A Minority Affair: The Baha’i Question and Iranian Canadians

In The Essay, John Cappucci identifies how Iranian Canadians in Ontario perceive the treatment of Baha’is in Iran. Through an online survey, the researcher asked respondents to identify what religious and political reasons might be motivating the Iranian government’s persecution of Baha’is. The 85 respondents enumerated several religious and political reasons why Baha’is are persecuted, including theological differences with Islam, usefulness as scapegoats to explain a host of societal problems in Iran, and alleged espionage for foreign powers. While the survey illuminates several suspected reasons for the persecution of the Baha’is, its limitation is that the majority of participants are self-identified Baha’is. The inclusion on non-Baha’i Iranian Canadians would certainly provide more diverse survey results, but perhaps their non-participation is an answer in itself.