📄 Lebanese Christian writer says his love for Iran is rooted in faith and resistance to oppression 📌...

📄 Lebanese Christian writer says his love for Iran is rooted in faith and resistance to oppression 📌 Tehran, IRNA – Lebanese writer and thinker Roni Alpha says his love for Iran stems not from sectarian or political considerations but from Christian values that, he argues, place justice, human dignity and resistance to oppression above power and identity. In an article titled “Why I Love Iran,” Alpha writes that his Christian faith compels him to stand with the oppressed rather than the powerful, describing his political convictions as “an extension” of his religious beliefs. ​ “Christianity did not teach me to seek the strongest,” he wrote. “It taught me to seek the most wounded.” He added that, for him, the Gospel “is not only a book of prayer; it is also a book of taking a stand.” ​ Alpha said he sees Iran as representing principles that transcend politics, including independence and resistance to domination. ​ “As an Eastern Christian, I have found in Iran something beyond politics,” he wrote. “I found a narrative that says independence is not merely a slogan, that opposing domination is not a crime, and that dignity is sometimes more valuable than prosperity.” ​ While acknowledging that many people have legitimate criticism of the Iranian government, Alpha said such criticism should not eclipse a broader historical and civilizational reality. ​ “I cannot look at it with only one eye,” he wrote, arguing that “one eye sees only half the truth.” ​ Rejecting decades of “colonial propaganda,” Alpha portrayed Iran as a country of ancient civilizations, diverse peoples, languages and religions. He said Iran’s churches, places of worship, mosques and historical heritage reflect a civilization that cannot be reduced to political headlines. ​ Drawing on his experience as a Lebanese, Alpha said he understands how public images of nations are constructed and repeated until they become accepted as fact. ​ “I refuse to reduce an entire nation to a news bulletin, a political speech or an economic sanction,” he wrote. ​ Alpha also said he judges governments and political movements by their actions rather than their slogans. ​ “I fear every power that reduces human beings to lifeless numbers,” he wrote. “I fear every project that builds its own prosperity upon the destruction of others.” ​ He argued that Eastern Christianity is inherently a faith of resistance against injustice and tyranny, saying it sides with justice rather than tribe, religion or political alignment. ​ Although he acknowledged that his political assessment could be mistaken, Alpha insisted it should not be dismissed as sectarian. ​ He said Iran is engaged in “a struggle beyond its borders” centered on “independence in decision-making, rejecting dictates and coercion, and the belief that the peoples of this region deserve to write their own future with their own hands.” ​ Responding to those who question how a Lebanese Christian could support Iran, Alpha concluded that Christ taught him “to judge a person by the justice he creates, not by the name he bears,” adding that love “is not a reward given to those who resemble us, but a bridge built between those who are different.” 📲 ​