Archive - Oct 16, 2008 - Article

The Story of Mohammad

Mohammad worked for nearly a decade in the Roman trade route and became very familiar with both the Christian and the Jewish traditions of the Near East. As an intelligent young man, although illiterate, he absorbed most of the biblical stories, which put his life in a much more appealing prospective. He found solace in the hardship stories of Job and Moses, but perhaps was most influenced by Abraham, a Semitic prophet who recanted his own town and traditions, to build a new Utopia and create a new way of life. At the age of 40, after marrying a wealthy business woman, Mohammad found some spare time to contemplate his past and future, his beliefs and doubts.>>>

What Role Religion Can Play

America is a nation of highly religious citizens and Americans seems to have retained their spiritual life “Full 92 percent of Americans say they believe in God, 85 percent in heaven and 82 percent in miracles, according to the latest FOX News poll. Though belief in God has remained at about the same level, belief in the devil has increased slightly over the last few years — from 63 percent in 1997 to 71 percent today” (2004). Such information, however, should not be viewed as an indication of the status of religion in public life. When it comes to public life, this nation pretends that religion does not really matter. We are not supposed to let our religious believes interfere with our public life>>>

The Newlyweds (6)

Salam Khaleh Joon, I hope this letter finds you and yours well. I wish I could say Shahab and I are doing fine here but this would be far from the truth. We recently got into a major fight and it was much, much worse than the last time, when he punched the wall. But before you get worried, I am okay. I mean, I am not hurt or anything. Not physically at least. As for my emotional state, that is another story. It all started when we were invited to Maryam’s house for a party. Remember the last time, I told you about bumping into Maryam, my old friend from Iran>>>

از تخریب گنجی بترسیم

وقتی نوشته نوری‌علا را خواندم بی‌اختیار اشک در چشمانم حلقه زد. نمی‌توانستم باور کنم که به‌نام مدرن‌خواهی و دمکراسی‌طلبی هم می‌توان این‌گونه به‌ تخریب یکی از نمادها و قهرمانان جنبش دمکراسی‌خواهی ایران پرداخت. نمی‌توانستم باور کنم که اکبر گنجی که کیهان و اوین و اعتصاب غذا نتوانستنند او را بشکنند را عده‌ای قصد دارند بشکنند. برایم سخت بود ببینم عده‌ای این همه دلاوری گنجی را در چند جمله ساده خلاصه می‌کنند و به‌فرودگاه رفتنشان و ترجمه مقالات گنجی را تا آن حد بزرگ می‌کنند که بخواهند بر سر شخصیت ملی بزرگی چون منت او بگذارند و او را نمک‌گیر خود بدانند. مدام از خودم می‌پرسیدم: «آیا این گروه یادشان رفته که گنجی برای یک نسل از جوانان ایرانی که در میان خرابه‌های جنگ زاده و بزرگ شدند یک قهرمان است؟>>>

We believe

We believe in the Universal Human Rights, we believe that every inhabitant of a state has to be equal before the law, in a society regardless of race, skin-color, beliefs etc. Because all the colors together establish the rainbow and if one is not participating, there would be no rainbow, it would be incomplete! And I know this sounds very simple, but that is what we miss in Iran: Simplicity. It would be fantastic if I, with my provocative ideas, could be treated the same as a man with his Islamic philosophy in Iran. Why won’t it be fantastic if EVERYONE gets equal treatment?>>>