TOLERANCE

Native,

I liked your hypothesis. I wish you could derive it more slowly without skipping some terms. I guess then it wouldn't fit as a comment. So why the heck don't you write about it in an article? Very interesting stuff!

To me, this is a time of war

To me, this is a time of war and conflict between the Iranian people and the Iranian regime. The discussion about tolerance and things like that is not going to help us effectively stand up to this regime. Iranian culture has been always a liberal and tolerant one. Although we suffer from tyrannical socio-political structure rooted deeply in our history, but for the most part, we have actually displayed to the world one of the first forms of tolerance and liberalism. So this is not the time or the place to show tolerance towards this regime. This is a fight for our lives and the future of our country. Tolerance towards opposition and the different in a society is different than tolerance towards a facist regime. What are you trying to conclude here? This is a barbaric regime that is leading our country to the path of destruction, this is the same as saying the Germans should’ve tolerated Hitler or Russians should’ve tolerated Stalin

Yes withina given context Islam SHULD be attaked

Yes within a given context Islam should be criticized.
I have no problem with it.

There are a groups of people who view destruction of Islam as a silver bullet to what ills Iran today. In fact, given current geopolitical context, there motives fall in line with the US necons…

CONTEXT is the key.

It can not be from without and it can not be manufactured.

It is indeed a Generational struggle.

I question any one who advocates destruction of Islam as silver bullet.

CONTEXT is Generational.

Thanks Abarmard!

I think you brought up an excellent point. Iranian government must offer native language courses in the academic curriculum, firstly to make kids expand their understanding for other minorities and secondly to revive old dialects and languages that are on the brink of extinction. I think the best thing we can do is to focus on our next generation and be careful to not to hand them out our hatred and prejudice. As always your articles are source of goodness and logic. Look forward to reading your next article.

Best Regards,

nonsense

"when you attack Islam, you attack every Iranian Father and Mother ..."

Islam is an ideology, a religion. It can and must be criticized and yes, attacked. Pepple are free not to agree with it, to speak out against it, to shout out against it, even to hate it. NOBODY can take that right from people. This has nothing to do with attacking muslims. If some muslims FEEL tattcaked whenever Islam is criticized, that is their problem. They better grow up.

Sophistry

Another sophistry prevalent in these situations is the "tolerance" and hearing the other opinion. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? The "other" opinion is in charge of Iran at the moment, has the TV, Radio, and all the news prepare and propaganda power this regime can offer! How can we not hear it? It has been imposed on us for 30 years!
And websites like these where the pro IRI fractions attack on mass to promote their fascistic ant-american anti-semitic anti-liberal crap.
Free people of Iran! Beware those who speak such lies. THEY ARE YOUR ENEMIES!

Re: YES I do Agree But

Differentiate between Islam and the mullahs
99.9% of Iranian Moslems are like my Mother ...
when you attack Islam, you attack every Iranian Father and Mother ...

My Mother has nothing against Democracy and other faiths ....

Be realistic ....

in another words...

Nil is a set defined by following elements

Nil = { US-Neocons, PARSITES, hegemonic entities,MOK, Al-Qaeda,...}

{ Ant-Islamlam ∈ Nil , J. Ant-Islamlam < 0 }

That is to say; Ant-Islamlam is an element in the Nil where Ant-Islamlam is less than zero.

Iran is a subset of a bigger set called struggle for independence and progress which also includes Moslems world wide.

Islamic-UNION is a nonlinear function that maps the transition state of every element with in The IRAN set into another set called "Progress, freedom i.e: democracy and secular Society" - PFS State.

"Nil-Influence" is a function that defines the intensity [frequency or Sterength] of Islamic-UNION application i.e. the relationship between IRAN and Islam is IN PARTS
directly proportional to the "influence" of of the Nil set.

The harder Nil set "influence" resulting "stall factor" ,
the stronger the reliance on Islamic application to secure pasage to PFS state.

Though the resulting, P, F, and S may not be proportional in equal parts at any one time.

i.e In time of war, we may sacrifice some personal freedom for security and progress or visa versa.

Iranians equally abhor bigotry in support of religion or in a mindless support against Islamic and cultural traditions of IRAN.

For a more in depth analysis read the following post from Reza Zarabi on JPOST:

Quest for Knowledge is an exploration/movement from known to unknown.

Once we reach an UNKNOWN, it does not mean, all known facts have to be abandoned to resolve the UKNOWN.

Likewise, Society builds on its culture and its strengths (in this case Islamic traditions) to move forward and progress.

Please read the following
//blogcentral.jpost.com/index.php?cat_id=4&bl...

Okay, then.......

 Okay, then why is it that because I converted to Islam did they assume I was an Islam-facist and pro-IRI? I even clearly explained to them that I do not believe on imposing my religious views on them. I did not do it in the 35 years of being a Christian and I have no intentions of doing it now. Hello! I was raised in North America where there is a separation of Church and State.

I was also insulted for my anti-War views for Iran. I do not want to see Iran destroyed and I certainly do not want to see more Iranian blood spilled. I think enough Iranians have died already.

I believe that religion is a personal decision.  I realize that the current Iranian government is not functioning well for Iran. I have nothing against  monarchy or the previous Shah. However, I realize that having another Monarchy will not function well in Iran either. Iran is very different from other countries and therefore should have a different form of government. I think it is why the Monarchy failed when it tried to modernize Iran. It was not the best choice for Iranians. Iran does need to modernize but at a different pace and style from other countries.

Natalia Nadia

Yes they were!

Yes! I assume they were muslims. However, Ataturk, Rezashah and Mossadegh and Reza Pahlevi and many other average Iranians are muslims as well. But they all oppose Islamism, as it is not compatible with democracy. You can be a muslim but be all for a secular political system. But then you have the muslims who believe very firmly in imposing their religion and way of life on others (the Islamo-fascists in Iran) are a very good example.

I have nothing against people's faith, be this Islam or any other religion, but the problem is with the ones who 'are' saying my way or the highway. With those, we cannot speak, because we're not allowed to question their beliefes, as these are 'untouchable' islamic beliefs. Don't you agree?

Kamangir.........question?

Where the Iranian generals and Shah muslims? Please be objective in your response as I only want to learn.

Natalia Nadia

Understanding has a limit

There're things that are very difficult to understand such as the many of the Islamic backward rules or laws. It's hard to understand why those whose cultural level doesn't go beyond the tribes of the hot deserts of Arabia some 1400 years ago, have imposed their 'understanding' on others.

Islam and democracy do NOT go together and therefore there will never be much understanding between the normal beings and the backward stone age individuals such as the hardline hezbolahis of Iran and elsewhere. Should we understand the sick mind of the criminals ruling our country? Should we understand their way of thinking and life? Are we given any chance whatsoever to dispute their attitudes? Does their backward religion allow this?

What kind of understanding is possible in Iran, nowadays, under current circumstances? To have a debate you need civilized individuals on both sides of the table. Unfortunately on the other side of our table we have a bunch of people who are not there to debate or talk, but to knock us out.

It is true that tolerance

It is true that tolerance is a major requirement for democracy in any society but this is not the source of all problems that we see today under Islamic Republic in Iran today. Most of problems in Iran are in fact caused by the ruling system which is in part responsible for creating tensions and restrictions in the name of religion. Tolerance in society can not be tested in absence of basic freedoms. The most important element in democray is free press that needs to be tolerated by the ruling system. There is no need for me to say here that free press is nothing but a myth under ISlamic regime. Democracy without rights to freedom of expression, freedom of political activities to create political parties which are outside the scope of ruling system, is not a democracy.

The other point is that democracy requires debating issues which depending on sensitivity of the issue, debates can get heated but at the end it's the audience which will judge and decide what is the better argument. This is why you have political campaigns and debates between candidates of different parties. The culture of democracy which includes tolerance can not get strenght when there is no democracy. Every new democracy has experienced periods of abuse of the conditions by those whom are not used to it. Take Turkey or India for example in which people even would get killed or hurt during the campaigns until recently but they have matured out of it now and we can see healthier campaign these days.

Good article but...

There are some elements which are true where the author points at. However the root of all this problems is not the people but the governments we had over decades who denied rights of minorities. Iran is a country with different ethnicity and that's how it should be run. That is why federalism is the best option for a future Iran. Federalism silences any groups who believe in separations.

TOLERANCE

the rute of the word proves it as an europian construct. in the colonisation aera they advised the "aboriginates" to tolerance. they have been allready since allways barking and grunting: we - i mean europians - are tolerant and have misused the sitaution to kill und rubery in all over the world. And today? to whom do they show their toöerance? do you go back ever again? where do you come from? in your country there is no democracy. so we tolerate you. they have only these speeches and likewise and nothing more for their "GUESTS". The equvalent farsi word for tolerance. well we have all forgotten it. Greeting

I'm not worried about

I'm not worried about comments on this website or the divide between Iranian diaspora one bit. The Iranian diaspora (mostly students) meant something during shah but not anymore. They are irrelevant. People in Iran are more or less on the same path and in time they'll change course as necessary and settle on something. Just look at how some people on this page were cutting their throats to have US bomb Iran and as of Monday and NIE report they just deflated like an old man's dick! Now they speak of "democracy" since the threat of war is gone!

What is your point?

Mr. Abarmard, how do you explain the intolerance of your ruling Islamic state in Iran? Do you really want people to tolerate them as a precondition for "democracy". Common brother! Do not change the subject! The IRI's dictatorship is the main source of intolerance.

voice of democracy.....Exhibit A........

I think Voice of Democracy proves my point clearly. motashakkeram for volunteering to be my Exhibit A example. :o) Very generous of you.

Your apology for the foul language is accepted as I know very little Farsi. :o) In other words I  do not know what it means. Please do not bother sharing the meaning with me either. I must say though it sounds a lot like a Spanish bad word. Of course, I don't plan on sharing it. After all other Hispanics do access this website. :o)

Natalia Nadia

Tolerance vs tyranny

The aim of the author is not different from some Islamist reformists, though he must camouflage his real goal. He propuses Iranian people to have more tolerance vis a vid IRI's tyranny.
Sorry for the foul language, but ...Khodeti!

Tolerance, unity, objective thinking and patience.........

 Are a few of the things needed to bring about a more united Iranian community. I have constanlty tried to tell some on this website that there is no need for name calling, and labeling of each other.

It gets so bad that you can not express your opinion without being accused of being an Islam-facist, pro IRI (Never mind that before this site, I had no idea what that meant) someone's proxy and so on.

They need to look at what they have in common and stop emphasizing so much their differences. They are all Iranians, who feel it is time for a better Iran. There has to be room for tolerance, and respect for Iranians religious, and political  views. There has to be a place for all of them in Iran.

Natalia Nadia