VOA标准英语--Religious Minorities Suffer in Iran

 

The U.S. State Department has released its annual report on the state of religious freedom around the world. The picture of Iran that emerges is a grim one, particularly for religious minorities, as Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback noted¹ at the report's release:

“We hear and see horrific reports coming out of Iran on the lack of religious freedom and the persecution² of people that aren't in the majority faith stream and practicing as the government directs, and we see a radical³ export of that philosophy as well out of Iran and trouble in many other countries in the Middle East.”

According to the report, Baha'is in Iran continued to face severe government and societal discrimination. Nearly one hundred Baha'is remained in prison solely⁴ because of their faith. In November, a court sentenced three Baha'i students who were barred from university studies, Rouhieh Safajoo, Sarmad Shadabi, and Tara Houshmand, to five years in prison for being Baha'i. There were reports of authorities placing restrictions⁵ on Baha'i businesses or forcing them to shut down, and continued instances of desecration⁶ of their cemeteries⁷.

Christians⁸, particularly evangelicals and converts from Islam, continue to experience disproportionate levels of arrests and detentions⁹. Numerous Christians were charged in connection to their religious beliefs and activities and sentenced to prison, including Pastor¹⁰ Youcef Nadarkhani and Victor Bet Tamraz. Ebrahim Firouzi continued to serve a five-year prison sentence for converting to and practicing Christianity, and related missionary¹¹ activities.

At least six Gonabadi dervishes faced imprisonment¹² on convictions of “waging war against the state” and “following a deviant sect¹³.” There were also reports of arrests and harassment¹⁴ of Sunni clerics and congregants, including theJune trial of Hassan Amini, Secretary General of Iran's Council of Sunni Theologians, on charges of “propaganda against the state.” Authorities continued to discriminate¹⁵ against the Sabean-Mandaean and Yarsan religious communities as well.

Ambassador Brownback said that freedom of religion is a foundational human right that no government has the right to repress, and that every government has the duty to protect. A key goal of the United States, he said, is to promote religious freedom for all people. That includes members of religious minorities in Iran. “We all have a stake in this fight,” Ambassador Brownback declared. “We must move religious freedom forward. We must defend it in every corner of the globe.”

1 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

2 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

3 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

4 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

5 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

6 desecration   

n. 亵渎神圣, 污辱

参考例句：

• Desecration, and so forth, and lectured you on dignity and sanctity. 比如亵渎神圣等。想用尊严和神圣不可侵犯之类的话来打动你们。
• Desecration: will no longer break stealth. 亵渎：不再消除潜行。

7 cemeteries   

n.（非教堂的）墓地，公墓( cemetery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It's morbid to dwell on cemeteries and such like. 不厌其烦地谈论墓地以及诸如此类的事是一种病态。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In other districts the proximity of cemeteries seemed to aggravate the disease. 在其它地区里，邻近墓地的地方，时疫大概都要严重些。 来自辞典例句

8 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

9 detentions   

拘留( detention的名词复数 )； 扣押； 监禁； 放学后留校

参考例句：

• Teachers may assign detention tasks as they wish and some detentions have been actually dangerous. 老师可能随心所欲指派关禁闭的形式，有些禁闭事实上很危险。
• Intimidation, beatings and administrative detentions are often enough to prevent them from trying again. 恐吓，拷打和行政拘留足以阻止请愿者二次进京的脚步。

10 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

11 missionary   

adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士

参考例句：

• She taught in a missionary school for a couple of years.她在一所教会学校教了两年书。
• I hope every member understands the value of missionary work. 我希望教友都了解传教工作的价值。

12 imprisonment   

n.关押，监禁，坐牢

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment.他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for committing bigamy.他因为犯重婚罪被判入狱一年。

13 sect   

n.派别，宗教，学派，派系

参考例句：

• When he was sixteen he joined a religious sect.他16岁的时候加入了一个宗教教派。
• Each religious sect in the town had its own church.该城每一个宗教教派都有自己的教堂。

14 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

15 discriminate   

v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待

参考例句：

• You must learn to discriminate between facts and opinions.你必须学会把事实和看法区分出来。
• They can discriminate hundreds of colours.他们能分辨上百种颜色。