I've been following the events in Iran with fascination, all the more because a friend of mine just returned from a mission trip there. As she pointed out, with such a minuscule percentage of the Iranian population professing Christ (0.2%, according to Wikipedia), the young people who are risking their lives for the sake of freedom are, in most cases, risking much, much more--their eternal destiny and a life apart from God. Pray for the Iranians to know the true freedom of the Gospel.

One of the reasons we know so much about what has been happening in Iran this last week is technology. The kinds of things that become useless time wasters for us (who cares what Ashton Kutcher ate for lunch?) are the very things that have allowed news of the post-election chaos in Iran to make it past government censors and a foreign media ban. NBC Nightly News ran a piece last night on several Iranian youth who are attending school here in the U.S. and are working hard to keep their peers back home online despite government bans.

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At the same time, over at the State Department, a leftover from the Bush administration has been the driving force behind keeping Twitter online and working with cell phone providers to develop technology that would allow people to access Twitter without Internet service.

I guess this Time piece on geeks inheriting the earth has finally come true. If nothing else, they may help to make the earth a more hospitable place for the people of Iran. We can all hope.

Comments

[Dan Gill]

Kudos to those who are using the technology to get the real news out of Iraq.

I bridle, however, at calling a 27-year-old a "kid". (And I'm almost twice that age.) He is a man fully grown. A young man compared to me, but a man nonetheless.

[Fred]

@Kristine

Speaking of technology, there is a taped poem on Youtube from an unnamed Iranian woman on the thirst for true freedom in Iran. Here is the link:

http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/06/20/poem-for-iran-tomorrow-is-saturday-tomorrow-is-a-day-of-destiny/

That poem sums it up better than any talking head ever could.

Never underestimate art's power, especially when coupled with the Internet.

[LeeQuod]

I'm struck by the contrast between Iranian elections, and (thanks to the U.S. military, among others) Iraqi elections.

I don't think Twitter is banned in Baghdad.

And I don't think the last Iraqi election caused riots for days on end.

Nor do I expect to hear much about the stark contrast, because that would be admitting that G.W. Bush got one right.