EXTREMES

Looking back at the history of our country specially the modern part of it, one does not have to be a genus to realize that the social and political arena of our country have mostly been dominated by extremists.

Of course by the word extremist I am not just referring to that well know bread which is the Islamic version of it, however condemned and dangerous that might be.

People who fall into the trap of extremism are mostly simple-minded uneducated people who do not have the ability to examine and evaluate historical, political, and cultural factors in a rational non-bias and analytical way. They could only see the world as black or white and despite their own many short come, do not accept any thing but total perfection. So being the sensitive, emotional and passionate nation that we are, sometimes things get out of hand and right down ugly, specially when dealing with each others point of view.

The ironic thing is that these people pose more danger towards their own cause than any other thing that they oppose.

Now, we all are familiar with the term of religious (or Islamic) fundamentalism and have seen the problems that it caused us, and the rest of the world for the past 30 years. How ever the single most damage that Islamic fundamentalism have caused was to the Islam and Muslims themselves.

I still remember the deep respect that people use to have toward Islam as a religion. Only one generation ago people and especially young Muslims and yes, young Iranians were inspired by Imam Ali's justice or Imam Hussein's bravery and sacrifice in Karbala. But now after only one generation, people cannot even stand these notions and even attach anybody who ever mentions it.

So one question that comes to mind, and that is:

What has changed? Why such radical shift?

Why within one generation our youth have gone from the position of deepest respect to language of bigotry denial disrespect and some times using the foul language that only suits the lowest of the low.

Well,! To get your answer you need not to look any further than the attitudes of extremist Muslims, who did not and still do not show any respect for other peoples opinion, and over the past 30 years tried to shove their ill conceived extreme ideology down our thought in the mane of God and religion. These people do not have any respect for the other point of view and expect others to accept their ideology without any debate or even daring to ask any question about its authenticity and relevance to their life and the time and era that they live in.

So considering such foolish approach, the Islamists have got only themselves to blame for the setback that they are suffering and the suspicious attitude of this generation towards them.

Having seen the disaster of religious fundamentalism and lack of nationalism (Bigaaneh Parasti), the new generation have started soul searching and asking questions, again searching for that pure entity that they can hold on to and call their own.

And so a second group imerged

For the second group these search led them into their glorious past as a nation and national pride. So once again that though that they have found it having them moment of eureka!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

Hence in this search for the past and their national pride we are now observing a new wave of extremism in making. These are the new wave of fanatics identical to their Islamic counterparts except the issue they have chosen to be fanatic about.

And that is the pre-Islamic history of Iran. Now a day one cannot ask questions or raise any debate about Iran's history and the pros and cons of Islamic and pre Islamic Iran without being accused of being an Arab lover, an agent of IRI or a Stupid unpatriotic Vatan foroosh.

So I am afraid this people are knowingly or unknowingly doing to Persian identity exactly what Hezbollais did to Islam.

And of course how can one miss that third wave of extremists who do not believe in anything, anyone or anywhere. These are the group that I call "The Extreme Hollow Heads" (or Pooch Gara ha).

These people have no loyalty no identity no religious conviction and of course no sense of patriotism. To them religious conviction I is the same as fundamentalism, national pride is the same as fascism and history (or at least their national history) is dead, irrelevant and a waste of time. While they have no problem praising the West and closing their eyes to over 6 centuries of oppression looting and conspiracy, they are not willing to even give their own countrymen the benefit of the doubt.

They always look at their own nationality and heritage with pessimism and always moan criticise and make a mockery of other peoples efforts without offering any thing positive or any solution themselves.

These are the main three mindset that shaped our new generation.

As one can easily observe one thing that all these group share, is having a simple set of mind which sees the world as either black or white, with no room for compromise, debate or shutting up for once and listening the other point of view.

This is the new mindset of you are either with us or against us, and we have got it all right while you do not know what you are talking about has make a deep foot print in out culture and mindset as Iranians.

Does it ring a bell???

So the main question on everybody's mind is where do we go from here?

As I would like to think of my self as Iranian Nationalist who is proud if his history and heritage, Islamic or pre-Islamic, I would like (as I believe like everybody else I have got the right to) have a say about all these issues.

However my main quarrel is with the second group, as I thing the first group have had their chance and they badly messed it up for themselves. What these people (Islamists) have to do now is to keep their mouth shut, their heads down and get back to the drawing board. They need to reinvent themselves and learn to respect others. Also the people in the third group are a lost cause to me, as they lack the fundamental necessities for being accountable, valuable countrymen. I prefer for them to stay in their LA, NY and London mansions and be a proud American or what ever and leave the task of reviving our heritage, identity and country to us, by keeping out of our hairs

Nevertheless the second group have been presented with an opportunity by the chance of time and the current geopolitical circumstances of our country and the world

This is one chance of a lifetime with no promises or guarantees for those who do not take it seriously. However one can only try and if we try hard and get it right the outcome would be very important and constructive for our future generations and us.

If you are really serious about being successful and opening a new chapter in History of Iran the first and most important think you need to do is having a long hard look at the people in the first category (Islamists). See their unpopularity their miserable failures and their grand loses, and then ask yourselves why???

What were the reasons behind their unpopularity among Iranian youth why they could not deliver on even a single promise and what damages have they inflicted upon Islam and Muslims. As that is exactly what you need to avoid.

If you are to succeed, unlike the other two group you need to learn to respect the other ideology and point of view. It is necessary to give credit when it is due or accept your short-comes when pointed out. Never be afraid of having a debate, and value people who raise questions about your principals and historical references. As at the end of the day this the only way you can keep being resilient up to date and well informed

For example although we are all proud of pre- Islamic history of Iran, it should never imply that all pre-Islamic kings were the same (Good). For example although Cyrus was a great man and a glorious king, but his sons (Kambujie and Bardia) were not even half the man as their father. In fact they were such incompetent self-centred warmongers that If it was not for King Darush the Great and his effort and sacrifices, the history of Achamenians and Persia would have been a very short one. Now to put king like Cyrus Darush and Xerxes in the same category as Kamboojie and Bardia not only is an insult to their honour, but also more importantly it opens the door to those who either foolishly or callously use the same argument to disvalue these great leaders and their memory.

In the same way by denying and devaluing our Islamic heritage and our history culture and the effects of Islam, we only make fool of ourselves and in the end we would not get any popular support to do anything meaningful or make any difference. If we do not recognize the faith and conviction of People like Hafez and Roomi we only made a fool of ourselves and damaged our own credibility among academia as well as ordinary people inside and out of Iran

If we are confident about our Persian heritage or the value and impact of people like Cyrus and Darush in our history, then we should not really be disturbed by other peoples questioning their authenticity. As long as we have done our homework and have the historical fact and evidence on our side, these discussions will only make us stronger

And if occasionally some people use foul, provocative language, then they discredit themselves by showing their level of information and intellectuality. So we need not to bring ourselves down to their level by engaging with them

Our country has over ten thousand years of history, full of good and bad periods, with many glories figures and yes like other we had our share of traitors and incompetent leaders on both sides of Islamic divide.

All through our history we had good leaders like Cyrus, Darush, Amir Kabir, Dr Mosaddegh, and many more. We also had many incompetent and sell-out leaders like Khomeini, Ahmadi Nejaad, Ghajaar kings and others.

It is simply stupid and childish to separate different parts of our history heritage culture and history as good and evil. This is a practice doomed to not only fail but also to provide a fertile ground for other types of extremism

In the end whatever one's intentions might be an extremist ideology is its own biggest enemy.