TOLERANCE

About Afghan

I condemn all forms of racism including that against Afghans. Please remember Afghanistan was once a center of civilization. Balkh a great city of learning. Zabulistan in named many times in Shahnameh. 

Dismissing Afghanistan is crazy. It is only because of: war destruction beginning with Mongols and still going on; mismanagement and death of large number of learned that it is in ruins now. 

While not a fan of Islam it may not be blamed on initial Islam. The real damage started with the Mongol invasion. Afghnistan has and will have a special place in Greater Iran. If I had my way Northern Afghanistan would be reintegrated into Iran.

Dear VPK

I wrote my letter to Obama, when Israel attacked Gazza. There was no sign of Green Movement in Iran. At the time Gazza was a burning issue. In that attack the ratio of killed and injured was 1 to 1000. They did not offer 1000 for 1. Did they? Please allow me to make one point. Politicians come and go, but the nations are always there. At one time the entire nation called for Khomaini's leadership. People made mistakes and they paid very heavily for it. Imagine we were in Gazza and Israelis attacked and killed us in the same manner. Hammas is nothing but like Khomaini. Does it mean that Israelis can brutally attack Palestine in the way they did? Our great poet, Sadi saysبنی آدم اعضای یکدیگرند که در آفریش ز یک گوهرند چو عضوی به درد آورد روزگار - دگر عضو ها ا نماند قرار

تو کز محنت دیگران بی غمی - نشاید که نامت نهند آدمی

And if you like Karl Marx, the great philosopher says:Workers of the world unite, you have nothing to loose, you have a world to win and I think he is right, despite all the mistakes, the Marxists are making. Going back to the main point, the Iranian, Palestinian and Israeli bullies belonging to three religeous domination are the same. Back to Karl Marx again, religion(not just Islam) is the opium of the masses.

kouroshR99

Congratulations... You have just proven that Racism does still exist even at the dawn of the new century. And here i was sitting thinking,... Ahhh... Bull crap... Racism? in the 21st century???

Thanks for setting me straight:) 

Islamic Terrorism on Iranians Freedom of Thought & Expression

Is now in full display In Iran for all to see.  This is a purely Ignorant and Evil menace, unless you accept everything they think and say.  Having their record on display in the government of iran and before recorded digital history, it will be impossible for them to hide it in the future or ever do it again. 

...

@Darius

You do realize the only reason Shirin Ebadi plays the whole "moderate Muslim who doesn't hate Islam" role is to protect her family inside Iran? She hates Islam like most Iranians. Iranians inside Iran who play in favor of the regime almost always do it to not get pressure put on them. Take that time that one Iranian athlete refused to shake an Israeli athletes hands. All the dumb Kikes were screaming "evil Muslamic Iranians being evil" but all the intelligent Jews figured out what was really happening which was that athlete was being told by the IRI that if he shook hands with an Israeli he'd be imprisoned.

Forget about Afghans

Just cause Afghans are our racial cousins doesn't mean shit all. I've met plenty of those fuckers in real life and their as distant from Iranian culture and civility as an American Negro is from being intelligent.

Dear ahosseini

Israel exchanges 1 for a 1000 because they may afford to. It does not indicate any insult or anything. Besides I do not consider myself one of the 1000. I have nothing in common with either side.

My dream is a bit different. I do not want to build Jerusalem. I have no interest in it one way or other and no plans to go to it. By me there is no "us" and "them". It is just two groups fighting. With me having no place in it whatsoever. 

If they want to stop good for them. If they keep fighting then that is too bad for them all. However I refuse to take any part in any of it. I do not believe in Abrahamic religions. To me Jerusalem has no particular meaning.

muslims should be upset

At these ACTS instead of some cartoons:
//www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15688354
So says the cabbage-packing Ayatollah Raoul

Dear VPK

They still have the same attitude. Is it not humiliating when you hear they exchange one Israeli soldier with 1000 Palestinian. How degrading that can be. one Jew for one thousand gentile. That is how much they value us.

Days after Bush's attack on Gazza and in response to Obama's inauguration speech who made references to Martin Luther king's famous speech, in my letter to Obama I wrote:

Now I have a big dream

Now I have a big dream - That together as a team -  Hands in hands in unity - Build the Jerusalem city - For both the Jews and gentile - In good fashion and style -Then we create a file - A file as big as a mile - For current differences - And future references - That war will be history - And just a big story

ahosseini

We shouldn't compare fascists. Which is better Khomaini, Hitler or Ariel Sharon?

Ariel Sharon. He figured out towards the end that right wing was a no winner. Founded the Kadima. The rest never learned damned thing. 

RELIGIOUS LEADERS MOVE MOBS, KILL UNDER God's NAME

I agree amirparviz. 

Darius jan,

Both Ebadi and Ganji lived under IRI for decades. They are conditioned too, additionally sometimes they may have to do certain actions because they have to pick their battles.

Anahid they want dictatorship for iran, based on their actions

//iranian.com/main/blog/amirparvizforsecu...

It's as clear as the light of day, at least with the Shah he did not fall for their ploy and never acted with absolut power. But it didn't stop the west from trying to make a dictator out of him,  How Colonialism works, How they Try to BUILD A  DICTATOR and change regimes forever:

TRAIN Countries National Security STAFF/  SAVAK /Fardoust was trained in UK.   FARDOUST and his team were not touched and some are still in charge, even though all the Jailing  were done by SAVAK, FARDOUST  STAYED for 10 years during KHOMEINI….. Once done with him, he passed away!!!!!!  passed aways  !!! Ayatollah TALEGHANI, AHMAD KHOMEINI

.
SELL MILITARY Equipment at a premium SHIPS, TANKS, RADARS…PAY OFF GENERALS. use them as needed,  GHRABAGHI HEAD OF IRAN MILITARY stayed in IRAN for 18 months, run the ARMY to GROUND, had all Oppositions Killed. He returned to France…!!!

CONTROL MEDIA:  Media run by Agents ,...  SAVAK  did not let news, media from West come to IRAN, kept people  IGNORANT and un-informed.  made a GHANDHI out of MANIAC KHOMEINI USE  TOP STUDENTS to form Opposition…IRANIAN STUDENTS CONFEDERATION, COMMUNIST PARTY, FADAYEEOUN, MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, FREEMASON ARIES, LIONS CLUB…

USE RELIGION IN THIRD WORLD as the most effective tool. RELIGIOUS LEADERS MOVE MOBS, KILL UNDER God's NAME... 

And the news today.... //iranian.com/main/blog/amirparvizforsecu...

Anahid Jaan Do You Have Someone on Mind in Particular ? ;0)

Indeed ...

Shirin Ebadi & Akbar Ganji. Walk out to protest free speech award to Mohammad cartoonist.

"Great Minds" Meet ...

;0) 

Many Iranians even some in Diaspora have been conditioned

to think that religion is more scared than many other values in life. They have brainwashed us and keep doing it. In western societies, you meet many people that by reading few sentences change their religion just to marry someone. Many say that they are Christian but never go to church or talk about Jesus or Moses. Basically many of our educated people have been conditioned by years of IRI rule to think that religion is so sacred and should be. we don't even question it. That is power of theocracy that is being held in power by dictatorship. That is why they are still in power.

They Keep telling people that religion is sacred, more sacred than freedom or even life. This way, when IRI kills people in the name of religion, they are doing the right thing.  A more intelligent approach would be to try to separate this "badazmoozi" from our thinking.

Amirparviz

We shouldn't compare fascists. Which is better Khomaini, Hitler or Ariel Sharon?

I probably have design a fascistometer.

Some that I liked

Many good cartoons. Some of my favorites are #8, #18, 20, 30 and 41. #20 is very similar to state of many comments on IC on 11/8/2011.

ahosseini, there is one big problem, the islamists

which are a Religion are behaving worse than klansmen, skinheads, rednecks etc.

So its not regardless of their views, it is all about their violence in support of their views which are totally intolerant and discriminatory, Make sense? Remember Cinema Rex, well now Iran is 1000 times worse because of these guys.

Dear Raoul1955

I think it is wrong asking these questions.

Klanophobia, Skinheadphobia, Neo-Naziphobia, Redneckphobia are not recognised religions. Regardless of their personal views, more than one billion people on earth have Muslim names.

These right wing facists you mentioned use Christianity to discriminate against Muslims and Jews. The point that I making is that Muslim facists are just like Klans, Skinheads, Neo-Nazis, Rednecks. We have every right to condemn all these and the fact that they all use religion. We must not just single out Islamic religion.

I have personally suffered because I am an Iranian and have an Islamic name and yet I am being threatened by Muslim fanatics because of my strong anti-hezbollah views.

I tell you a little story. During Iran-Iraq war we set up a community centre to help refugees of war. The Nazis nearly burned the place because of its Iranian name. It is exactly like Hezbollah does against Bahaeis in Iran. There are so much publicities, jokes and slanders against Bahaeis that everyone is allowed to treat them in the way they like.

I hope you agree that we should be against Islamophobia as much as we are Chritian-phobia, Jew-phobia, Bahaei-phobia, indo-phobia, etc.

ahosseini:

You write: "...I am against Islamophobia which...'

Are you also against:
1) Klanophobia? Having fear of the KKK, or being intolerant of its members.
2) Skinheadphobia? Having fear of the skinheads, or being intolerant of their group, or ideas.
3) Neo-Naziphobia? Having fear of Neo-Nazis, or their ideology.
4) Redneckphobia? Having fear of rednecks or being intolerant of rednecks.

Islam or Islamophobia

Most of you probably know me and you know how sharp my language is when I attack the Iranian Islamic regime and their ideology. The languageI use in my poems is so sharp that I have been threatened on a number of occasions. There is a trace of that on Iranian.com too. However, as much as I am against the backward Islamic rules I am against Islamophobia which I describe as discrimination on the basis of being part of Islamic community which most of us belong to.  In my opinion it is fine to be harsh when it comes to criticising any religion, so long as it is done with good intentions. But I think it is terribly wrong if we do it with the intention of hurting, discriminating and annoying people of particular faith. The BNP here in the UK and the National Front in France are deeply religious and hold horrible fanatic views and yet on a daily basis in their media depict funny cartoons of Islamic symbols and characters. The danger in here is that, not only they laugh at Mohammed’s cartoon but they laugh at anyone with Islamic name or identity. Failing to understand the difference will hurt each and every one of us in the USA or Europe.

I say, hang the French

Except for a few writers, they can't get the hang of humour.

Number ten is hilarious! *

*not just because of the second syllable of his name. 

Shame!!

   It is a shame to see the barbaric reaction of moslem fundamentalists towards freedom of expression. It is issential for evey freedom loving artist to be able to express himself fully and freely without the fear of being intimidated , stabbed or blown up.

  I love the iconoclastic nature of such cartoons . It is the responsibility of every freedom loving person to support the freedom of speech.

  Fanatics have the most coward way of dealing with voices of dissent . Instead of  debating , they resort to barbaric acts of violence . They creat an environmnet of fear so no one can challenge their dogmas.

Thank you, Jahanshah-e aziz!

First of all, I am so proud to be part of the IC family.

Next, I truly appreciate your courage for posting these cartoons. Innocent people have been murdered for publishing similar subjects. It is time to stop this madness. Muslems need to learn tolerance.

Please don't give in to the pressure coming from "hezbollahi"s in disguise! I think they are offended because they recognize their inner-self in these cartoons. It is natural that they are unhappy. They are looking at their own "bloody" reflection and it is not pretty!

Keep up the great job, JJ jan! You are the best! I wish you a long and healthy life.

Azarin

Here is what is happening today in Iran

When you can't say anything against islam, //www.payvand.com/news/11/nov/1070.html and no doubt you know of the violence and meanness they put out, so for us Iranians we need to focus on Islam, regarding equity Christianity is the problem of  Christian countries let them worry about that.  Here is what is the west is doing to keep this intolerant islam in power in iran //iranian.com/main/blog/amirparvizforsecu...

Amount of Exposure to Lampooning is a fair point

It can be debated in a scientific way based on facts, but it doesn't mean lampooning should be stopped, it means just be even about it, one rule for all versus for some.  Its terrific we can be offensive to one group based on their violent behavior, lets not be heart broken about it, lets encourage it for all views equally.

I've seen a few cartoons in National papers about Jesus being pro-life and then his followers killing doctors that perform abortions.

2 Categories

VPK: I think its fine to say religion isn't sacred. However, as far as offensive cartoons go - Jesus and Moses do not get the same negative attention and regular Front Page spreads of them doing something crass.  So, regardless of whether you consider them sacred or not - the situation is inequitable. That feels unjust, surely. 

As for the example of politicians and Kings being mocked too, that some have posted here, they are not religious rulers, and a completely different category. 

There is no such thing as sacred

People should be free to make fun of anything they want. Just because someone really believes in it does not make it sacred. What is sacred to one is junk to another. Strong feeling does not make something sacred.

There were cultures whose sacred rituals involved suicide or human sacrifice. I will never accept those. Others drank urine or had sex in the middle of a sacred circle. That is fine with me but you bet I make fun of it

People who are not able to deal with lampooning are simply intolerant. The more they use violence they more fun people make of them. It is a losing deal. Might as well accept that nothing is or will ever be sacred just forget it. 

Harpi-Eagle if you can read Farsi, You should Read Hafez

Interpreted from Dari.  Then you would not have a single doubt left in your mind that infact, Judaism, Christianity, Islam are not only man made religions, but the work of Satanic minds promoting ideas that are not just evil, but beyond that ideas that do not work for us as a humanity.  We need to be able to poke fun at that, no matter what people call it sacred/holy.  Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds, means being constructive, creative, free not defending something that is destructive, closed and enslaving.

I agree amirparviz

Amirparviz: "Sadly most Iranians to this day do not know the true magnificence of their philosophers thinking, because they only know them as poets, yet they are far more.  " 

What a lovely line - and I truly wish people on this site focussed more on the positives of their profound culture than spewing relgious hatred. 

Politicians vs. Religious figures: 

I still do disagree wtih Jahanshah - mixing the politicans with the relgious figures. Insulting one, is different to insulting the other. I don't think the insluting is the issue, rather the fact that Jesus and Moses are not regularly protrayed as nut jobs in cartoons. (ie. it's very different to politicians being portrayed so) The America I live in would be up in arms if Jesus was on the front page of New York Times doing something gross and offensive. I'm not saying don't "ridicule" - but the offensive ridicule of these 3 religions is far from equitable.

Still, its inspiring that you recognize the greatness of our heritage. 99% of the under 45s that I teach Hafez to - don't know a single Beyt. I think if more did, they wouldn't spend their days on websites simply to spew hatred. That's not hard to do. Learning something is. Thanks, again.