What Are We Hoping For in Iran?

May I be cynical for a moment?

My heart and hopes are with the protesters in Iran. I truly hope they will achieve a real change. Much thanks to Bill Baar for his coverage of the protests. I found myself getting caught up in the fervor of hope. We've all been hoping for years to see dramatic change in the politics and individual freedoms in Iran.

But what are we really hoping for here? Thousands of people are taking to the streets demanding change, but what will they really get? The leaders of the protest movement, Mousavi and Rafsanjani, were part of the Islamic revolution of 1979. These are not radicals or feminists in spite of Mousavi's impressive wife. Are these Iranians putting their lives on the line just so that they can wear colored veils instead of black? Will homosexuals still be executed? Will there be freedom of worship for religious minorities, or a free press?

I really want to get swept away in the beauty and passion of it all. The pictures of courageous young women shouting in the streets with their hair showing under their veils is inspiring and sobering all at the same time. It will just be too heart breaking for words if all of this courage and effort is just to bring about a slightly less repressive society for all of them.

Probably nobody know how all of this will end and I truly hope for the best. I want Iranian people to be able to live their lives in freedom and fulfillment. I want their government to stop threatening the U.S. and Israel. I just don't want all of the hopes of a whole generation of Iranians to be dashed if they wake up to find a their have marched and sacrificed for a marginally better leadership.

I make no claims to be an expert on Iran so feel free to straighten me out if I am way off target. It might even make me feel better.