962. It is correct in note 42. And a final example will suffice. On page 132, Justice Byron White is incorrectly identified as his 19th century predecessor Justice Edward White. However, these errors do not detract from Mr. Garbus' cogent insight and call to action of all who believe, as he does, that "We need justice now[!]"
On a personal note, as a Louisiana native and student of its history, I was aware of the Colfax, LA, riot and murders of April 13, 1873. However, I was not familiar with United States v. Cruikshank (1876) that arose from the attempted criminal prosecution of the Colfax murderer s (p. 90). And I was certainly not aware that Justices Rehnquist, Scalia, Thomas, Kennedy, and O'Connor had resurrected this Reconstruction-era bias as a precedent in Morrison v. United States to rule on May 15, 2000, that "Congress had no power to punish private violence motivated by gender" (p. 90). Another pernicious Louisiana case, Plessy v. Ferguson (May 18, 1896), has been cited by the Rehnquist and Roberts courts to "provide the basis of future decisions on issues ranging from abortion to civil liberties to race and gender persecution" (p. 70). Plessy v. Ferguson is the Supreme Court case sanctioning segregation in which the Court ruled that "separate but equal" facilities were constitutional. Plessy was not overturned until Brown v. Topeka Board of Education in 1954.
Tells you what's going on...Review Date: 2007-02-24
A Chilling Analysis of the Future of the Supreme courtReview Date: 2007-02-24
The Best Supreme Court Book YetReview Date: 2007-02-20
This is a wonderful book. Like his previous book, "Courting Disaster," Martin Garbus tells what really happens in the Supreme Court. He also describes the Court from a political viewpoint and goes through each of the court subjects and shows how each judge comes out. It's detailed, knowledgable and a pleasure to read. I'm not a lawyer, and I loved it.
A brilliant, hard-hitting attack on today's right-wing courtReview Date: 2007-02-08
Instead of revisiting past cases, Garbus looks to the future -- specifically, what the next quarter century holds for America given the makeup of the incredibly conversative Roberts court. Given the ages of the most conservative members -- Scalia, Roberts, Alito and Thomas -- these guys will be around and voting as a bloc for a long time to come. If you think the Rehnquist years were bad, you ain't seen nothin' yet. What Garbus sees happening as a result is very upsetting -- nothing less than a conservative revolution to undo every progressive decision on the Supreme Court since the New Deal. No more reguolatory laws controlling Wall Street, no more environmental regulation, no more protection for workers and minorities, no more protection for abortion (though this will not be attacked directly), no govrenment agencies regulating American business, nothing whatsoever to balance the private sector run amok and the evils of prejudice and discrimination.
It's a nightmare vision, but it's no nightmare -- it's all to real. And Garbus elucidates the developments, and the history bhind them, in a clear, simple and dramatic way. If you want to know what's going to happen on the Supreme Court -- and therefore in all of our lives -- in the next 25 years, this book will show you the very scary truth. Take it as a call to action. and make sure we don't let any more conservatives on the court for a long time to come!

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Important book to read for anyone looking to cast an honest ballotReview Date: 2009-04-08
Shaping future debatesReview Date: 2007-09-28
A necessary step in achieving political change in AmericaReview Date: 2004-04-13
A Must Read for People Concerned About DemocracyReview Date: 2004-05-01
Absolutely Necessary ReadingReview Date: 2004-09-25
Mark my words: if this control of the debate continues than less and less voters will show up to the booths. And also, if John Kerry is stupid enough to agree to a protocol for the debate as was done in debates past, he will certainly lose the election because you have to catch George W. Bush off gaurd to see what he's really made of.

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Well written, concise, relevantReview Date: 2009-06-01
Best if read several times...Review Date: 2002-04-21
. Spooner repeats in places for emphasis, but the thread of his argument sweeps on through the various objections that one might raise along his route.
. If you think it repeats, try to outline it. You'll find that each section presents his point in another light.
. As a matter of fact, any attempt to state the theme in a paragraph would lower it to a statement of personal opinion rather than the masterful essay which it is.
Dan Marks
Republic of Texas
.
Critique of the constitution and social contract in AmericaReview Date: 1998-05-13
If you feel that this is not a contract, or that it is some sort of special contract, well then this book will probably just bore and/or annoy you. I am not sure how to understand the Constitution, or my participation in a tacit social contract, and found this book entirely compelling and wonderful. I buy many copies and hand them out to my long-suffering friends.
An essay of flaws underlying the basis of this Republic.Review Date: 1999-07-09
If the Constitution has no authority, what does? Is it power, like might making right, that controls and restrains our liberties? Or is it the individual, who must live under the rules of the coercive collective, through ballot counts of a minority of the population, the "voters"?
And if the Constitution does have authority, does that authority include authorizing our government to abuse our rights as citizens and as people?
Spooner notes in his opening, speaking of the original writers of the Constitution, "If they had intended to bind their posterity to live under it, they should have said that their object was, not 'to secure to them the blessings of liberty,' but to make slaves of them; for if their 'posterity' are bound to live under it, they are nothing less than the slaves of their foolish, tyrannical, and dead grandfathers." So starts the essay.
Destroying all support for voting by secret ballot, for voluntarily paying taxes, for respecting elected officials (members of a "secret band of robbers and murderers"), for recognizing treaties, for giving oaths to support the Constitution, etc, etc,... the essay makes all common wisdom built upon our accepted, politically correct fallacies collapse under the weight of our own reason.
If you ever read this book, remember... our rights are not granted by government; rather, we institute government to protect our rights.
An Essay That Causes Readers to Think about the U.S. Constitution, the Common Law, and Natural LawReview Date: 2008-04-19
Spooner thought that the Constitution had no binding authority based on the laws of contract, association, and due process. Spooner stated that those who ratified the Constitution had no authority to bind posterity to the document since these men could not get suceeding generations to sign or agree to a contract. Spooner argued that these men expressed a hope and a sentiment rather than any iron-clad contract. Spooner stated that in a legal case of contract, a plantiff could not enforce a judgement against a civil defendant if the defendant's name was not signed to a contract. The U.S. Constitution which was ratified in 1787 could not possibly be contractually binding on future generations. Spooner also used the example of a corporations whose members signed contracts to create these institutions. However, once the original individuals died, the corporation died with them them unless successors agreed to continue the corportation by SIGNED written contract.
Spooner also makes a good case of any political document actually representing the "people." Estimates are that during the first three-quaters of the 19th. century, between one-tenth and one-twentieth of the U.S. population were elgible to vote, and yet even fewer of elgible voters actually voted. Spooner was clear that this is not representing "the people." Spooner was aware that voting was supposed to select the best men for government posts. Yet, voting was too often a self defense motive against those who may vote against one's interests.
Spooner further stated that Article I Paragraph 6 protected U.S. Representatives and Senators from arrest except except for treason, felony,etc. Yet, U.S. Senators and Representatives could meet in secret sessions, "behind closed doors," and in seclusion to make poltical deals that could make any ordinary citizen subject to arrest and trial for criminal conspiracy. Yet, the privledged members of the U.S. Congress were made immune to such legal sanctions. The same could be said for members of state legislatures. Who is the judge of unjust legislation and congressional action? Spooner is clear that appointed federal judges are the final arbiters who rarely overturn such unjust laws. Members of the U.S. Congress are seldom held accountable, and the impeachment and removal from office procedures are so awkward and slow as to be of little or no avial.
Spooner also makes the connection between wealthy interests and the government (any government). Governments borrow huge sums from these interests at extremly high interest rates and use armed force to pay for these loans via taxes. Yet, the lenders sometimes bet on a losing cause. One footnote reminds readers that the French banking house of Erlanger loaned huge sums to the Confederacy who lost the U.S. Civil War. Another example mentioned were the loans made by the Rothchilds to the Hapsburgs in 1866, and the Hapsburgs lost a war with the Prussians so quickly that the war is known as The Seven Weeks War.
There is an interesting comment in this collection of essays that Spooner started a private mail company called the Amercian Letter Mail Company in 1845 which competed successfully with the U.S. Postal Service until The American Mail Letter Company was voted out of existence. There is an interesting comment that Spooner's short-lived business was successful. Stamp collectors do not consider the stamps very valuable because so many are available which implies a good business volume.
Spooner's legal and political thinking are not outdated when one considers the concentrations of power in the U.S. Spooner made the remark that those who swear to uphold the U.S. Constituion have not read it. Whatever Spooner's criticisms of the U.S. Constitution were, they pale into insignificance given the arbitrary use of political power since Post Civil War history. Yet, Spooner's essay and the footnotes to this collection are a reminder of what thoughtful men considered. This reviewer was told that these essays have been used in law schools which may be help some jurists and attorneys put the brakes on arbitrary political actions. This reviewer is reminded of the phony publicity given to some poltical hacks who extolled their Contract with American. When asked about whether if this applied to this reviewer, the answer was "No,where did I sign it and who authorized anyone to speak on my behalf?"

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Very importantReview Date: 2009-03-13
The Basics of CouncilismReview Date: 2008-03-22
A good introductory collectionReview Date: 2008-02-08
Speaking for myself, reading the book has been a salutary experience. I've only begun studying the Marxian critique of political economy, and this compilation has helped me keep in mind *why* I'm opposed to capitalism in its fundamentals.
timely and nicely doneReview Date: 2007-08-20
The council communists, like so many others, were stomped out of existence by the Leninist dictatorships. This book presents, through several works by the most well-known council communists, a view of the alterative model of democratic revolutionary socialism that the Leninists destroyed.
An Important and Well Selected CollectionReview Date: 2007-08-21
The books leads off with Hermann Gorter's Open Letter to Comrade Lenin, which is a powerful response to Lenin's Left-Wing Communism: An Infantile Disorder and also include's Gorter's arguments for the founding of the (original) 4th international, the Communist Workers' International. After Sylvia Pankhurst's primer on the nature of post-revolutionary society, the book concludes with Otto Ruhle's Revolution is Not a Party Affair on the importance of focus on the economic organization of the working class, not merely for reforms of traditional trade unionism, but as a vehicle for revolutionary action and, finally, with the letter from Ruhle to his comrades in the KAPD written from Russia, after deciding to not participate in the third congress of the Comintern. The latter work is an excellent note to end on, providing an inside glimpse into the cynical opportunism into which the Russian Communists were swiftly degenerating, while displaying the unbending revolutionary resolve and tremendous depth of courage the council communists displayed in confronting these developments.
There are two minor disappointments here, however, including the selections offered from Anton Pannekoek. One would have liked to have seen his later work The Workers' Councils, as well as his excellent Lenin As Philosopher. The other disappointment being the lack of any writings from Paul Mattick, who became the leading voice of council communism after the death of Pannekoek for most of the 20th Century.
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wonderful book!Review Date: 2009-04-17
History, what if they got it wrong?Review Date: 2008-01-27
We find a lot of pictures and supporting evidence that the timeline of the pharaohs may have been a tad off. And in the process of finding the actual timeline, we also find an intriguing mystery. As we search through the Greek epics to find if there's really been a Troy war did Odysseus really exist, we must also ask ourselves what about the legend of Oedipus?
I will not go into the details of how this legend may be based on a historical truth as that's why you are buying the book. I can tell you that you will never look at history the same way afterwards.
For a better understanding of Akhenaton, you may want to read Sigmund Freud's "Moses and Monotheism."
Moses and Monotheism
SensationalReview Date: 2003-11-29
Oedipus and Akhnaton - Immanuel VelikovskyReview Date: 2003-11-03
The Real Oedipus?Review Date: 2008-11-23

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A survivor's account of religious persecutionReview Date: 2007-02-11
Since the 1979 Islamic revolution, which saw the destruction of Bahai's holiest site in Iran, the House of Bab in Shiraz, there has been violent and sytematic persecution of the Bahais by Iran's radical revolutionary regime.
The Bahais are being persecuted soley for reasons of religious prejudices.
Thousands of Bahai holy sites, community centres, homes and businesses have been destoyed by Iran's revolutionary guards and over 200 Bahais have been murdered and executed.
Olya Roohizadegan was imprisoned for her faith, and subjected to intense physical and mental torture, to try to force her to renounce her religion.
She remained loyal to her faith and survived. In prison, she formed friendships with ten women and girls who had been arrested for teaching Bahai faith clases to children. They were all executed. Olya and her family were released and escaped to the USA were she countinues to try to alert the world of the plight of Iran's Bahais. But is anybody listening?
The persecution of the Bahais continues in Iran, and few in the world have taken up their cause or protested the abuses by Iran's Islamo-Nazi regime.
Olya's StoryReview Date: 2007-03-28
Inside view of Iranian govt's treatment of Baha'isReview Date: 2002-01-28
A very moving storyReview Date: 2004-03-21
When the Pahlavis left Iran, the streets exploded in jubilation and two weeks later Ayatu'llah Khomeini proclaimed the birth of a new state where all were to be free: "Interrogating people about their beliefs is forbidden. No one can be persecuted or punished purely for holding certain beliefs." Official recognition and freedom to practice their religion, educate their children in their faith and be represented in parliament was extended to Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians but not to Baha'is, although recognized as a separate religion by the United Nations. The belief that a new messenger of God had come to herald the long-awaited regeneration of humanity was considered a wicked heresy just as Christ's proclamation had been 2,000 years earlier. When interviewed for US television the head of Public Prosecution in the Revolutionary Court of Iran said: "We have never killed anyone because of their religion. The Baha'is we have executed were either leaders of this political sect or they were spies for Israel. We are going to continue our efforts to eliminate all their leaders, and so far we have been very successful. Then we will put pressure on the other Baha'is, and no doubt they will all come back to Islam in time."
The pogrom began in earnest; the House of the Bab, one of the most holy places for Baha'is, was destroyed; Baha'i houses were demolished and families forced to live together; many were killed or executed, often after prolonged torture; Baha'is were banned from jobs in teaching and in government; children were suspended from schools and universities; eleven prominent Baha'is were kidnapped by the Revolutionary Guards, disappearing without trace. On April 30, 1981 three Baha'is were executed. A Muslim whose car broke down close by, secretly witnessed the scene and recounted what he saw: "They were only a few steps away from death when the guards tried for the last time to get them to recant their faith. They were told that if they denied being Baha'is they would be allowed to go back to their families at once. Their reaction was incredible. Mr. Mihdizadih, who seemed perfectly composed, said: 'Now that I'm captive and you know I don't have a weapon with which to defend myself, please uncover my eyes and tell me who is the person among you chosen to give me the drink from the water of eternal life.' One of the guards uncovered his eyes and introduced himself as the soldier who was about to kill him. Mr. Mihdizadih held the guard's hand and kissed it, then with indescribable excitement he looked at the sky and said: 'I praise God that I can, in the last moments of my life, be obedient and carry out what He has asked me to do - to kiss the hand of my killer.'"
Increasingly concerned about opposition from political factions such as the mujahidin, communists and tribal populations, it was pronounced illegal for more than two families to gather in one house under threat of prison and confiscation of property. The Baha'is complied but Olya was asked to be unofficial messenger to keep everyone informed, a dangerous job with guards everywhere. Olya's children were at school in the UK and her boss offered her advice: "Now that you have finally managed to get permission to leave Iran after all these difficulties, Olya, you'd better stay in England. The government has plans for you Baha'is. You know how they have fired your friends from their jobs under false charges! The Public Prosecutor's office has called me a few times to ask about you, but I don't give them straight answers. I have told them I am very happy with your work in the office, and that seems to pacify them a bit. But one of these days I'm sure they'll manage to dismiss you. I'll be glad to issue a few months' leave of absence for you, on top of your paid annual vacation, while we wait to see what happens under this terrible government. Maybe things will change!" Olga returned after the planned two weeks because something strange had happened to the Baha'i community. Under persecution, life had become more meaningful; they felt they had something priceless that brought true happiness. They enjoyed their material loss and envied those who gave their lives. They looked upon their children as the hope for the world; adults had to play their part in being a good example and in preparing their children.
On May 18, 1982 Olya's employer was forced to fire her, the personnel manager saying at the farewell gathering: "'Friends, why are you crying?' he began. 'We are proud to have a colleague who is leaving her job because of her principles. She has not lost anything - she has gained something. Olya Roohizadegan is leaving this office with her head held high.'" That was the day Olya's Story began; a story that lead to her dramatic escape from the hangman's noose and escape to Pakistan and the West.
Olya's Story is a piece of history that touches your soul.Review Date: 1998-07-15
Related Subjects: Olympics Commonwealth Games
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