From: mkarimna@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Melissa Karimnamazi)
Subject: Re: Iran is not your kingdom Mr. King!
Organization: The Ohio State University
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 08:12:04 GMT

In article <BxJ3zD.E18@oceania.com> kambiz@oceania.com writes:
Some deleted in the interest of space.  Kambiz would like to
see more postings on

>  1) Discussions regarding Iranian food
>  2) Peoples thoughts on US politics and how they feel the recent
>     election effects Iran.
>  3) Discussions on Persian litrature
>  4) Postings of upcoming events of interest (i.e. Plays, movies,
>     poetry readings, etc
>  5) Postings which are well thought out and deserving of respect as
>     well as giving respect to others; I see to many postings that
>     basically amount to "You suck!" or "Eat Shick and die!"

You have my vote:)

>
>When I started reading this newsgroup some time ago (about three years
>ago), these were the kind of postings that I would see, and that is
>what made the newsgroup so appealing to me.  Not to mention the sense
>of joy and closeness that I felt knowing that I was interacting with
>people that probably understood me and my past more that others who
>aren't as close to Persian culture as most SCI readers are.  But now it
>seems that maybe we all hate each other and all we can think of is ways
>of putting each other down.  This is ridiculous!!!  I hope to see
>some decent postings in the future.  I'd hate to think that the content
>of this newsgroup reflects what Iranians living in America are like.

   I generally hesitate to post here since I am an American and almost
anything I say can be (legitimately or illegitmately) attacked on that
basis.  However, I would agree that the level of antagonism sometime
runs very high among those who hold opposite ideologies.  If it were
that simple, perhaps one could ignore the anger.  Unfortunatly, it
isn't.  Those who oppose the Iranian regime have, in some way, been
injuried by the policies instituted after the revolution.  In most
cases, the injury is very deep and difficult to heal.  By the same
token, those who support the regime were probably injured by the
Shah's policies, and this injury too probably runs deep.  The result
of this is that the two parties often aren't talking TO EACH OTHER,
they are talking AT EACH OTHER, tring to persuade where no persuasion
is possible.  The result?  Frustration leading to insults and anger.

   This is unfortunate because, from my studies, there seems to
be many more unifying factors of the Iranian culture than are
explored on this net.  What about shared history, literary
tradition, and customs?  Perhaps these shared elements are
not enough to heal the wounds that have been inflicted in
Iran's recent history.

  I am optomistic however.  I have to be because, if the
groups cannot become reconciled to each other, the Iranian
culture that I have learned to respect and care for may
not survive.  Hatred has a way of destroying the good as
well as the bad, however one may define those terms.


>The thing that really bites is that a lot of people reading this are
>probably going to delete it and call it nonesense. I'm really concerned
>people.  Let's pull together and start acting like a family.  I thought
>that that was part of our culture too (to respect on another and treat
>everyone as family).

Again, you have my vote.  From what I have learned of your culture
it is very much an issue of respect.  Iranians may not always have
accepted me due to my nationality, but they have ALWAYS treated me
with respect.  I believe that those of us that are familiar with
the Iranian culuture will not "delete" the occasional "nonsense"
that is posted here.  Instead, mabe as "outsiders" who do not
have the wounds that Iranians carry, we can ignore the negative
and enjoy the culture AS A WHOLE.  As I said before, when taken
in its entirity, I believe there is much more in the culture that
unifies Iranians as opposed to the division that necessarily
occurs in this group.
>
>--Kambiz
>

   Mellissa Namazi