"Happy" is a terrible sin.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

Great video. Fortunately, their sentences were suspended.

And, NO, I'm not advocating war with Iran or any of the other places that have draconian social laws based on any religion.

There is only one honest impulse at the bottom of Puritanism, and that is the impulse to punish the man with a superior capacity for happiness. H.L. Mencken


http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/iran-happy-dancers-sentenced-91-lashes-20140919

Iran's 'Happy' Dancers Sentenced to 91 Lashes

The seven young Iranians who were arrested for creating a dancing video response to Pharrell's "Happy" have been sentenced to jail time (ranging from six months to one year) and 91 lashes each, according to Associated Press. Attorney Farshid Rofugaran said his clients received suspended sentences, meaning that their verdicts will not be carried out unless they are found guilty of other crimes within the next three years.

The video, originally posted on YouTube back in May, features a group of six men and women harmlessly dancing to Pharrell's ubiquitous pop smash in Iranian capital Tehran while wearing goofy clothes and sunglasses. (Islamic Republic law prohibits women from dancing in public or being outside without wearing the mandatory hair-covering veil, the hijab.) The dancers, along with the clip's director, were detained and released that month, sparking international coverage and controversy.

The jail time is reportedly punishment for taking part in the video, while the 91 lashes result from "ignoring Islamic norms." Rofugaran says one defendant received an additional six-month suspended sentence on charges of alcohol possession, which is illegal in Iran – though he notes that the alcohol in question was industrial alcohol, which his client needed for work.

"My clients did act in a video, and their actions are contrary to religious requirements but are not crimes to deserve legal punishment," Rofugaran told The Associated Press on Friday. "Saying prayers is a religious obligation in Islam, but no one gets jail terms for not saying prayers. . . The happy part of the verdict is that it's a three-year suspended sentence. The verdicts won't be carried out unless my clients are found guilty in a court of law for the next three years."

[louis-t]

1. I have absolutely no doubt that if so-called 'Christians'

had complete control of our country, they would be meting out similar punishments.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. Yep. Interestingly, some of the videos below the story are from Muslim countries.

Apparently, Happy isn't forbidden in them.

[Feral Child]

5. I agree completely.

They want desperately to be able to do so.


Of course, they're busy breeding "quiver-fulls" so they can gain control of the government some time in the future.

[Dreamer Tatum]

6. Ah yes. Balance has been restored. nt

[FiveGoodMen]

8. They used to!

Until secular governments stopped them.

After all, who invented the torture instruments seen in the dungeons of old horror movies?

[Kelvin Mace]

3. WTF Iran??!!!

I have spent years trying to keep the Neanderthals in this country from bombing you to extinction and you pull stupid shit like this? Who do you think you are? Bill Donahue? Pat Robertson?

[hifiguy]

4. I think the basis of fundies' insanity,

regardless of the denomination, is that on a pathological level they loathe their own humanity.

[Cali_Democrat]

7. You're warmongering. n/t