REPONSE
A response to the most infuriating op-ed of the new year
In Wednesday’s New York Times, the Leveretts—Flynt and his wife Hillary Mann—were at it again. As the title of the piece suggests, they take on the mantle of prophets and predict: “Another Iranian Revolution? Not Likely.” They claim that they know that “much of Iranian society was upset by protesters using a sacred day to make a political statement.” They seem to have forgotten that the 1979 revolution was made precisely by using sacred days for political ends. They claim to know that the opposition in Iran “do[es] not represent anything close to a majority.”
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CRISIS
Iran's exceptional crisis is not sustainable
In the past thirty years, the power structure of the Islamic Republic of Iran has moved from populism to clientelism, and now to militarism. The triangle of power that includes Supreme Leader Khamenei, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is much more fragile as opposed to the previous power structures. Why? During the first decade’s populism, power rested in the hands of the unrivaled and charismatic leader Ayatollah Khomeini. Very few people, if any, could act against his will and his policies
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Let us examine what this “National Reconciliation/National unity” compromise would indeed achieve
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من عاشق امر تو ام، ای زیبا دل، فراهم ده
گر مولانا خدایت، س شکیبا، ای زنده رو، تا ابدیت
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آیا فرض میکنید که همه این اتفاق ها تصادمی بوجود آمده است؟ کشیش میگفت که مردم ما اسیر شده اند و بایست به آنان کمک شود
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I was starting to feel all warm and fuzzy when it hit me! OH SHIT my Babajoon has turned into chicken soup!
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RELIGION
نقد دین کار تیراندازی زبر دست، ماهر، پر حوصله و مصمم است
برخی منتقدین دین تصور میکنند دینداری یا باصطلاح یکی از آنها "دینخوئی" مستلزم تقلید و تکرار و تعطیل عقل است. علت چنین تصور باطلی جهل مرکب اینگونه منتقدان دین است که تئولوژی و تاریخ عقاید دینی را در خور مطالعه جدی نمیدانند و نقد بیرونی و ابزار عقل روشنگرانه قرن هجدهم با چاشنی کمی لودگی را برای تخطئه دین کافی میشمرند. نمونه این روش مشی کمدین موفق و مشهور به دین ستیزی آمریکائی "بیل مار" است که فیلمی بنام "ریلی جیلیس" دراثبات ابلهانه بودن دین و ساده لوحی دینداران ساخته است. در سراسر این فیلم اثری از یک محقق دین نیست
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