INTERVIEW
MARZIYEH AMIRIZADEH
Marziyeh Amirizadeh is a published author, public speaker, activist for religious freedom, and a candidate for Georgia House District 67.
She came to fame after sharing her life story of how she was thrown in one of the most brutal prisons in the world, Evin prison, for sharing her faith under the radical Islamic regime in power in Iran.
Marziyeh is a beautiful example of a heroic woman with an outstanding mindset. She tells La Vie en Rose the importance of cultivating and safeguarding one’s Freedom.
Journalist : Hello Marziyeh!
Marziyeh : Hello La Vie en Rose!
Journalist : Your story is one of faith and freedom, tell us more about what happened to you?
Marziyeh : We were born into Muslim families in Iran. We became Christians as young adults and met while studying theology and leadership courses in Turkey in 2005. We later returned to Iran and began sharing our faith. In almost 3 years we distributed about 20,000 new testaments in Tehran and a few other cities, we were evangelizing Iranians in the streets and had two house churches for women and young people. In 2009, we were arrested for promoting Christianity in Iran. The official charges against us were apostasy, blasphemy, and promoting Christianity in Iran for which we were sentenced to execution by hanging. We spent 259 days in Evin Prison. Following international pressure and after months of interrogation and mental abuse, we were freed in November 2009 and subsequently cleared of all charges. We moved to the U.S. in 2011.
Journalist : How would you describe freedom?
Marziyeh : Freedom is more a feeling inside. You can be living in a free country but not feel the real freedom in your life and have your personal prisons and bondages. In Evin prison, the government authorities were only able to capture us physically, but our souls were free because of God’s presence with us. There are times that we feel less free, living in a free country like the United States, than the times we spent inside Evin prison.
We only experience the true freedom when we live with God. In John 8:32 Jesus says, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free”. Believing in Jesus will set us free, no matter where we live or what circumstances we have in our lives.
I had a conversation with a prisoner, sentenced to life sentence. She told me “You are two crazy people and don’t know the meaning of freedom; why are you wasting your life here; you can easily deny your faith and be free; I have been in prison for 15 years and know the value of freedom.” I answered “we are truly free even though we are in prison because we are living with God; our physical bodies are in prison; but our souls are free in God. When you live with God you are free even if you live in prison.”
Journalist : What did you feel inside when you realized you were not free? At first, did you think you were going to be thrown in jail for being a Christian?
Marziyeh : Since God had told me in my dreams years before going to prison that one day, I would pass through prison experience I knew that I would be thrown in jail for my faith in Jesus.
Also, a few months before going to prison the Holy Spirit put this in our hearts that something would change about our ministry, and we felt that we could get arrested.
For the first few months we would pray for our release because of the horrible condition of the detention center but after we could see how God was working through us and was using us as tools to give his message to the women in the detention center and later Evin prison we realized He had a purpose for sending us to the dark place. God has let us to be in that horrible prison to bring true freedom and salvation to many women’s life.
Journalist : Why is it important to preserve individual freedoms?
Marziyeh : Individual freedom is given to everyone from God. Each person must be free to choose their path in life. For me being in prison was not just about fighting for my faith but also fighting for my individual freedom/rights and fighting for many other women whose freedom have been taken away by an Islamic radical dictatorship. Under the Islamic rules and Sharia Allah women have no equal rights with men. From their childhood all their rights and freedom has been taken away. From my childhood I always fought for my individual freedom and rights.
Freedom is not free and if we don’t stand for it and protect it, we will lose it. Everyone in a society has a responsibility to stand up for his/her freedom, rights, and values. Otherwise, we will lose it easily.
Journalist : What do you say to people who don’t feel concerned by other people’s lack of freedom? Why should we all feel concerned?
Marziyeh : Unfortunately, some people who have lived in freedom don’t appreciate it and don’t feel responsible to stand up for their faith, freedom, and values and protect it. Some Christians also seems passive and think that whatever happens they should accept it as God’s will and do nothing. If we don’t appreciate our freedom, persecution can easily come to our countries like any other dictatorships. Everyone has a responsibility to fight for their values, faith, and freedom. My primary mission in the United States is to warn my fellow Americans that freedom must be cultivated and defended.
Journalist : Obstacles to one’s freedom can come in different shapes and forms? Are these obstacles always so obvious to see?
Marziyeh : Some obstacles to one’s freedom especially in dictatorship countries like Iran are obvious. Women are fighting for their simplest rights almost every day. For example, Women in Iran are not allowed to ride a bicycle, enter a stadium, to be a judge, travel without getting permission from their husbands, have the custody of their child, dance, sing, and many other things. These obstacles that come from governments, families, culture, and religions are obvious.
However, some obstacles are not obvious, and they are inner obstacles. Some people are captured in their personal prisons, such as sin, their own judgements, condemnation, jealousy, unforgiveness, and many other things. The only solution to get released from the inner obstacles is Jesus. Galatians 5:1 “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
