#Bahá’ís in the holy land aren’t even allowed to bury their dead in Baha’i owned cemeteries anymore

[tamlins-stories-and-poems]

When I first read Fahrenheit 451, I remember thinking “people actually memorized entire novel length books?”

But here’s the thing.

Sometimes, it happens. Sometimes, it’s necessary.

You know what happens when a government regime doesn’t like the message of a book? They ban it, they burn it, they stop it from reaching their people. Especially religious books.

I’m a Bahá’í, I was lucky enough to be born in the United States, and to be White. However, the motherland of my faith is… less than accepting, shall we say, of my fellows still within her borders. There was a push to get as many of our people out as possible before it became impossible for a while, and even today, people are still describing it as “escaping” their homeland when they leave. A friend of mine, who was in high school when the current regime took over, back when he still lived there, memorized one of our holy books in the original language, because there was serious question as to whether the books would be allowed to continue existing. He memorized that book with a few friends, while his other friends memorized some of the others—we have a lot—and he still has it memorized, now this his sons are older than he was then. He could recite the whole thing.

I believe this has happened before. I hope it will not be needed again, but I fear it will be.

Sometimes, the quiet resistance of memorization is what someone can manage. Sometimes we can do more, or other things, but memorizing completely banned books, saving them in our minds so we can share them again once others have forgotten, that is invaluable.

And it is impressive.

Fahrenheit 451 was a warning, based on things Bradbury could see as potentially happening, and based on things that had happened.

I don’t think we can afford to roll our eyes and ignore it.

#tamlin speaks #idk I just saw the cover of F451° again and brain went Ping #I am sad and tired and angry #it’s been 40 years #I want my friends to be able to visit their families again #Bahá’ís in the holy land aren’t even allowed to bury their dead in Baha’i owned cemeteries anymore #my friends’ families aren’t allowed funerary rights just mass graves