"Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness
have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?
(II Corinthians 6:14)
This clear warning given by the apostle Paul often brings to mind the book,
"Not Without My Daughter" by American author Betty Mahmoody.
Published in 1987, this autobiographical book recounts the story of
an American woman's harrowing escape from Iran, along with
her young daughter, in the mid-1980's.
Betty's husband, an Iranian national, who had been working in the
United States, Dr. Sayyed "Moody" Mahmoody talked her into taking
a two week vacation to Iran so that he could see his family again and
they could meet the couple's daughter, Mahtop.
Betty reluctantly agreed to go to Iran with her husband and their
daughter only to discover that at the end of the two weeks, he told
her they would be remaining there permanently.
After calling her parents in Michigan to inform them of her husband's
decision, they told her to go to the Swiss Embassy, which at the time was
representing American interests in that country. Betty fled, taking Mahtop
with her, thinking she would now be safe from her husband, who had
suddenly become very abusive towards her and had recently struck
her in front of their daughter. Unfortunately, through a Swiss official
at the embassy, Betty learned to her shock and horror that under Iranian
law, because she had married an Iranian citizen, she and her daughter
were now considered Iranian citizens. Furthermore, under that
nation's law, Betty's husband had full custody of their daughter.
There was nothing the Swiss Embassy could do to help them.
When Betty returned from her visit to the embassy, her husband viciously
beat her and threatened to kill her if she ever left again. While she desperately
tried to conform to her new oppressed lifestyle, Betty prayed that God would
help her and her daughter leave Iran and return home to America, especially
after she learned that her father had become stricken with cancer.
Through a network of kind and concerned Iranian citizens, Betty and Mahtob
eventually escaped from that nation after being taken on a dangerous
journey to the rugged mountainous border between Iran and Turkey.
During this arduous trek, totally dependent on strangers, Betty nearly died
due to exhaustion and hypothermia. Thankfully, she recovered, and she
and her daughter eventually arrived at the US Embassy in Ankara, where
they were given sanctuary and later airline tickets to fly back home
to the United States of America.
Betty and Mahtob were two fortunate Christians who escaped from
their captivity in a hostile, foreign land. After her book was published,
a film version of "Not Without My Daughter" was released in 1991,
with actress Sally Field in the lead role. A postscript at the end
of the movie claims that there are many western women like
Betty being held against their will in nations overseas.
Although this film was not well-received at the box office, with some
critics of the film declaring it, "unfair to Iranians" and even "racist".
both the film and the book remind believers in the Lord Jesus Christ of
the importance of not becoming "unequally yoked" with unbelievers
through marriage and to keep separate from them.
The mentality, however well-meaning, of a Christian woman smitten
with the idea that, "Love Conquers All" is patently false.
As Paul admonishes, "And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part
hath they who believe with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple
of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God; and God hath
said, "I will dwell in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
Wherefore come out from among them, and be separate, and touch not
the unclean thing and I will receive you."
(II Corinthians 6:14-17)
No comments:
Post a Comment