I am still a little shocked about the Philip Yancey news. I made it a point to listen to him when he popped up on a podcast, especially since he was a literary master when it came to faith integration of classic texts and historical figures. In fact, his book Soul Survivor was paramount to my introduction to faith integration in the works of the Russian literary masters, Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky. My undergraduate years peaked with reading their great novels and one of my first recognized papers featuring Tolstoy and Dostoevsky was highlighted by copious citations from Yancey.
I am not one to pontificate about moral failures. Soul Survivor was important to me since it illustrated what faith integration looks like in the life and writings of famous Christians. This was the first place I learned about Robert Coles and Henri Nouwen. Weirdly enough I never read much else from Yancey. Still, reading history for many years does a good job of presenting people with warts and all. That does not mean that there are not heroes in history that we can celebrate without blushing or having to pull out “historical context” as the reason that the person is not mostly bad. Oftentimes we let all the bad news highjack the narrative. Imagine if history was just a scholarly way of doom-scrolling.
John Dickson’s Bullies & Saints was helpful to read at the tail end of the year since it reminds us that human beings are imperfect and often fail the high ideals ascribed to Christ. The book points out that it is unfair to paint with a broad brush, that for all the failures there are many successes and benefits that are part of the Christian tradition. Still, I was left wondering how to read and teach about important historical people without having to apologize about them later on. Moreover, where do we look for figures outside of our comfort zones?
Masih Alinejad’s book The Wind in My Hair: My Fight for Freedom in Modern Iran is a powerful biography that I am happy that I read a few years ago (my wife also read it). In some ways, her work, among others, shed light on the storylines of women who struggled in a repressive regime, one that specifically targets women. When we see her speaking there is an acknowledgment that considering her experiences, we should stop and listen to her message.
Alinejad was exiled from Iran in 2009 because as a journalist she was constantly questioning the regime. She was seeking honesty from the leadership but was fed lies and was harassed for having a conscience. Even exile in the United States did not stop her enemies from trying to assassinate her. She is a global voice for human rights, particularly religious freedom seen in her fight against compulsory hijab. For all her courageous work she was listed as a one of Time Magazine’s 2023 Women of the Year. If anyone is a candidate for “soul survivor” it is her.
She has amassed a large social media following. Since reading her book, I have followed her and other dissidents to stay aware of the news. Now years later we see extraordinary images coming out of Iran this January 2026. But there have been similar uprisings before. It is sad to see the souls of protestors crushed by this regime over the last few decades. Again, if anyone is going to disrupt our comfort zones especially about her home country it will be Alinejad.
What might be the most cliché aspect of this news is how it is being represented. Alinejad and her allies tend to see any opportunity of internal uprising as a golden opportunity. As an exile, who was targeted by the regime, it makes perfect sense. What does not make sense is the silence from online voices who seem to tirelessly post about every other social cause imaginable (a point Alinejad and other women exiles make). The replies usually have a judgmental ring to them since they believe that foreign entities (code for America the puppet master) is behind the majority of the protests. Thus, they are invalid and Alinejad’s activism is also dismissed.
Our contemporary problems begin with the narrative being controlled oftentimes by the bullies. They do not want to have an actual conversation and they tend not to care about moral failures (at least on their team). However, they like a historical narrative where they are constantly, to quote Charlie Sheen, “winning”, which means in a co-opted postmodern way, they will tell you what the truth is (even if it is obviously a warped conspiracy theory). But like I told my sons about bullies, ignore them, walk away, and it is okay to let your eyes roll at their noise, but as a society how much longer can we allow this pollution.
Alinejad’s biography is just one example of Iranian women’s experience since 1979. It and many other classic works like Azar Nafisi’s Reading Lolita in Tehran depict a world turned upside down (there is a film version that just came out). Of course, even these works have their detractors (if you are wondering—too much Islamophobia and Orientalism that feeds Western fantasies). But this seems incredibly ahistorical. These women did not live in a fantasy. They can point at literal history to showcase their experience. I have a hard time with these easy dismissals. And frankly, my answer to the misinformation and noise pollution online is again and again, pick up some books and read about it yourself. This is at the very least one way we can see the power of history and literature at work. Don’t let the bullies win.
Some might be timid to engage this historical topic. There are books and films that do a good job of depicting this history. For example, I had my sons read the graphic novel Persepolis as an entry point (also made into an animated film). But that is only example. I try to read broadly and also voices that I disagree with. Through the world of literature and history, it takes time to slowly begin to become more familiar. At the very least, reading broadly about world history and literature can hopefully confront the rise of antisemitic, anti-immigrant, Islamophobic language that is way too public. Thank God that Alinejad was able to find refuge in exile. Some of the toxic language out there today illustrates that she might not be as welcomed if she was trying to escape in 2026.
Dickson closes Bullies and Saints with this thought: “In some ways, Christian cruelty is morally worse than atheist cruelty, precisely because it betrays Christian convictions” (280). What are Christian convictions? The heart of the faith is love. It is also a tradition that values truth. Therefore, looking over the contemporary public space, with all the ups and downs, it is our duty to promote these convictions. Yancey wrote Soul Survivor as a way to help survive his experiences in American Christian circles. Perhaps being faithful to our convictions, we can help support the survivors of bullying, repressive regimes while we continually pray for peace.
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