I remember when I was 9 or 10 years old, every time someone would utter the name of the 12th Imam as “ya sahebe zaman” at school, we had to stand up and send a salavat. This is when the Shah was in power. Islam had dignity. People sort of accepted it as a true religion of God. Noone dared to make fun of Mohammad or teachings of Islam.
After Khomeini and his interpretation of Islam and Islamization of Iran, a very high percentage of people in Iran have gotten so turned off about Islam (and any other organized religion for that matter) that many don’t even consider it a true religion anymore. Hala begzareem ke there are some radicals that cuss at Mohammad, Ali and the other 11 Imams 24/7, either or radio and TV or in their homes and during discussions with friends. The more staunch the belief in Islam pre khomeini, the stronger the feelings of dislike for Islam post Khomeini.
Thanks to G. W. Bush and the melt down of the U.S. financial system, a similar thing has happened to the Republicans and puritan capitalists here in the U.S.
Staunch Republicans don’t know where to turn. There is no way they can vote for a black Democrat on one hand and no matter what, they can’t vot for John McCain because they don’t trust Republicans as far as they can throw them.
Most of these poeple don’t even believe in pure capitalism anymore. They have seen how a greed based system can ruin the biggest and most powerful economic engine on earth. Catch phrases like trickle down economics which resonanted well until just a few years ago, are dismissed as B.S.
It took a transplanted Texas cowboy with very low IQ to shake the fundations of beliefs of around 100 million people in the U.S. and a shipish ridden uneducated mullah turned off 40 million Iranians from Islam.
G.W. Bush and R. Khomeini will be remembered in history as the worst things that happened to their respective countries.
Someone or something good needs to bring hope to people. My wife thinks this good thing is the Bahai teachings; my good friend, the UCLA prof from S. America thinks its a resurgence of socialism; Bill Mahr and I think its abolishment of all organized religions…..etc etc.
What do you think is the ray of hope in our future?
