Iran, a hope

Balatarin
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Iran, a hope
by Anonymouse
07-Aug-2009
 

Photo caption: I took this photo for Maz Jobrani ;-)  

In response to Iran, a hope

One day we will be happy to call Iran our home without any reservations.  That is if we live that long!  As the saying goes; home is where the heart is and not where there is democracy!

One day I hope Iranians in Iran can have genuine dialogue among them. Forget about dialogue of civilizations or with other countries.  We need genuine dialogue among ourselves so we can understand and tolerate each other.  Without tolerance there will never be peace and one group will always try to dictate to other groups.

One day I hope fashion (or lack thereof :-) will not be based on law so that men and women can wear what they want.  It is a shame and a crime (at least a misdemeanor) if you ask me to force women to wear mandatory clothes (not just a headscarf) to work in Government and private offices in the heat of the summer.  It is torture going home after a hard day of work in a hot summer afternoon using public transportation.

One day I hope men and women can go to beaches and hot springs together as a family and not in shifts!

One day I hope travelling to Iran will become easy for everyone with every passport including Iranians who hold foreign passports.

One day I hope Iranians won’t worry about foreign powers anymore and know how to deal with them like a foreign power themselves.

That day is not today.  Today Iran is like a reality show. There are threats left and right, inside and outside Iran.  Some think they can destroy Islam and make things “easy”.  Yeah right!  Not that there is anything wrong with it! But this is not a dialogue it is intolerance for the sake of tolerance, do as I say not as I do.  Some people are quick to reject fatwas issued by religious leaders in Iran but are quick to issue fatwas of their own variety (not religious of course not :-) 

People in Iran are tired of the religious rule.  They don’t even know how to imagine an Iran without the religious rule.  How would people react if one day an Iranian man and woman came to streets in shorts and tube top? Is that ever going to work?  How do we make it work?

I think it’d be good to lighten up on general slogans of peace and democracy and instead try to be more specific and support more tangible causes.  Let’s not call millions of people Islamists because then you have to explain how to deal with them.  Should we line them up and kill them?  Like when Will Ferrell used to imitate Bush on Saturday Night Live (when he was Governor of Texas and there were record number of executions) by going deer hunting and telling his dad (Bush senior) I want to KILL IT!! Calling people Islamists is like when we’re called Terrorists in our adopted countries.

The day you can call yourselves truly tolerant is the day! You may be knowingly or unknowingly intolerant. Make sure you know which one you really are.  The hope for that day is today.

Balatarin
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more from Anonymouse
 
Anonymouse

... plan to have a

by Anonymouse on Sun Aug 09, 2009 08:30 AM PDT

... plan to have a trip to local slaughter house ...

Would that be a slaughter house in Iran or your current neighborhood? Either way please don't forget to file a report.  BTW just as a curiosity when was the last time you were in Iran?

Thanks Monda and Nazy for reading and your comments.

Everything is sacred.


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khaleh mosheh

Thanks Ari for

by khaleh mosheh on Sun Aug 09, 2009 04:22 AM PDT

Exposing the fallacies in my arguments. I had completely missed the point of Anonymouse blog.

I now realise that as lives are at stake we should be more tolerant. As such I am putting on some Chanel perfume and plan to have a trip to local slaughter house to learn heavonly tolerance from the sheep.

I agree there ARE lives at stake. 


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Nazy Kaviani

Anonymouse

by Nazy Kaviani on Sun Aug 09, 2009 01:46 AM PDT

The smell of all that cologne in your blog makes me dizzy!

Thank you for your thoughtful blog. Your hopes seem reasonable and I have every hope that they will come true. Andaki sabr, sahar nazdeek ast.

Thanks again.


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Monda

anonymouse:

by Monda on Sat Aug 08, 2009 10:08 PM PDT

... home is where the heart is and not where there is democracy! Don't we know it! Thank you for sharing your hopes with us.    BTW, the idea of pssting perfume on the beach, confuses me; how about jumping in the ocean to wash off?:O)
     

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Ari Siletz

khaleh mosheh, fallacy #2

by Ari Siletz on Sat Aug 08, 2009 05:35 PM PDT

Your "straight question" commits yet another fallacy, known as "non-sequitur (does not follow)." Your question has nothing to do with the point the article is making about tolerance in Iranian society.  You ask an unrelated (and emotionally charged) question to which everyone agrees the answer is, "no, absolutely not," and apply this unrealted "no" to the discourse offered by anonymouse. A clearer example: "You say, apples cost a Dollar each, then here's a Dollar for that orange."

 

Again, lives are at stake.


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Anonymouse

I guess a rape victim

by Anonymouse on Sat Aug 08, 2009 05:30 PM PDT

I guess a rape victim should tolerate her rapist.. right? 

Wrong.

Everything is sacred.


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khaleh mosheh

Ari

by khaleh mosheh on Sat Aug 08, 2009 04:53 PM PDT

Thanks for trying to enlighten me. Being a simple minded person, philosophical arguments often go above my head. I do have however a straight quetstion and am in need of a straight answer. 

Should we tolerate IRI crimes and people who support or propagate these crimes? My own answer to this is -No absolutely not--However I try to remain open to enlightenment if it doesnt involved mind boggling philosophical arguments.

Best wishes 


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Ari Siletz

khaleh Mosheh, not fair to anonymouse

by Ari Siletz on Sat Aug 08, 2009 04:46 PM PDT

Your appeal to the extreme in order to refute anonymouse's  point is known as the "fallacy of the beard." The name comes from the case where a clean shaven person can be argued to have a beard because the steps in between form a continuum. Here's a lengthy discourse on this fallacy and its relatives.

 

Since our discussions involve near-term life and death issues for Iranians, it is conscientious to avoid fallacies in argument.


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khaleh mosheh

Tolerance of IRI crimes

by khaleh mosheh on Sat Aug 08, 2009 04:00 PM PDT

I guess a rape victim should tolerate her rapist.. right?

 //www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6GET9sNiSg


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Anonymouse

Thank you Irandokht

by Anonymouse on Sat Aug 08, 2009 07:32 AM PDT

Thank you Irandokht and Craig.  When I go to Iran I have a soft spot for buying stuff such as a psst or a Hafez faal (fortune telling) from kids or other stuff and activities.  I don't buy too much stuff I have to bring back but spend it over there.  Sometimes it gets probematic but I like it.

This photo can also show diversity and that we all smell different ;-)

Everything is sacred.


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ex programmer craig

Anonymouse

by ex programmer craig on Fri Aug 07, 2009 10:17 PM PDT

Very sensible and well written post! I think you are right that tolerance - or better, acceptance - has to come first. It's very easy to sell people on the idea that their own freedoms are important, but much harder to get them to go along with other people's right to do things they personally don't approve of.


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IRANdokht

I wish

by IRANdokht on Fri Aug 07, 2009 07:09 PM PDT

I wish I had read this blog earlier so I wouldn't waste my precious time that I steal from work on some silly debate and verbal wrestling...

Beautifully said! I felt peaceful by just reading this piece.  The tone was unassuming, easy, sincere and peaceful.

Thanks so much. 

you really asked for a psssst and ended up buying one too? LOL

IRANdokht


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Anonymouse

Thanks Ari.  This

by Anonymouse on Fri Aug 07, 2009 06:35 PM PDT

Thanks Ari.  This particular picture was taken at the beach! (Astara).  We don't put on any sunscreen or lotion or anything but colognes we sell! 

I asked the vendor if I can have just a psst and he said 200 toman (20 cents), like buying one cigaratte (a nakh).  So I paid him for a psst, don't remember what it smelt like but it was hot for sitting in the sun for a while!

Everything is sacred.


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Ari Siletz

Your essay comes from the heart

by Ari Siletz on Fri Aug 07, 2009 05:54 PM PDT

Thanks Anonymouse.

Here's a Maz Jobrani colgone anecdote: I ran into him during a benefit, and we did the routine Iranian mach o booseh. I noticed he smelled of several different kinds of cologne and perfume, and we had a laugh about the fact that even if you don't wear cologne to an Iranian gathering, you go home wearing all the brands. 


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Anonymouse

Maz Jobrani always

by Anonymouse on Fri Aug 07, 2009 12:47 PM PDT

Maz Jobrani always associates colognes with Iranian, or middle eastern men in general, in his standup routines.  He says as an Iranian man he MUST use cologne several times a day!

In one routine he told his memory of when they wouldn't allow liquids in airplanes and he was arguing with the TSA official that hey man I'm Iranian and I need my cologne ;-)

Everything is sacred.


  •  
Little Tweet

Photo of Maz?

by Little Tweet on Fri Aug 07, 2009 12:37 PM PDT

Peyda konid porteghal-foroosh ra  :-D


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