Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ica, and all things that, they believe, erode character and threaten their traditional values.
It worries them as parents. It seemed to me that many of them willingly trade democracy
and political freedom for a society free of Western values (or, they'd say, “lack of val-
ues”). It's more important to them to have a place to raise their children that fits their faith
and their cherished notion of “family values.”
Iranians are constantly reminded that charity is Muhammad-like. With a religious offer-
ing box on literally every street corner, extra money is raised for orphanages, schools,
and hospitals.
One day, while filming on the street, a woman walked up to me and asked if I was
an American journalist. I said yes. She then tapped her finger repeatedly on my chest and
said, “You go home and tell your friends that we just don't want our little girls raised
to be like Britney Spears.” She had heard the rhetoric of “regime change,” and she wor-
ried that if we installed “another shah” on the throne, her daughter's values would be hi-
jacked—Westernized—and she'd become a boy toy, a drug addict, and a crass materialist.
Of course, there's plenty of drug addiction, materialism, and casual sex in Iran. But
these vices are pretty well hidden from the determination of the theocracy to root them
out. In general, the Revolution seems to be well-established. For example, in terms of
