From: hossein@nu.Berkeley.EDU
Newsgroups: soc.culture.iranian
Subject: Roots of Evil and a Common Ground
Date: 27 Aug 92 17:08:04 GMT
Reply-To: hossein@nu.Berkeley.EDU

In article <28600003@hplred.HP.COM>, moussavi@hplred.HP.COM (Farshid Moussavi) writes:
|> As an Iranian living abroad (and I think most of us out here will agree),
|> European racism in Europe and religious fundamentalism at home is one
|> and all the same.  In both cases, a bunch of people are trying to tell us
|> that they are better than we are and therefore we should submit to their wishes.
|> They are both different forms of the same thing: ignorance.  Other forms
|> of ignorance you may have come by are Iranians thinking they are better than
|> Arabs, Arabs thinking they enlightend all lands they conquered with Islam,
|> Israelis thinking that the land they reside on is theirs by divine decree,
|> and the list is endless ....
|> 

I am not sure that religous fundamentalism in Iran has anything to do with
racism in Europe. For example, it is possible to become a religous
fundamentalist regardless of your sex, age, race or any other "natural"
barrier, however, it is impossible for a black person to join KKK. The point
I am trying to make is simple, the sources of evil are not all alike though
they may share some common territory. In case of religious fundamentalism 
and racism, one common denomenator is intolerance. Intolerance for people
who are not like the rest of the klan. It is interesting to note that
intolerance has led to many bloodsheds in history and most recently in
Bosnia. I would like to see the day that people will accept you and respect
you without trying to mold you into an image of themselves.


|> The fact is, ignorance is the greatest threat to humankind.  One does
|> not give up ignorance by getting degrees, but by making the commitment
|> to open his/her mind.  (I am not referring to the "open" as in the opening
|> of Faris, Paris, Panama, Afghanistan, etc!!)

What you are saying is very true. The human race needs to broaden his/her
horizon and open his/her mind in order to remove ignorance, intolerance
and other evil qualities. It is very easy to say that, however, it is very
difficult to formulate a technique for achieving this end. What do you think
is a workable solution? I used to think that education and more frequent
cross cultural encounters could resolve soem of these problems. I am no longer
sure of this remedy.


|>  Like many Iranians abroad, I
|> left my country due to unfavorable conditions at home.  Sometimes I am
|> comfortable here, sometimes I am not.  Just because I may dress or think 
|> differently than IRI's preferred style doesn't make me gharbzadeh and 
|> countryless.  Gharbzadeh or not, religious or not, whether we like it or not, 
|> we are all Iranians.  More importantly, we are all human beings.  Until
|> our government and its followers recognize this, things will not get any 
|> better for anyone.
|> 

There is no doubt that you, me and other people who left IRAN because it
was incapable of providing us with favorable conditions are human beings
and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect reserved for each
individual. However, I disagree with you that someone is Iranian just
becasue he/she is born in that part of the world and spent a few years
in there. This does not qualify you as being an Iranian. To be Iranian
requires effort and bears responsiblities, particularly for those of us
who live outside of our beloved country. I belive that a person born in Iran 
who is a victim of broad generalizations submitted to her/him about her/his
birth place and cannot rise above them to see the vast sea of art, literature,
science and natural beauty of Iran, is not any more Iranian than a man
residing in a remote part of the USA whose only communication with the external
world is a one way reciept of information via the television. An Iranian
is someone who understands his/her culture and is aware of its contribution to
the world culture. He/She is someone who follows the cultural and social
guidelines set for him/her by the Iranian Sociey. But most importantly, an
Iranian is a person who is willing to make a contribution to Iran and push
it one step further even if that step is a tiny one and requires significant
personal sacrifice. It is not easy being from the country of Khyam and Molana.
We should be proud of being Iranians, but must accept the responsibilities that
come with it.


--Ba arze EhterAm,
		Hossein
Newsgroups: soc.culture.iranian