Persepolis
Inspired by the comic drawings in Persepolis, I did the best I could in my piece this week. I imitated Indian Warli art, which features the stick figures shown below. I have shown a circle of people, drawn in pale red, excluding a lone figure of stark contrast, shown in black. In Persepolis, the protagonist moves to the West, where she feels like an outsider, as the only Iranian. Interestingly, her boyfriend’s mother accuses her of being a threat to her son, as an “outsider.” What intrigued me was how a minority group can pose a threat to a majority group.
How does it affect a large group of Christians, or any other religion, to coexist with Muslims? Neither group needs to indoctrinate the other, or try converting everyone else to their faith. Society, therefore, needs greater religious literacy. We need to understand where religions come from, and why they are so important to their respective followers. We don’t have to follow the faiths ourselves, as long as we respect others’ rights in doing so. In saying that, we mustn’t strive for freedom FROM religion – as that only creates oppression, and discrimination, as we have seen in France. Rather, we must aim for true freedom of religion, where being a Hindu, Christian, Muslim or Atheist does not determine the way we are seen by society.
An ideal society would be one where individuals are seen for their actions, their compassions, and their contribution to society. How they live their personal lives should not be our concern. Rather, we should appreciate kindness, and courage, which are traits irrespective of faith and colour
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