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IranIranians, then, can be forgiven for thinking they have deeper cultural roots, better poetry, a more elegant civilisation, a more settled national identity and a better spin on the Islamic traditions than any other part of the world ... The toleration shown to the traditional [ancient] Christian churches continued throughout the Iranian Revolution. Christianity is one of Iran's four official faiths, and Chrstians can meet openly together to worship. Christian groups also take part in national celebrations in Iran ... A Christian choir, for example, sang the old hymn 'Tell it to Jesus' to the assembled ranks of politicians and mullahs at the centenary of Khomeini's birth in 1999. Churches of people from a Muslim background -- in contrast -- have been severely persecuted. But, in a quarter century of radical Islamic revolution, the church among former Muslims has grown more than at any other quarter century in the past thousand years. |