In Theory: Swedish diplomats accede to Iranian law

The Swedish government is defending its decision to have their female officials wear headscarves, or hijabs, during a trip to Iran.

Trade Minister Ann Linde traveled to Iran with a Swedish business team this month. She told the Aftonbladet newspaper that she was not willing to break Iranian law, according to the BBC.

However, some Swedish politicians criticized the decision.

“It is ruinous to what is called a feminist foreign policy,” said Liberal party chief Jan Bjorklund.

Q: Sweden has referred to itself as the world’s first “feminist government.” Yet, in this instance, rather than take a strong stance on an issue decried as oppressive against women, government officials seemingly acquiesced to Iranian law. How should governments dealing with Iran balance diplomatic relations and women’s rights?

The question of whether a government’s diplomatic service should stay true to its values or compromise them when dealing with other governments is a good one. John Foster Dulles, secretary of state under President Eisenhower, was once asked if he would lie for the sake of his country (us). He said, straight-faced, “Yes.” That flies in the face of truth, justice and the American way, doesn’t it?

The diplomatic service of any country is there to try and be diplomatic. Therefore, if wearing a hijab by members of the Swedish diplomatic service helps Sweden deal with Iran, then those people are performing their tasks.

Further, let us look at what the hijab represents: modesty on the part of women. We may not like what the Iranians have made of that garment, but it has arisen out of modesty for women. In Orthodox Jewish culture, married women are to cover their hair every time they travel out of the home. Some even go so far as to shave their heads and wear wigs.

I am not advocating that American female diplomats serving in Israel shave their heads, but if it served America’s needs for them to go to Orthodox Jewish homes, they would, I am sure, cover their heads — as would male diplomats going to Orthodox ceremonies.

If we believe in the family of man and that the Earth is our collective home, then not only diplomats but all of us must practice what we in Judaism call “Shalom Bayit” (“Peace in the House”), meaning sometimes we have to compromise the total truth of our feelings to maintain peace and tranquility.

Rabbi Mark Sobel
Temple Beth Emet
Burbank

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I don’t believe we have the right to enter a foreign country, or another person’s house for that sake, with the determined purpose of causing them offense by violating their sincerely held customs. In seeking to establish stronger diplomatic ties, the Swedish government was right to require their female officials to wear headscarves. Of course, others’ customs may contract our own deeply held religious or social customs. I don’t advocate that anyone should be forced to compromise such beliefs for the sake of diplomacy. In that case, they just might not be the right person for that particular job.

In the case of cultural conflicts we should keep our focus on what the important issue or goal really is. Usually it’s not outward appearances, or the kind of food we eat, or even the language that’s spoken. Jesus identified one core issue in any circumstance: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40).

It’s amazing how petty conflicts and cultural differences disappear when truly loving others is our goal. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (1 John 4:7-8).

Pastor Jon Barta
Burbank

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The Prime Minister of Sweden is reported to have “raised human rights issues” to Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on the same trip. This is a perfect example of countries striving for balance between belief and economic reality.

Ms. Linde’s job is to promote Swedish business in a country where women, including foreign visitors, land in jail for not wearing a hijab. I can’t fault her choice, and I would don a headscarf myself if I ever have a chance to travel to Iran. I am that curious. It is the same as putting a handkerchief on my head to see beautiful art in Italian churches.

To me mandatory superficial signs of belief are equally silly in all the religions requiring them. How is a hijab different from an obvious wig elaborately mimicking a female coiffure, worn by orthodox Jewish women to hide their actual hair?

And why focus on the hijab requirement in Iran? Women and girls there are forbidden to attend men’s sporting events in public stadiums. Marriage, divorce and child custody laws are discriminatory and cruel to women. Adulterers are stoned to death. The hijab is the least of the problem in a country where everyone, male and female, faces severe punishment for any dissent.

Those who reject the idea of compromising with evil have many avenues to support Iranian women. Check out the exhilarating “My Stealthy Freedom” on the web and social media. “Women’s Rights in Iran,” by Human Rights Watch suggests specific actions to protest Iranian oppression.

Roberta Medford
Atheist
Montrose

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The relationship of hats and heaven has long been fraught. Religious symbols are easily misunderstood as marks of dominance because they have often been used that way. Among my family, friends, colleagues and students I have known many individuals for whom their garb is an important expression of faith. Such freedom of expression is the way it should be in a free country guided by the 1st Amendment. Respect for and understanding of other cultural traditions is essential for creating trust between peoples and nations.

I have met people from a variety of traditions who wore yarmulkes, hijabs and turbans. I’ve learned to remember that at the start of Lent, my Catholic friends don’t need to be reminded of the ashes on their foreheads because they chose to have them there. As a guest at Jewish weddings I’ve worn yarmulkes, and I’ve donned long pants on hot days when visiting the Vatican and a Buddhist Temple in Japan. My father’s mother wore a prayer covering and dressed in the plain clothes prescribed by her Mennonite faith. I respect the customs of others, as I would wish them to respect mine.

The Swedish delegates who honored the request of their Iranian hosts and wore headscarves during their visit chose to respect tradition, making a small compromise for a greater good. In 2016 Sweden made a more significant move by canceling an arms deal with Saudi Arabia in protest of human rights abuses there. In Saudi Arabia women are prevented from driving a car and are more limited in their rights to education, in employment and politics than in Iran.

From what I observed when I traveled to Stockholm in 2012 the Swedes have achieved a significant degree of multicultural inclusion. On a fine July afternoon my wife and I visited the Stockholm City Hall, where many city dwellers obtain their marriage licenses. People from all continents were there, adorned in their finest array. Hats of all sorts were abundant. The day when all sartorial symbols of faith are respected as an expression of individual conscience will be heavenly indeed.

David L. Hostetter, Ph.D.
Vice President, Unitarian Universalist Church of the Verdugo Hills
La Crescenta