Soraya Manutchehri, Today I Wept for You

I began writing this on the morning of August 12, 2009. Unfortunately, the pain of writing of this young woman's tragic death was too much to bear. If you have not viewed or read The Stoning of Soraya M., I strongly encourage you to do so. - Leslye

Sitting in morning prayer, I again thought of you and the circumstances that sought to dehumanize you. Hatred, selfishness, lies, threats, conspiracy, distortion, deceit, contempt, ignorance, fear - these are but a few of the stones used to murder you.

You were not an ignorant victim, but a loving mother. You recognized that your marriage was no longer. You simply wanted a little more time to save money for your daughters and yourself. Until the end, you sought to protect them from the injustice of society that would have left them impoverished as the daughters of a divorced woman.

Having come to know you, Soraya Manutchehri, I cannot hear the story of the woman who was brought before Yeshua after she had been allegedly caught in adultery without thinking of you. If only  humanity had taken to heart the words, "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone." 

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A week ago, a friend and I went to see The Stoning of Soraya M. Based upon Freidoune Sahebjam's book of the same title, the movie introduced us to Soraya Manutchehri, a young Iranian woman trapped in an abusive marriage.