There is a new generation of IRI-supporters on Iranian.com. They want to seek respect by quoting all sorta the right one-liners such as “Islamic Democracy”. In addition, they like to project love by calling you “brother/sister” to make you feel all cozy inside. But, if you think that they would turn the other cheek if objected, watch out – they probably have a real brethren behind you who will kick you in the a$$. OK, they do not have a person behind you but they will cry foul telling us that 1. we are not real democrats, 2. want to convey that we dis-respect them by not returning the compliment “brother/sister”, and 3. overall, we are anti-Islam, an “Iranian Andres Behring Breivik”.
First – The wardens of my dad in Evin, Gohardasht and the other toured IRI-hotels also called us “brothers” and called my mom a “sister” during visit-days. My mom’s response, who was obviously beyond herself, was sharp “if god wanted me to have a brother, he would have enriched my real blood-line with a brother and not made him our warden. Of course, on the other side of the wall, “our warden brothers” refused to dispense my dad’s medications which we brought for him or did whatever….. to make him limp and look 20 years older. They probably called my dad “brother or maybe even father” too while torturing him. So, please call whoever you consider your brethren a “brother”, but when you call me brother, it does not sit right with me.
Second – I do not know about others, they can speak for themselves. But, I am not about being against Muslims. I just do not like political Islam whose supporters are called the Islamists, especially the kind currently dominating Iran which BTW are called Koffar by the Sunni Shaikhs in Saudi Arabia. If you still do not understand the differences between a Muslim and Islamist, I suggest you read a 2002 article by Ladan and Roya Boroumand (TERROR, ISLAM, AND DEMOCRACY) or look at my blog called Muslim versus Islamist: Why Islamism is Incompatible with Democracy.
Third – I see some folks screaming that we need to eliminate Islam…..but as I have said before, we need not uproot Islam from the Iranian society, but certainly to disassociate it (religion, in general) from the governmental/social decisions making it a private matter. Besides, how do you force someone to denounce their personal beliefs and call yourself a civil society? That is the difference between the IRI/Saudi Arabia/Taliban/Al Queda versions of Islam that want to interpret Quran the way they want and impose it on everyone vs. a Judeo-Christian society that tells the extreme religious nuts that having 18 cases where stoning is required by god, according to the old testament, is not compatible with the modern civil society that respects human rights.
So, on this anniversary month of my dad’s passing, if you are an IRI-supporter, keep your personal beliefs to yourself, and don’t call me a friend or even a distant cousin.
