|
| July 23, 2002 This month's archived letters by subject PART I See Part II * Ignorance is in all the religions I read your article with great interest [Heechee kam nadaaran]. First of all, I don't believe you are a Moslem! Second, I think you are obsessed with what has happened to the Iranian Bahaiis (while mostly enjoy the life in western countries) while the whole Iranian people (Yes! the Moslems) are and have been killed, tortured and suffering mentally, socially and economically under this corrupt regime. In fact in Iran you are better off to be a Christian than a Moslem, at least you know they don't throw you in jail for violating your own Moslem faith values. I feel the pain and suffering of all the Iranians regardless of their religions. I never thought the Bahaees were the only victims of this regime. Probably for every 1000 Moslems may be one Bahaee suffered or others. This is not a Moslem regime, this is a corrupt Ghangis Khan regime. You are either with them or against them. I personally was raised as a Moslem, but my dad's best friend's (called him Amou Ustadian) children were Bahaii because of their mom ( Hooshang, Dariush, Nader, Amir), but I never thought any differently about them, despite the fact that my dad always teased their mom for being a Bahaii, since she always would ask us when we will convert! They were my best friends and I spent many nights in their home. Yes! ignorance is a bad thing! But, don't you think that as the Moslem kids would sing not pleasant songs about the Bahaiis, the adults would do much worse to their fellow Moslem and pure Iranians, the Kurds, by burning Omar!!? Why don't you mention anything about that? Ignorance is in all the religions. Don't you think all these conservative Christians and jews are just as ignorant by ganging up against the poor Palestinians (and yes the Iranians?) How ignorant a group of people can get, to claim a country because Moses promised them? Show me the deed for the land and let's see if it holds any validity in any US courts! My friend, to be open minded, as you claim, you can not just take one side and condemn the others! All the religions are right and have something good to offer, and I am glad that we have many choices (31 flavors.) Please do not start creating a division among our people? It is good to bring the subject up and discuss it, but before you do that, go Iran and see all the other significant problems they all face regardless of religion, then you could see that would not be on top of your agenda. See for yourself that the new generation Iranians do not think the way you portray them. They are much more open minded than those of us who have lived abroad for more than 1/4 of a century. Be proud of your Persian culture and the land that you came from! We have offered a lot to this world including the Christianity (search under MITHRAISM). Your religion is yours and my religion (if any!) is mine. I respect the person for his character, not religious or social affiliation. FRIENDS? Twinky Pink To top * Apart from the question of the intention Hamide Aziz, [READ it] Sorry about the tardy reply. I haven't been feeling well and my school work is backed up. But let me try and respond to some of your charges against my criticism of your film. You start by saying that you don't think that I have read your response to me. I have, several times. Originally I didn't respond directly back to you because I didn't want to engage you personally, something that could not be avoided however, as you have engaged me personally in bringing up the matter of "intentions" thus: "While I believe this film can conjure up heated debates on many levels, respectfully, I think it is important not to stray from my true intentions for his film." On the matter of words such as "respectfully" and "respect," the emotional engagement with which I fear you try to enforce your dominant reading of the film on all others, John Stuart Mill, in "On Liberty," warns that they are often used to curtail debate despite the pretense to allow criticism. In conservative societies and traditional patriarchal narratives it is also prevalent to bring up respect, when one disagrees with a point of view. I have, however, shown you the greatest respect that I reserve only for the few, by engaging your film and honestly and openly criticizing it, and telling you exactly what my reading was (something that many others wouldn't do, and not out of respect,) and thereby bringing your movie to the fore and the public attention in the modest way of my abilities. Once a work is finished and closed and introduced to the public sphere, the intentions of the author only count nominally. Firstly, as is the case with all philosophies, thought-patterns and purposeful intentions, what the author intends for the reader to understand and what the reader understands are two separate things. The writer has no power over the subjective perspective and understanding of the reader. Similarly, the writer's intentions are never clear, also when he "clearly" states what he means, because he could lie, or as is the case with some of the greatest artists of all time, simply not know himself. I am not saying that you lie, don't know, or purposely try to distort your intentions, what I am saying however, is that only through criticisms and criticisms of criticisms can one come to any understanding regarding the writing or the film, and even then, it is never clear, or singular or absolute. When dealing with film and literature criticism, or belletristic or film-making for that matter, there are no absolute truths. Even in the so-called hard-sciences such as physics it is accepted that research can only find what researchers look for. That is, for instance, when "looking" into the core of an atom, an electron is found there, where it is looked-for. That implies the subjectivity of all seemingly matter-of-fact endeavors. In humanities, on the other hand, there is no dogma to be followed (apart from the fundamentalist religious reading of sacred texts,) and signifiers, be they pictures or words can point to an infinite number of referents and signifieds. In this, what the author intends is merely one reading amongst the infinite other ó just as legitimate - possibilities. If the author's reading was the dominant reading, and if one were to say that his or hers is the right one, and the role of the critic were to merely to regurgitate this or advertise its merits, there would indeed be no need for any art at all, because all would have no other option than to agree with whatever the dominant reading is supposed to be. This idea is radically different from any intended public sphere, or a space where a difference and differance is permitted, or a dialogue between cultures or civilizations, or perspectives is striven towards. You charge me that what I write is my own "opinion," and that it has nothing to do with your film. Well, to that I have to say that "your" film, as soon as you submit it to an open forum is not any longer your possession, but is open to debate and reception by all, even those who are all too willing to simply accept the party-line and the intention of the author, or those who are unaware of such contingencies at all and are kept in the dark or dismissed by a smile and a gesture of harmless good-natured-ness. Meanwhile, every act of writing, every act of cutting and pasting, every thing left on the cutting-room floor (or in this case, the hard-drive) every chosen subtitle, every direction of lighting, background music, camera-angle, not to mention the choice of topic and the manner of its implementation are the manifestations of your (author/film-maker's) "opinion," (not some hard-science or dogma beyond the opinion or subjectivity) and only to counter-balance that, there should be allowed a differing "opinion," or perspective. You write to me that what Elham has said has been a gross misrepresentation of your intentions and that you have tried to "defend" yourself against this reading. I say to that, let go of defensiveness. You have created something beautiful and don't need to be defensive about it. There are going to be disagreements on it, but that is exactly why as an artist you should step back and allow the debate to flourish around your art-work and remain detached and apart from it (unless of course if this work is not a work of art, but rather a subjective work of your propagation that needs to be defended against the outside attacks, like a political-pamphlet or a position in the trenches.) Apart from the question of the intention, when you start to elaborate more about your intended purpose, that of defusing the wild-fire of anti-Islamism, I have no quarrel with that other than to point out that I myself, and many of my compatriots have been direct victims of Islam, and so have a hard time contributing to your efforts to portray it as harmless. While in Iran I have been heavily discriminated against, beaten, abused, expelled from school (and I consider myself lucky comparing to those who could not escape like I did,) because I am not a Muslim; meanwhile, despite what you say, I have encountered only vast opportunities to study, live, travel and feel included in the United States, something that is directly in opposition to your starting thesis. You may say that it is not Islam that does this, but a few who have abused me in the name of Islam. To that, through many years of hearing the same sort of arguments regarding the subject of my studies and in connection to the National Socialists in Germany, I have to say, whether Qor'an itself says that one should beat one's wife, or whether it is an interpretation of it by the present mullah who doesn't accept criticism, whether it is in the book that torture should be a legalized method for the government, or it is simply the Islamic Republic that thinks so, etc. it is irrelevant. The narratives of Islam have been used to justify the abuses of human rights for quite sometime now, and in that sense, it is strange, to say the least, to see fundamentalism portrayed in its cuddly, cute and warm form without any criticism of it. Perhaps the best thing that could happen to save Islam and Muslims is if they realize that it is a personal matter, not one of propagation or something to base a government or society on. Meanwhile, the continuous misrepresentation of the position of the president of the United States, - whom I did not support in the election, but whom I respect and take seriously despite his difficulties with the English language and his below average verbal abilities, - in leaving out the fact that he very directly pointed his criticism in the Axis of Evil speech, - reiterated again recently, - towards the "unelected few" in the Iranian government and not the people of Iran, does nothing but perpetuate a state of fear that really does not exist in America where there is a public debate without the fear of persecution, the right to hire a lawyer and enjoy the right to due-process, and unlike the real state of terror in Iran where one can get picked up by a number of various agencies (both carrying identification and not, reformed, or conservative, legalized or not) and be kept without charge, be legally tortured, and be tried according to the rules of a religion one does not believe in. In this, no one is going to bomb, condemn, mistreat (!) Shahrbanoo's family as you fear, and the perpetuation of this fear is ludicrous in the light of the fact that the exact opposite is happening in Tehran today, - which brings me to the question of "context," and the charge that my original criticism of your film was out of the context that you had chosen for it. The fact is that for a number of months the grip of the unelected few in the Iranian government, together with the impotence of the elected few who were elected on the platform of standing up for the people, and instead have done nothing but to solidify their own theocratic medieval rule against the demands of the populace, has been tightened and every day there are new reports of people being picked up by agents in civilian clothing, not to mention being tear-gassed and assaulted by foreign, imported club and weapon wielding agents. In this, the only justification for the continuation of the unjust theocratic rule, the back-bone of the regime, is not the positive contribution of the regime of the reign of terror to the Iranian society, but rather the flourishing of cemeteries and production of corpses, martyrs and the mutilated, for whom no alternative is left other than to support this failing Enterprise. In this, you bemoan and fight the fact that recently some visas have been denied, but do not question why there has to be a brain-drain out of Iran, and why would people want to escape it so badly. It is bad that Iranian students are not being given visas currently, but it is truly sad that the ones with degrees and willing to help rebuild Iran are being driven away through the persistence of a regime that professes to care more about Palestinians and is willing to sacrifice the national interests of Iran in a failing enterprise of the suicide-bombers while the demands of the Students and Teachers and workers of Iran are not being met and deferred to the cause of antagonizing Israel, something that has been proven detrimental to all the Arab countries through-out the history of the twentieth century, and now is gripping the bleeding hearts of the mullahs of Iran, who themselves are not willing to wrap bombs around their waists and blow themselves up for Allah, but are declaring proclamations and holding seminars and conferences in Tehran in support of it. Well, have a good night for now, and all the best, Amir To top * Are many Iranians who don't practice any religion? You peaked my curiousity with "Heechee kam nadaaran". I don't know if you'd be up for it, but I've got some questions you might be able to answer. I'm a Bahai who is pathetically ignorant about Islam, the Muslim culture, etc. I realized after reading your letter than I've made an assumption that most, if not all, Iranians were religious, even if only culturally (if that makes sense). But your letter basically blew that assumption out of the water! (I love it when that happens) So maybe you can be my spokesperson for the entire Iranian population : ) and tell me if there are many Iranians who don't practice any religion? Are you an anamoly of your culture??? : ) Thanks, Mary To top * Hossein Ahmadi Arangheh Esme man M. Zereshki ast. Bedonbaal doost ghadimi benaame Hossein Ahmadi Arangheh (baa ghadi boland & sen 35 saal) hastam. Dar soorat ettelaa baa man tamaas haasel farmaaeed . MOTSHAKKERAM Zereshki To top * Pas in aks haaye zibaa raa ki gerefte?!! Man ba-d az didan'e aks haaye besyaar zibaa'ye Azadeh Azad [Ultimate concerns], payaami baraayash ferestaadam. Emrooz javaab ishaan resid!Migooyad ke be akkasi besyaar alaagheman ast vali hargez aks haayash raa baraaye tamaashaa be jaa'i naferestaadeh ast!!! Che baayad kard? pas in aks haaye zibaa raa ki gerefte?!! Mokhles'e shomaa, Dariush Radpour To top * Need for dialogue and debate I couldn't agree more with Fereydoun Hoveyda in his article "Open your eyes" regarding the predicament in which the muslim world and particularily the Arab world finds itself due to Islamic fundemantalism. Two recent articles in the NY times caught my attention recently which hint that the Sept 11th tragedy has also shook some radical thoughts taken for granted in the Muslim world. The first was "A Few Saudis Defy a Rigid Islam to Debate Their Own Intolerance". It shows that Saudi authorities have been alerted by the rise in religious intolerance in Saudi Arabia and The second article "The Death of bin Ladenism" written by Amir Taheri, prominent iranian journalist suggests more optimistically that Sept 11th has most probably triggered the Beginning of the End of the end of Islamic Fundamantalism. What is for sure is that Islamic fundamantalism has become one of the major threats of the 21st century and it is urgent for Arab and muslim intellectuals and thinkers as well as openminded clerics to take this fact in consideration. Islam must re think itself in order to adapt itself to the requirments of every modern society and the challenges of this century. This demands a real cultural revolution. This can only be achieved if democratic values as well as secular values become neccessary requirements for Muslim progressive forces. Thus a clear distinction must be made between on one hand what Muslims consider rightly as their cultural heritage derived from Islam and Islam as a religious institution that must be clearly seperated from political matters. The example of Algeria is in my opinion is significant one in that it illustrates the hopes and difficulties in achieving democracy aspirations in a country divided between partisans of secularism and muslim fundamantalists. I must say that living in France and therefore exposed to the Algerian drama given the historical ties between the two nations, I have been often surprised by seeing unvieled Algerians co exist with their vieled compatriots. This has been quite true from the very begining of the Algerian Civil War. Maybe one can see in this a sign of mutual respect and above all the possibility of dialog between Algerians in general. The horrible crimes in Algeria that take place on a daily basis and have been invariably related to the Algerian government as well as Algerian fundamentalists prove that this useless violence hurts both those who believe in a more tolerant islam as well as those who believe in secularism. On a short and long term there is a need for dialogue and debate on all issues regarding the role of Islam in the society. The role of Woman and their legitimate rights, the utility of Islamic laws which dominate most muslim societies are subjects that deserve to be debated. I however believe that one must take into account the particularities of each country and remind our readers that the muslim world is far from being a homogeneous entity and that we have to avoid generalities and superficial not to say rapid conclusions on a given country or its political system that can have the opposite consenquences desired. Regards, Darius KADIVAR To top * Era of blind faith is almost over Dear Mr. Hoveyda, [Open your eyes] I read your article in the Iranian.com with regards to Islam and civilization (or the lack thereof). It was a very clear and well articulate piece on historical chronology in brief. But the real issue right now is how do we get out of this mess - a manifestation of as you have put it centuries past? Part of the answer I have planned out, as I am in Iran right now having returned after 23 years. The resolution in my view is in two fold, a) empower the young generation, my generation if you will, with the tools to access the truth (information) from more than one source. The second part of the plan is to become, at this critical moment in our civilizations history, very vigilant in standing up to religious indoctrination and bull, again which my generation the under 35 is doing. Over the past 2 years now I have researched Iran and I can tell you this much that the era of blind faith is almost over. Zendebad bar shoma va zendeh bad bar azadi. Shariar To top * As much as I dislike any idea of revenge Mr. Bager Zadeh, [Party's over] I would like to say how much I appreciated your article and share your analysis of the Islamic Republics indecent legacy. It is important to remind younger gnerations of the disastrous political purge against thousands of political opposition figures inside and outside the country, the lack of human rights and the situation of Women, and also remind that todays reformists (such as Ibrahim Yazdi ex-mr. Green Card) were for most ex zealot revolutionaries. As much as I dislike any idea of revenge, and still encourage the idea of reform be it by the likes of Khatami if it were to be efficient, I believe it is important to remind our readers of true facts regarding this "Nazi" like regime which plundered the country of its best human ressources either through exile, internal and external terror or a useless 8-year war. Regards, Darius KADIVAR To top * Islam and terrorism Mr. F. Hoveyda is right in his assessment [Open your eyes] regarding Islam and the effect the ongoing backing of terrorism within Muslim countries is having on this religion. Shahla Samii To top * Second Coming of Jesus I can add one small thing to Farhad Radmehrian's excellent article [Too many to count]: the Evangelical Christian movement is awaiting their Second Coming of Jesus Christ, which they believe is expected sometime after the Jewish people have returned to Israel, according to their interpretations of Biblical prophesies. JD To top * Thanks for Giti Thanks for putting Giti's songs on your site... With much appreciation, Behzad Roohi US Peace Corps Recruiter To top * Fundamentalists squelched blossoming scientific movement Mr. Hoveyda, [Open your eyes] I just read your excellent article at iranian.com and wanted to mention that the only thing that you missed was the reason why the fundamentalists squelched the blossoming scientific movement. They saw it as a clear and major threat to their grip on power over the people. Think of it! their interpretation of the Quran was the law. And then along comes a group of scientists that claim they know other 'laws' and maybe can even refute such silly notions as 'najis' by identifying such things as germs, etc. The very foundation of their power base was perceived to be under attack. They responded as they have always responded. This pattern of behaviour has persisted to this day (the recent article on iranian.com bringing attention to the state of the Bahais in Iran [Heechee kam nadaaran]). Whatever the clergy perceive to be potentially damaging to their ability to gain, and maintain power is swiftly dealt with in the most brutal way. Babak To top * Maybe one day I could feel welcome Thank you, Mr. Javid, for your beautiful text [Heechee kam nadaaran]. I am a German Bahai. My father being Persian, I have always longed to visit the roots of my family. Unfortunately, I never felt I were welcome if I had. All too often, I learned about fellow Bahais being stripped their belongings, freedom or lives. Your article made me feel that maybe one day I could after all feel welcome! Before I end my letter, though, I want to expound on one thing or the other which came to my attention in several readers' comments. 1. The Bahai celebrate Naw-Ruz, the form of the feast is simpler than the traditional form, though. 2. The Bahai have a number of holy writings, central of which are the Kitab-I-Aqdás and the Kitab-I-Iqán. These writings are not mere copies of the Quran (Trust me! I would have noticed.) but have strikingly new ideas like abolishing clergy (why else would we have been considered a threat by so many religious leaders in the last 150+ years). 3. The Bahai-Faith is 159 years old. Thank you! Rouven Bashir-Elahi To top * America's hidden agenda I am afraid all of our attempts to get rid of the Islamic regime in Iran will be a lost cause, as the west will never support any faction or political groups except the Islamic group. As any effort to democratise any of the Middle Eastern countries will upset the equilibrium of backwardness of the east and will endanger the west's profits. It appears that America is not much interested in supporting seculer democracy in the Middle East because it will jeopardize the US domination of the rich oil region. The U.S. egotistic policy seems to favour promotion of some kind of Islamic semi-democracy, as it cannot profit from Asians western style democracy. Of course the EU pretending that it is going against the U.S. wishes, has already initiated the movement by starting trading with Iran. The US and it's calibrator the EU have an evil plan to change the map of the middle east by creating a so called Islamic confederation with which they could trade and ensure the existence of Israel by demilitarisation of the middle east region. The plan will involve attacking and occupying Iraq then creating an Iraqi Islamic government (the Afgan style). The following are the great American plans, which are now in progress to destroy our and other middle eastern identities. 1 - Allowing Afganistan to have an Islamic government 2 - It is in American interest to keep Iran as an Islamic government by supporting the so called Islamic reform movement of Khatami, according to the latest signals from Bush. The American plan is to support a limited chaos in Iran to cause a reform in the structure of the Islamic government by sacking the velayat fagheh's position and giving power to the Iranian president thus allowing social reform the Islamic way of course. Iran can then become a blue print, an icon and the darling of the Islamic world. 3 - Propaganda, "Islamic world has no borders", then take Iran , Iraq, Afganistan, the Arab golf states and the central Asia's Russian broke away states together in all of which America has influences and creating a great peaceful money making Islamic confederation which can then allow other regional Islamic countries such as Jordan, Syria and Palestine to join in and will guarantee that Israel will never be attacked again by Arabs , as most of the Islamic confederation's members will be non-Arabs and willing to trade rather than make war . In this way America and its EU partners can vastly benefit from a backward Islamic region by implementing their wicked and dark scheme. S. Panahi To top * Cheh saadeh gofti Dear Jahaanshah, [Heechee kam nadaaran] As a child my father prohibited me from playing with my Bahai friend; he used to say "inhaa sage engelis hastand..." ("They are British dogs..."). Two of my very best friends are Bahai, my CPA is Bahai -- they have never talked about their religion to me. I agree with you 100%. I am against all religions, but human rights is a different thing. Your words went right through my heart. Cheh saadeh gofti. Mahnaz from Seattle To top * I saw Vahdat when I was a kid I was brighten when I noticed the legendary actor Mr. Vahdat's picture at the nostalgia section. You see, I saw Mr. Vahdat, when I was a kid, in the late 1950's in my home-town of Abadan. We were living at EAS'GAAH SHEESH, FAR'AABAAD, where I was born and lived for fourteen years before we moved to TAANKEE DU, LAAM SEE (L 30 for ya'll non-AABODAANEE Foreigners). Anyhow, I vividly remember that day that Mr. Vahdat came to our neighborhood. We were playing soccer (with a tennis ball) on the street. Most drivers would watch for us the kids, and we, as well, watched the traffic carefully. Basically it was a very low traffic street, or else our mothers would not allow us to play.Indeed, most of the times we had our parents, dads only, standing on the sidewalk ZEER -E- DERAKHTAA, watching us play. We were playing when we saw this taxi cab coming. we stopped to let the taxi to pass. But the cab stopped halfway through and we saw a man, tanhaa, getting off. He was not completely out when we recognized who he was. Why, it was Mr. Vahdat himself. We all got so excited that we rushed to him, holding his hands, pulling his shirt, saying:"AAGHAA VAHDAT, SALAAM". We were just kids and had never seen a movie star in person before. We were so excided. Indeed, so excided as if it was the Fucking Shah, him-fucking-self. I remember that he was very warm, very gentle. and I remember that he had a smile on. I think he was happy to being recognized. I live here in Vegas and I see movie superstar, rock stars, N.F.L. players, N.B.A players, and all sort of celebraties all the time. But, What I am impressed with about Mr. Vahdat is that He received us, his little fans, very graciouslly. It turn out that he was filming in Abadan, and he came to visit his cousin, her husband and their baby who were living in our lane. Our neighbor, Mr. Vahdat's cousin, was of ESFAHAANEE (Isfahan) ethnic which Mr. Vahdat himself is one. Thank you, Mr. Vahdat for being so nice to us. And God bless you. ISSA Las Vegas To top * Through Bahaullah embraces the truth about Muhammad I want to thank you for your comments on the Bahais and the way they are being treated [Heechee kam nadaaran]. I was born and raised in New York and have been here 54 years. I come from a Roman Catholic backround and embraced the Bahai Faith 26 years ago. Through Bahaullah I came to recognize and embrace the truth that Muhammad was a prophet of God. As a Christian I didn't have a clue about Islam. Every other Bahai in the world that originally came from a different backround now also accepts Muhammad! How strange it is that the Bahais are treated this way. I know Muhammad never taught this behavior and I wasn't even a Muslim! I wonder whose behavior is more acceptable to Muhammad, yours or those who persecute? Cordially, Vito Benenati To top * True (superficially) Farhad Radmehrian's comparison of the religious motivations of America and Iran's leaders contained much that is superficially true [Too many to count]. He says, "So, what is it with supporting Israel to no end? Well, besides the Jewish lobby, because the Bible says so! The Bible says that Jews are the chosen people and the land they have occupied forcefully is theirs by the word of God! That is why the Evangelical Christian interests in the US have offered their unconditional support to Israel. And a government representing the religious right must do accordingly. " Mr Radmehrian doesnt seem to recognize that his last sentence in the above quote undoes his own arguement. In the US, regardless of a president's personal opinions, a policy cannot survive if it is incapable of winning the popular vote. Of course there are millions of US citizens who are not Christians and who do not support President Bush's policies regarding Israel and such matters, but at the end of the day more do than don't. In Iran, exactly the opposite situation exists. Khamenei's policies would lose by a landslide in any vote, but that doesn't matter in a system where the political mechanism of valahyete faghi still stands. The very notion on an "Islamic Republic" (as opposed to an Iranian Republic in which Muslims are free to practice their faith) is doomed to end up where Iran is at present. Bush, unlike certain other regimes, did not come to power on a raft deceit. Before the election, every intelligent voter in the US understood what to expect from a Bush administration, and they voted accordingly. The people voted or did not vote for a conservative Christian who would be influenced to a great degree by Biblical principles, and by the slimmest of margins that is what they got. 34%? Maybe, but it was still the biggest block of voters on election day. That's democracy. On the other hand, the revolutionaries who brought Khomeini to power believed that they were buying into something far different to the bizzare ideas and domestically destructive outcomes that followed. The rightness of government policy depends upon whether those policies have their support at the bottom of the pyramid or at the top only. Policy which is motivated by religious conviction, cultural preference or anything else is no problem if that policy is understood and ratified by democratic process. Paul MacKinnon To top * Islam cannot be basis of progress Dear Mr. Hoveyda, I enjoyed reading your article in Iranian.com of July 18, 2002 [Open your eyes]. It was very educative indeed, although on some points I had a different opinion compared with yours. Please write more for Iranian.com and let people like me to widen their angle of observation and understanding. I personally believe Islam cannot be a basis of progress and advancement in societies and it should be replaced with new ideas and school of thoughts. Best wishes, Mehran To top * Expecting men to be supermen Dear Tannaz, In your sensitive poem [Naameh] you keep on idealizing, if not idolizing, men who are powerful (man on horse), who are also generous (gives "us" bread), AND are also loving (does not order you to wipe the sweat of his forehead). Don't you realize that by expecting men to be essentially supermen, you, the gentle Feminist, condemn women to the "lower status" in such a way that no sexist pig could ever dream of? I hope well-meaning Feminists like you could recognize the horrible dehumanizing danger of Feminism AS AN IDEOLOGY. A CARE-ful man, Moji Agha To top * Fantastic SALAM BEH SHOMA KHOOBEH MAN, BELIVE IT OR NOT, I WAIT FOR YOUR E MAILS ALL THE TIME. (I USUALLY GET THEM ON MY OTHER ADDRESS). WOW... IS THE ONLY PHRASE OR COMMENT I CAN SAY ABOUT YOU GUYS... YOU ARE FANTASTIC. WELL DONE. BA EHTRRAM, SOHAILA KHANOMEH GOLO , BOLBOL.:o) To top * Your article makes me proud Dear Mr. Appleton, Your article touched me deeply [From Brian to Rasool]. I am an Iranian/American and cherish all that the US has offered my family and myself. Your article however makes me proud of where my roots are - and I thank you for reminding your readers what the Iranian people are all about. Shahla Samii To top * Focused on global civilization I share many of your sentiments [See below: Some important negative points about globalization]. If look at my other op-eds, you will see them reflected. But this one [Good idea] was focused on global civilization. Ba salam o sepas, Majid Tehranian To top * Some important negative points about globalization This is all part of the academic mambo jambo that the big corporations are feeding the academicians for brain washing the students [Good idea]. Big companies advertise and fund business school research to market Globalization. Globalization has ruined lives of many small town farmers. The garbage fast foods like McDonald's, Burger King and the rest of their ilk, like Taco smell are not a way to feed the hungry of the world nutritiously. Brazilian rain forests are being destroyed at an alarming rate to make way for grazing cattle to supply McDonald's beef demand and the global warming will follow. You see, Mr. Tehranian is missing some important negative points about globalization. I am sorry for an educated man like Mr. Tehranian. There is no excuse for this. Mr. Tehranian needs to ask himself couple of questions: Why has unemployment gone up in the world, if globalization is supposed to help mankind? Doesn't lack of work leads to lack of income, which eventually leads to crime? Points such as ancient trade between countries does not work properly for a good argument when a company like Niki operated sweat shops in third world countries and paid less than a $1 a day. The goods that were traded in the Ancient times were bartered with items that satisfied the buyer and seller making it a decent exchange for currency or even barter. A $1 a day for a sweat shop worker hardly satisfies workers needs, let alone for their children. Globalization is a modern name for colonization. Colonization demanded cash crops such as tobacco and hemp which lead to making food supply short in the world. Good land was used to plant cash crops. Hemp was used to make ropes and sails for the merchant ships, leaving little land for the farmer to produce food crops for his family. Hemp is very harsh for the land and takes a lot of effort to clean up. Use of large plantations and slavery was also required to supply that demand. I say, spread prosperity without slavery and globalization. To hell with capitalism, communism and globalism. We have the technology to make the apple large enough for everyone to take a good bite. That is all. What else is life all about? FRS To top * Re-examine personal beliefs and prejudices We put our magnifying glasses against the issues of the society and find social issues that bug us, lots of them and of all sizes [Heechee kam nadaaran]. If we follow these metaphorical bugs and use our noses to find the source of the infection, we often come across one single metaphorical freezer door being left open, totalitarianism of the state. In a free society where there is respect for the rights of minorities, such minorities can wield their constituency swords to obtain their rights. In totalitarian states such as ours however, religion plays a significant role (in our case Mullaism has played the role for the last 500 years or so i.e. since the Safavite Dynasty the fathers of Mullaite rule in Iran) and religious autocracy has gone hand in hand with the political one. Here the state shapes the beliefs of the society (or at least tries very hard to do so) and not the other way round. In a Mullah dominated society, Bahaies have been the victim of one single Islamic belief and that is "Islam is the final religion and Mohamed the final prophet". Now that the Iranian people are beginning to wake up, and fight for the true separation of religion and the state perhaps they will begin to re-examine their personal beliefs and prejudices and one would hope that they would drop any belief which breaks their unity with Bahaies, Christians Jews, Zoroastrians or infact any other cultural or religious minorities. Oh yes, lets not forget Agnostics and Atheists if in fact they are still the minority! It might sound too Utopian, and perhaps some day it will happen, we as a nation can transform ourselves and then we will transform our society. So get cracking.....! Ramin Tork To top * Just a harmless Bahai I just wanted to say thanks. I am not Iranian, but I am Bahai, and someone emailed me your article [Heechee kam nadaaran], and I enjoyed it very much. First of all, you have a refreshing writing style. And of course, I think it is extremely important for non-Bahais to be reminded that the faith I belong to is pretty darn harmless. People don't have to like us or respect us, but at least acknowlege us as fellow human beings with rights! Love and Peace and all that other "goody goody" stuff, Laureen Evans Just a harmless Bahai To top * Looking up old fallacies It would have been interesting to read this piece if you offered some type of a factual account [Too many to count]. Instead, your writing is filled with the same hatred and intolerance that you try attaching to others. It was a real disappointment to read this, but I found it had one redeeming quality. It generated my interest in looking up the old fallacies list and counting up your total usage. I believe it is 7. Thanks for motivation to review my critical thinking material. And thanks for the laughs! Keep trying there sport. Christopher William Tillie To top * Gonaahi ham nadaashtand (English text below) Tannaaz Khaanoom, [Naameh] Chand saale ke dar Amreekaa hasti? Maa hame delemoon baraaye Khoone va doostaane bachegi tange. Vali heech fekr kardi ke tooye hamoon Iran ham kheyleeha majboor boodand eshghe khod ra penhaan konand. Hamoon eshghe beyne do mard va beyne do zan. Gonaahi ham nadaashtand vali jaame'e anhaa raa hargez nemeepazeeroft. Va aknoon ke dar Amrika hastand hameen mardaan va zanaan hanooz ba'ad az saalhaa na beonvaane Amrikaee metavaanad zendegi raahati bekonand va na dar kenaare jaame'eye Iranian e dar ghorbat ehsaas raahati meekonand. Tannaaz jaan ghasde man hamle be shoma va she'ere shoma neest faghat az shomaa mekhaaham khod raa yek lahze jaaye deegraan (Ham-Jens-Geraayaan) begozaareed ba'ad ghezaavat koneed.... Omidvaaram Mard e Khod raa har che zoodtar beyaabee... Baa Arze ehteraam Raad (English) Dear Ms. Tannaaz: How many years have you been in the US? We all too miss our home and our childhood friends. But have you ever thought that in that very same Iran many people were forced to hide their loves. The loves that you refer to as the love between two men and two women. These people had no fault of their own for feeling how they did but society never would accept them. And now that some of these men and women are in the United States, even after many years they can't live comfortably as Americans nor feel at ease even among the Iranian populations in Diaspora. Tannaaz dear, my purpose is not to attack you and your poem. I only ask of you that for a moment you put yourself in the place of others (Homosexuals) and then judge... I hope you find the man that you are longing for... With respect to you Raad To top * He is probably 5 feet tall fat and bald and miserable Good for you. What a horrible and low life person to take his frustrations out on you [Surprised at your ignorance]. He is probably 5 feet tall fat and bald and miserable. Any average man will have the intelligence to stick to the issue rather than making personal attacks. You should not have even given him the space in your column to piss him off. Azam Nemati To top * BEHOOSH BASHID Azaadi ra nemishavad gereft o ba vaaje o kalam be band keshid.Azaadi yek hadaf ast.yek hadafe moghaddas o vaalaa.vali ayaa tazmini vojud darad ke nahayatan be in hadafe moghaddas beresim?che goruhi sadde raahe azaadi hastand ta bad az nabudie regime khunkhare jomhurie eslami betavanim be an dast yabim? Ayaa sad-ha hezar javan o pir o zan o mard o kudaki ke be khatere in ide-aal jaan bakhtand , khuneshan zire chakmehaye estebdadie pahlaviha va zire lavaye mashrotiat paymal nashod? Hadaf az saltanat e mashrute,faraham avardane jaame'eii boud ke dar an kasi az bayane vagheiat va andisheye khish vahshati nadashte bashad va betavanad ba aramesh va amniat anche fekr mikonad,beguyad va benvisad. Ayaa chenin bud? dictatorie pahlavi ke sarha va kamarha ra khord kardand va zabanha ra boridand. Rasti emrouz che dast-haaii be karand ta azaadi dar asmane IRAN-e azizeman be parvaz dar nayayad va dar ham beshkanad. Saltanat talaban in jorsumehaye khafaghaan,haman kasaani ke az adame azaadi dar Iran dar bandemaan kheili dam mizanand,ammaa khod bename azaadi,AZAADI ra ba daste khod khafe mikonand. Ey azaadi.khaahane IRANI ,dar in borhe az zaman ke dorane jabejaaii va nabudie regime-e jenayat pishe,va din salar o estebdadie jomhurie eslamisat ,tarikh cheshm be amakarde ma dukhte ast,be ghole mobarezi: PIRUZIE DOSHMAN BEKHATERE GHODRATASH NIST, BALKE BEKHATERE ESHTEBAHATE MAST. BEHOOSH BASHID. Goruhe Govaahaane Taarikh (Tehran) To top * Paid protestors Did anyone notice all the soldiers in Iran's anti-U.S. demonstration, which amounts to paid protestors? Their fixation on a brief statement by Bush expressing solidarity with Iranians who seek real freedom highlights the insecurity and paranoia of this regime. They're desperate for an external enemy. Craig Lawrence To top * Hope and pray that this one goes to prison Although I am not pro this so called "African American" thing in which I do not give a sh....t about, but hope and pray that this one Bijan Darvish goes to prison and forethemore to be sell-mate with the same kind that he exchanged punches with. He is so dumb looking that he will make a good bitch. ISSA Las Vegas To top * My sadness was natural Dear Shaw: Thank you for your email. Contrary to what you have assumed, the tragedy of Bou'in Zahra's Earthquake both angered and saddened me [I cannot blame them]. So much so that with a fever of about 102F, I stood awake and wrote a narrative which appeared in Iranian Times two days later. My sadness was natural. My anger was because for nearly 15 years, a group of Iranian engineers, physicists and I have been pressing the IRI for implementation of quake-proof building codes and have offered to work with IRI and all other interested parties, pro-bono, in application of a low-cost "quake-proof" building design in Iran. All we have received in response has been some non-sense, redtape, general run-around and lack of interest. A few days after I wrote my letter regarding what I had observed in that photo by Vahid, a number of newspapers and journals reported the same regarding the general Iranian public disregard for the clerics and their regime. Here is a link to one of them and I have enclosed attachments from others in this email as well. Thus, I was not the only person who had obeserved this. Neither was I callous. Luck had it that within 24 hours of the Bou'in Zahra's Earthquake, some Austrian friends of mine were heading to Iran. I immediately went to bank and gave them a large sum of cash in U.S. dollars, ask them to hide it in their belonging so as not to have it expropriated at the Customs, and advised them to deliver it to my uncle in Iran. I had contacted my uncle earlier and he had volunteered to go to Bou'in Zahra's and neighboring villages to attend to the wounded. He is a German-trained physician, who after 14 years of education and practice in Germany, returned to Iran in 1974 to serve in smallest towns such as Arak....... Iran quake victims claim survivors were left in rubble By James Palmer 24 June 2002 Villagers in north-western Iran have begun burying their dead after a powerful earthquake ripped through the region on Saturday, killing at least 220 people. While relief teams struggled to reach the injured and a series of aftershocks hampered the search for survivors, angry local people accused the authorities of failing to act quickly enough to reach those trapped in rubble. "They left people under the rubble, even those who were alive, people who then died," one elderly man said. Large groups of people shouted protests and threw stones at the convoy of a government minister, Abdolvahed Mousavi-Lari, as he toured the mountainous region. The windows of an ambulance in the convoy were smashed. Meanwhile, health workers sprayed disinfectant over the 100 destroyed or badly damaged villages to stave off the spread of disease in heat that has reached 30C. The death toll was revised downwards from initial estimates of 500 but the Iranian Red Crescent said that at least 5,000 houses had been destroyed and 25,000 people made homeless. "There was a mistake. The previous number was the number of dead and injured together," a Red Crescent official, Majid Shalviri, told state television. The epicentre of the quake was in the town of Bou'in-Zahra in Qazvin province. Many of the dead were women, children and elderly people who were still in their mud, stone and brick homes when the earthquake, measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale, struck at about 7.30am. Many of the men were working in the fields. The area, inhabited by tens of thousands of people, is largely rural but is also home to small factories and businesses producing goods ranging from plastics to medicine and food. In a cemetery overlooking the small village of Abdareh, about 140 miles west of Tehran, 20 funerals were held yesterday. Wailing echoed through the village. "There is nothing left to live for," said 16-year-old Majid Torabi, who buried both his parents. "One moment they were alive and with me, and the next moment the ground shook and everything got dark. I don't know what to do anymore." Homeless survivors lit small fires amid the rubble of villages to warm themselves as night-time temperatures plummeted. Many were waiting for food medicine and tents to arrive. Near Abdareh, in the village of Changooreh, where at least one person in nearly all of the 100 homes was killed, rescue workers with sniffer dogs unearthed bodies from the rubble. A cry of Allahu Akbar ? God is great ? rose from a small crowd of rescue workers and villagers digging for bodies as a woman ? still clutching her 10-year-old daughter's corpse ? was found buried. Nearby, 20-year-old Hassan Mohammad Aliha sat on the rubble that was his home, beating his head and screaming in mourning for his mother. His sister sat next to him, too dazed to speak. Villagers in Esmailabad, six miles north of Avaj, near the quake's epicentre, recovered 38 bodies on Saturday. "My child died and the local people helped me to bring him out of the rubble. Only local people are helping," a man in Avaj said. Tehran said it would accept the help of American non- governmental organisations but stopped short of accepting an offer of aid from President George Bush, who has condemned Iran as part of an "axis of evil", along with Iraq and North Korea. On Saturday, Mr Bush offered his condolences, saying: "Human suffering knows no political boundaries. We stand ready to assist the people of Iran as needed and as desired." Mehdi Sharif To top * Dog killing Could someone provide me with an English translation of the English translation of the synopsis of "Dog Killing?" I know this is a funny request, but I really couldn't make heads or tails of what the movie was really about. Is it good, by the way? And why? I'm curious, you see, because my Iranian son is going to send me a copy of it, but couldn't manage to find one for me in English or even with sub-titles and I'm afraid my limited (and rusty) comprehension of Persian won't be enough to carry me through. Can anyone of you help me with this? Please? What is the word -- lotefan? So many of you seem to speak such perfect English. Debra Johnson To top * Everything from a distorted perspective Hi Leila, [Illusion overdose] I usually don't reply to people's pieces of writing, but I found myself so angry at having read your article that I could not do anything but write to you. I wanted to ask you if you know Hamid Shabkhiz, because I do. I have known him since I was born and the man that you described with ties to the mullahs and all, that is not him. I wonder if you care that you write about all these people whom you have never met. If you had met them, you would know that not only are they some of the most hard working people I have ever met, but they are also some of the most caring and intelligent. It hurts me to see the way you portray Hamid Shabkhiz because from all I have witnessed with my own eyes, he is one of the cleanest and most noble hearted men in that business and he only gathers the best around him. You poke fun at the ahanghaye darkhasti shows and the girls and guys who host them, but how can you speak so badly of someone you don't know? It makes you feel powerful doesn't it? If you gave yourself have a chance to look past the surface, you would know that you are totally seeing everything from a distorted perspective. How can someone be so bad if 90% of Iran is in love with him? Iranians are not a dumb or easy people, daste kameshoon nagir! They know good and they know evil. If everyone is seeing something in this man, there must be more to him that your closed mindedness allows you to see. Politics isn't everything, neither are fancy computers or educational programs. Sometimes people just like to dance and sing and laugh and get away from their troubles. Escape if only for just one moment. Let them dance...there may be no tomorrow and then the regrets will come tumbling down that they took everything so seriously and watched life pass them by! Thank you, Assal Badrkhani To top * American of the day Those who live in Iran are the only people who are proud to be Iranian, this young lady [Sarah Afshar] has to fight your country in order to do her job. So your article is misleading, she is not Iranian of the day, she is American of the day. That is fine with me as long as she is not proud to be an Iranian, she has every right to be ashamed of her parents to be Iranian, but you can not call her an Iranian, she is an American by birth and choice. I hope she could read the following web site to be more proud of herself: //www.zmag.org/CrisesCurEvts/interventions.htm I am proud of my country because the last time we invaded another country it was 1704. Thanks for your valuable source of information. Sincerely, Mohammad Khaneghahi To top * It's a sign dear mr. jahanshah javid, your article/ letter in iranian.com about the bahais was forwarded to me as well as to many persian (and non perisn) bahais all over the globe [Heechee kam nadaaran]. i was impressed to know that someone in iran who isnt a bahai is even talking about us. i hear a few years ago, just the word bahai was avoided like the plague. it's a sign that changes are taking place in the birthplace of the bahai faith. its also impressive that you are such an open minded person as to believe that human rights should be given to all humans, even when the humans in question are bahais. to answer your question on "why do you treat bahais so badly?" the answer is quiet simple and is even found in the bahai teachings. "we must be lovers of light no matter from what lamp it apears. we must be lovers of the rose no matter in what garden it blooms. we must be seekers of truth no matter from what source it comes. attachment to one lamp can prevent us from appreciating the light when it shines in another. attachment to the outer forms and practices of religion can deprive us from understanding the truth of all religions. we must abandon prejudice and outmoded traditions if we are to succeed in finding the truth. there is a difference between dogma, superstition and prejudice on the one hand, and truth on the other. if we understand this, we will be able to see that the Divine light of Truth shone in all the Manifestations of God - in Krishna, Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, the Bab and Bahaullah. in seeking the truth we must free ourselves from all our opinions and preconceived ideas. we must give up our prejudice and trivial notions. an open receptive mind is needed. if our cup is full of self, there is no room in it for the water of life. the fact that we think we are right and everyone else wrong is the greatest obstacle in the path to unity, and unity is necessary if we are to reach the truth, for truth is one." so if one wants to know whether the bahais are right or wrong, one needs to empty one's mind from preconceived ideas and cleanse one's soul of prejudice. likewise, if you want iran to be recognized as a great nation and part of the global village and the 21st century, you shouldnt make such racist comments like the one you made about Prophet Mohammad being an arab. for despite being an arab, he was a great man of God, a mesenger of God who brought a great religion. islam, its culture and teachings were the basis on which the western civilization is now built. if only all muslims would free themselves from prejucices and preconceived ideas put into their heads by religious and "spiritual" leaders whose purpos has nothing to do with that of God, they will see all religions in their true and pure form. they will realize that it is the way to bring about love, peace and unity to the human race. i will give you a url for a message sent by the international governing body of the bahais to all the religious leaders of the world. i hope this gives you an insight on what the bahai faith calls for. and what made it spread to each and every corner of the earth wasnt because it started in iran, its beacuase it embraced all races, religious backgrounds, ethnicities, and colours. prejudice gets no one any where and the proofs are out there for all to see. the url is in farsi too. yours, manar hassan To top * Composer looking for Mansour I am from Iran. I am a composer (taraaneh saraa) and I want to contact singers in the USA. Please help me? What is Mansour's email address? Where can I send him a letter? Thanks and goodbye, Mohamad Esteqamat To top * Thanks for thinking of my brothers and sisters I am a Bahai in Washington, U.S.A. Northwest. I was a Methodist till I read the writings and spoke to people in Germany, as a Fulbrighter in 73-74. I joined the Bahai Faith because it's tenents said, serve the world, be a good person and remember, men and women are equal in the sight of God. Justice is a big one in the Bahai Faith. IT is right up there with gender equality. Anyway, as a school teacher in a high school, I have seen the need for spirituality and virtues to help people get along. After 33 years as a teacher of German, French, Russian, multi-cultural studies and ESL, I have seen thousands of kids who really need a spiritual basis to their lives to give them direction and help them serve humanity. Thanks for thinking of my brothers and sisters in Iran [Heechee kam nadaaran]. I am German-American, but mostly feel like a world ciitzen these days. Good luck in your future endeavors and I hope you get a chance to read the writings of Bahaullah. Sincerely yours, Thom Rohm Renton, Washington To top * I can only take ourselves responsible I totally agree with your point of view regarding the Iranian media abroad [Illusion overdose]. It is unfortunate that our society can not take advantage of the means and freedom that is available to us. However in my mind, I can only take ourselves responsible for such situation, not the TV programs. One could argue that they are just following the demand and the responsibility of this situation lies only on our own shoulder. I personally have spend (wasted really) about a whole few hours to find out the lack of substance in these program so perhaps I am sanctioning them till they get their act together. Regards Mehrdad To top * Attracted to any woman except Iranian women? Dear Sir Before reading this article (an extract from your book) [Conception of gender roles, Unveiling of women & progress]. I was in a tour in America. On a hot afternoon in LA, my American friend and I were shopping at a supermarket that a group of 5-6 (young, well-dressed extremly attractive) women drew our attention. My friend immediately spotted them as being Persian. He said to me "You know, Persain women are among the most beautiful, intelligent, witty, sharp, educated... women in the world, but their men do not know that!" Your article is a living proof of his claim. Otherwise you wouldn't dig deep in to the history of Iran and report that some empty-headed Iranian royal (or lonely traveller) travelled to Europe and Britain, in Particular, in 18 &19 centuray. And discovered that long-faced, thin-lipped, sharp-nosed and sex-crazed English women as beautiful!? The men (or mullahs) you named would call any woman who doesnot cover pretty, because they were just like a kid in a sweet shop. Have some depth sir, and look for the answer to the obvious questions: why throughout the Iranian history men like yourself never spoke out for freedom, love, care and education of their women? And why they are attracted to any woman except Iranian women? I think the new move by young, educated, successful beautiful Iranian women to boycott Iranian men is a very wise act. At leas I have been lucky enough to benefit from it and live with one of the most beautiful human being from Iran, my wife Shirin. Yours faithfully, Carl (Living in Germany) To top * Sad failure I had hoped that you would give Iranian people some credits that a story as cliche' as your story [Taaghoot va Yaghoot har do zan boodand] (a beautiful, successful, tall, north Tehrani is challenging the understanding of an ugly, short, uneducated poor south Tehrani during the revolution of 1979) can hardly do anything but touch the consciousness of Iranian people. Your story was a failing attempt to imitate Hedayat's style of writing. Indeed a sad failure. Regrads Keyvan To top * Refreshing perspective I'm a reporter up here in McCall, Idaho, and by trade I appreciate reading unbiased commentary [Heechee kam nadaaran]. What a refreshing perspective you have presented. Lucia Knudson To top * Recognizing our humanity Thank you for your July 3rd article [Heechee kam nadaaran]. Bahais, Iranian or not, consider Iran a sacred land. Mahalo nui loa (thank you very much - in Hawaiian) for recognizing our humanity. Tuckers To top * Put yourself back together I read your letter on Iranian.com. [He wrote me beautiful love letters] I'm sorry to hear that the man you love has chosen to live his life for someone(s) other than himself! I would say that in the final analysis, even if you had ended up together and he hadn't gone back, this hidden flaw in his character would have come between you in some way at some point in the future! Your best bet is to put yourself back together and go on with your life and cherish the good memories and let him live with his decision! God bless you! Ben Bagheri Texas, USA To top * Hamid Tabbassian I live in Kansas City and I am looking for a friend of mine who used to live here. He studied civil engineering at the Universty of Kansas in the 70's. He got home sick and went back to Iran . Somehow, I lost contact with him because his family had moved to Mashhad and changed their address. I heard he had left Iran sometime ago. Does anyone know where Hamid Tabbassian is? Javad Dehaghani To top * Is it because...? You have not listed "Payame Doost" a Persian radio from Washington D.C. Is it because it is a Bahai station? Thank you Alavicheh REPLY: I don't care if it's a Bahai station or not. The station has been listed -- Jahanshah Javid To top * Writing style I really like your writing style, and how you preseted all of the facts. [Heechee kam nadaaran] Great job. Bahman To top * Found Bahai Faith in Hawaii Great article. [Heechee kam nadaaran] Iran is a very blessed country and will be held in high esteem by the rest of the world in the future. Just think, you have, through such figures as Zoroaster, brought into being one of the worlds great civilizations, the Assyrian empire, the Sassanian kings, the monotheistic leaders like Darius, Cyrus, and Artaxerxes, who ordered the rebuilding of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem, etc, etc.. You also supplied the first believers in Jesus Christ, the three Magi, whom most Christians haven't the foggiest idea that they were Iranian Zoroastrian high priests. I am an American of Spanish origin. I grew up in Colombia, South America and found out about the Bahai Faith years later in Hawaii. My problem was that after 6 years as an emerald miner in the mountains of Colombia, I hated anything to do with politics or religion. When I arrived in Colombia as a young American I got into a fight because I was told that America had stolen Panama from Colombia (yes we did). When I would return to the States I was told, "Hey Spic, go back where you came from!" Not until I heard Bahais words "The earth is one country and mankind its citizens" did I find expression to my always known certainty that mankind was one, and that nationalism had to be a bridge to internationalism or else it was a dead end. When you look down from an airplane you don't see any lines between countries. The concept of the oneness of all religions ends forever the divisiveness of human religiosity and sectarianism. Or as 'Abdu'l-Baha it, "Truth is but a single point, only the ignorant have multiplied it". There is only one Creator and he's not in competition with himself.(my words) As a result of becoming a Bahai, I have accepted Muhammad as a Messenger of God, and have understood the greatness of Islamic contributions to civilization. Farsi ("the sweet Iranian accents") is going to acquire worldwide acceptance as the language of a revelation destined to bring about a Golden Age of mankind as we can only dimly envision now. Bueno, amigo, que Dios te acompa? Dasteh shoma dar na koneh, Hodahafez, Manuel Jose Marcial To top * Palestinian or Iranian magazine? Is that a Palestinian or an Iranian online magazine? I didn't know that Iran's main problem is Jerusalem and Palestine. Maybe i'm not good informed and Iran is a model of Democracy and the Iranian people are among the richest in this World. Maybe we don't have millions of "Avareh" around the World and half of our compatriots are not living under the poverty line. Maybe there are not thousands of political prisonners in our Country. Or maybe the Islamic Republic's propaganda has been really effective since 23 years. Anyway thank you very much and i don't give up the hope to see you care more for your Country than for Parlestine one day. After all, the arabs always loved us and the Palestinians sent us their fighters 23 years ago during the "Revolution" to kill dirty Iranian soldiers in the Jaleh Square and they teached us how to burn the Cinema Rex in Abadan with their sophisticated technics. Respectfully yours. Ariabod To top * We are killing the future  Dear readers of Iranian.com, I was appalled recently by seeing this picture (Basijis) on another iranian website Iranmania.com introducing the following article on the revolutionary guards threatening reformers in Iran: "Revolutionary Guards issue an unprecedented warning". I first thought like many it couldn't be possible, that it was a photo trick but had confirmation that it was indeed a real photo. I am totally appalled. I cannot concieve how backward we have become. Iran is a country of contradictions. As much as I am certain that most Iranians are far from being racist, I am trully appalled to see how far this regime has gone in mixing political issues and doing everything in its power to spread feelings of hate and xenophobia in its ranks. This is truly shocking. I am half Iranian and my Grandfather fought the Nazis during World War two and spent a number of years in German Prisons and it shocks me to see that Hitlers ideology persists to this day. Politics based on hate and racisme lead nowhere but to doom. I could continue by saying that we are the country where Cyrus the Great established the first Declaration of Human Rights and so forth but what is the use? Jahanshah Javid wrote a wonderful piece on the xenophobia towards Bahais in Iran [Heechee kam nadaaran]. History has proven that whenever a people start blaming other nationalities for its own problems it only creats new and unpredictable problems. For more than 23 years as a Nation we have been shouting slogans against America, Israel, burning flags and shouting "Marg bar" this or that. This is not only relative to Iran but this behaviour but we as a country certainly contributed to export this to other countries like Lebenon for which I also wrote a letter in regard to a photo essay. Racial hate should be fought no matter what the reasons and nothing can justify this. We are killing the future each time we use racial attitudes like this. We set horrible role models for the youth who are not aware of what they do. The Middle East is the region where Three of the greatest religions were born: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. I did not mention Zoroastrianism in our country. These religions advocate tolerance, good deeds, and the rejection of evil. Yet after thousand of years this region is still divided by war and hatred. The Islamic Republic is not a Democratic Republic. It is not a Democracy and does not advocate it. It has never advocated nor practised any form of tolerance towards neither the Iranian people which it suppresses nor towards any nation. It merely wants to live in total independance and Autharcy from anything foreign. All this pretext of attacking Israel and pretending to sympathize with the palestinian cause is just a pretext to feed the people with a potential enemy responsible for all the regimes shortcomings. Democracy is the only way out of this mess. This Hitler salute is not just another excentricity, it is a signal. It shows that this regime does not respect anything. It is just trying to revise history to fit its own goals: Destruction of all western values including Democracy. I am not a jew nor an Israelian, I am aware of the problems linked to the Israeli-palestinian conflict, and the excesses of the Israeli government but this does not justify anyone from adopting Nazi like values and customs. By reviving the phanthoms of the past we are killing the future. Besides what does it have to do with Iran? The IRI claims to be on the side of the Palestinian people but all they want is to promote the Islamic revolution outside Iran by supporting terrorist groups like the Hamas or the Hezbollah. What they support is at most Anarchy. We should not allow this un-iranian regime to impose its false values to our compatriots. They have mocked Iran and Iranians for more than 23 years and continue doing so. Iranians must refer to what they have cherished the most in their history, their great poets :Saadi, Hafiz, Rumi, Ferdowsi and Khayyaam among many others. They should take pride that their poets have always celebrated tolerance, good deeds, wisdom and love. These are the true values that have been transmitted to us over the centuries. If Democracy and its values were not part of our national vocabulary, then its high time to include it in our vocabulary. If religious and racial tolerance have been wiped out of our vocabulary for the last 23 years well we have to reincorperate it in our vocabulary again. Regards, Darius KADIVAR To top * Worked perfectly I watched your manipulation of the old pictures under the title "Dialogue of civilizations". I very much enjoyed both the artistry involved in and the clever ideas behind it. The juxtapositions and collages that you have used have worked perfectly. Great job! Mahvash Shahegh To top * A bit angry I just read your July 3rd article [Heechee kam nadaaran] about the Bahais, and enjoyed it quite a bit! It was very good, albeit a bit angry. Nooshin Zahedi To top * Olive: The Symbol Not necessarily an answer to the quiz but I was interested to know... The olive does not have a direct link with Brigit but it is associated with the Greek goddess Athene, a goddess of war or tribal protector, and patron of the arts. The Roman equivalent was Minerva, and the Romans equated Minerva with Brigit so the olive was at least connected with a sister goddess of Brigit. Athene and Poseidon both wanted their name to be given to a newly-built city in Attica. To settle the dispute it was decided that the one who gave the greater gift to the people of Athens would have that privilege. Poseidon gave them salt but Athene gave them the olive tree which was judged to be more valuable. The olive branch became a worldwide symbol of peace due to the fact that in early harvesting, many years passed between planting the seed and gathering the final fruit, and no man who did not wish for a long and peaceful life would plant an olive grove. In Genesis, a dove released from the Ark by Noah, returned with an olive branch to show that the flood had receded. Ever since, the olive branch and the dove have symbolised deliverance and God's forgiveness. The dove is a universal symbol of peace and innocence. It was also connected with Athene in ancient Greek myth and represented the renewal of life. Olive leaves are used on the United Nations symbol which shows the world flanked by a wreath of crossed olive branches; the Great Seal of the USA has an eagle carrying in its right talon an olive branch with 13 leaves to represent peace between the original member States and the flag of the league of Arab States has an upturned crescent encircled by a gold chain and olive wreath. Mojgan To top * Ohhhhhhh boyyyyyy Hello i just want to let you know this matter it's not only for iranian men in the US [You frustrate me]. Let me tell you here in Iran so worse i'm Iranian and after 15 years living in Canada i thought to myself it would be nice to come back and be with my family so i gave my self 2 years to live in Iran and ohhhhhhh boyyyyyy these men have absoultely no respect for women and they think if they want you that's it -- it doesn't matter what your opinion is and i have to say i agree with you and i'm sick of it , and i love to know why these men are like that. Parisa T July 23, 2002 See Part II To top |
|
|
|
Web design by Bcubed
Internet server Global Publishing Group