To someone outside the Muslim world, the ideal of a pure Islamic state looks like a reactionary form of repression. The contradictions between a modern state and one based on the Quran, a divinely inspired document from the seventh century, are simply too great. The issue of theocracy comes down to that. Even though over 70% of Iranians are in favor of electing their supreme leader, a democratically chosen dictator remains a dictator, and the vexing problems of modern life will still be filtered through medieval dictates.
The most basic contradiction in this scheme has to do with power. Democracy gives power to the people, but not if they are voting to give that power away to clerics with absolute dominion over them.
Parallel to Iran, the Taliban in Afghanistan attempted to create an "Islamic paradise," which to the outside world was a travesty of human rights violations and barbaric social practices. Yet to the faithful it would be ideal if every pronouncement of the Prophet served to guide everyday life down to the tiniest details. Various ayatollahs and mullahs already operate as arbiters whose pronouncements have the weight of law, or at the very least of moral authority.
The educated, Westward-looking minority in Muslim society leads a double life. In private they are free of clerical strictures and think on their own; in public they obey the rules set down by theocratic repression. What we are witnessing in the Iranian street riots is the tension inherent in a double life. Young people, reformists, and religious moderates have formed an ad hoc coalition fueled by idealism and resentment. But if the Ayatollah Khamenei should follow his previous pattern and make a few conciliatory concessions — as he has begun to do with his call for an electoral recount — the built-in contradiction of a democratic theocracy will remain.
Does the U.S. have any role to play in this scenario?
The consensus seems to be no. To a modern secularist, the very notion of living under a theocracy is abhorrent, and the world has been burned once through the spectacle of the Taliban’s grotesque rule before they were overthrown. Modernism is an unstoppable force, however. Throughout the Arab world it’s been a race to see how long it takes for the Internet and the iPod to undermine the mullahs. But modernism alone can’t resolve the issues of women’s rights, religious extremism, and despotism in government that are endemic in Arab states. Blinded by the ideal of heaven on earth, even moderate Muslims acquiesce to intolerable conditions. After all, the freedom not to worship, one of the most basic in the West, is a crime in the Muslim world. A steady if slow evolution is the best we can hope for; in the meantime, the prudent policy for the Western nations is to counter the worst excesses of dictatorial governments as best we can. The rest comes down to a shift in collective consciousness of the kind that seems to be happening, with ups and downs, on a global scale.
I have to agree, the West has no role to play in the scenario playing out in Iran today… at least not directly. Modernism drives on and the end of theocracy is inevitable.
I have to applaud the young people of Iran. When there was a question about whether the election was fair, they took to the streets. In the US election of 2000 there were clear improprieties in the election and the Supreme Court declared the winner (unconstitutionally I might add) there was no media coverage to speak of and no general upraising of the people.
Perhaps it is time for us to take a lesson from them…get out on the streets and let our leaders know that we want single payer universal health care, we want a withdrawal from Iraq, that we want bank regulation, that we want to abolish "don't ask, don't tell" and a return to the tax policy under Eisenhower, and we demand election donation reform.
We absolutely do not have a role to play in what goes on in Iran – but we DO have a role, a RESPONSIBILITY – to get involved and demand that our government act in a way that is congruent with the highest ideals of democracy. We must counter the worst excesses of capitalism and we can not wait on a shift in collective consciousness. When we change, the world changes. That is how the protests in Iran can effect us and how we can best effect them.
Collect kindnesses, trust your instincts, learn happiness and then spread it all over everyone you know.
Love,
Mariahn
The ultimate power is the one that is rarely identified with by many, in any given situation there at least three modes that might be assumed, first is the mind based reaction to a situation – which is sometimes one of action and drama, this response is reactive and radical it stands upon belief and self identity – I am this but you are that, I love this but hate that. The next is a crystallise where by the ideas and the heart have locked together in an ideology which is heart felt and passionate. The being is ultimately identified with worldly beliefs and there is no other way, The one has become the belief instead of merely identifying with that belief. The third is to recognise and become a none believer. When I and you are not separate, when I and you meet and you feel only yourself in that meeting. The first two of these modes can be seen working in Iran right now – the third mode is the area where by magic can be created, because it is a zone of pure creativity, pure selflessness, pure potential and pure love. When I am not without you and you are not without me – then miracles form in their pure state. Poison and water are waiting by the side of the bed of the sick – do we feed them poison or water? taste them both before feeding the sick and choose.
Conflict – is like a boil forming in your skin, in one sense it must come to a head to ultimately burst and release the poison, A better approach to getting boils would be to be more hygienic then you wouldn't have them, another would be to leave it to the vast intelligence of your inner being to heal.
as is the body so is the world.
Next time you have sex – realise that you are committing an act that has spawned every problem in the world….
Will you refrain?
I am your reflection as you are mine
The U.S. is playing a role in Iran. Possibly the most positive role it has ever played. It is unofficial. It is the hopes and prayers of its people and those of like mind around the world. If the short term effect appears negative, we only need pray and hope some more, then wait. This revolution will prove some very simple truths to a world which needs to learn them quickly.
(To multiply the following blessing, read aloud.)
Let us daily increase in: wisdom, love, gratitude, reverence, healing, peace, joy, happiness, laughter and prosperity.
Blessings X 10,
Ed
Let peace prevail.
Love
Rajesh
http://rajeshmsharma.blogspot.com
Iran is passing through its evolutionary phase and moderate muslims are fighting against election fraud.
US has also passed through troubled times of internal strife may be few centuries before. In India , electorate has also gradually matured ( still maturing) from a dynastic rule.
Every country will pass through their phase, US or other developed countries can offer help them by engaging in positive dialogue, but nothing more than that, Iraq is so fresh.
Shift in collective consciousness is a very precise statement put up by Deepak. Let us hope that it can happen faster and a significant part of global humanity suffers less.
Best wishes
I most defenetly agree with your thoughts on this. The only thing is the whole world is changing due to modernism or technology itself. It is due to this that the whole world is becoming more aware then before of theocrocy. But aren't we ourselves religious exteremists, our beliefs are so strong that everyone should be able to choose what ever religion is right for them, then we have political ideas that we believe would benifit everyone? Is it me just questioning myself again or are we in our own catch 22?
And there were some small protests in 2000 but they didn't last but one night, and a few places got raided by the feds for trumped up charges.
Love to all
gina
in response to your last question, yes, lol. I have three kids and many others of spirit and all of them are my seeds to help in this change needed in the world. But I have been divorced for 12 years and i have been celebate for the same period, I was persued intensly by one .
love to all
gina
Dr. Chopra,
I respectfully disagree with your assertion that "over 70% of Iranians are in favor of electing their supreme leader". The (Supreme) leader is not an elected official, rather is appointed and the line of succession has continued amongst the fundamentalist Islamic clerics ruling Iran since the days of Ayatollah Khomeini (1979 revolution).The correct nomenclature is that of "Leader" (in Farsi) and this individual, currently Khamenei, wields ultimate power over the nation inclusive of the winning candidate of the elections.
Furthermore, it is important to note that the Iranian people have taken to the polls to vote in order to make a statement that they wish to choose the candidate of reform over the candidate of the status quo, and much more significant beyond that, they are using this unrest as an opportunity to unravel the oppressive rule of the theocratic regime altogether. By conducting fraudulent elections, the government made a huge strategic mistake in underestimating the will and the might of the Iranian spirit and the physical manifestation of that is what you are seeing play out all across Iran today.
You are correct in stating that the tenets of Koranic Islam from the 7th century are diametrically opposite from the needs of a modern democracy such as the kind Iranian people wish to achieve. As you undoubtedly are aware, Iranian civilization dates back 7000 years and a significant portion of its history was under Zoroastrian rule (vis a vis Cyrus the Great and others). The decline of the Zoroastrian religion was a consequence of the Arab invasion of Iran in the 7th century AD and from that point on, Iran has been under the influence of Islam, however it did not become a theocracy until 1979 when the Islamic Revolution occurred. Theocracy is a new yet very traumatic experience in the long history of Iran – thirty years juxtaposed with a dynastic rule of 7000 years – just to put it in perspective.
As an Iranian by birth whose family fled Iran 30 years ago due to the dangers posed to our lives by the 1979 revolution, I am still very much in touch with my culture and it is with great personal interest that I observe the current situation unfolding in Iran. What many people don't realize is that approximately 60% of the Iranian population of 70 million people is under the age of 30. It is this young generation who was born under the oppression of the theocratic regime, who are rising up today and are taking back the voices which the fundamentalist Islamic clerics are trying so hard to silence. Iranians are like people everywhere in the world and the values that they believe in and aspire to have in their society are not unlike those that any freedom-loving people value anywhere else in the world.
With regard to the role that the US has to play in this scenario, the fact is that the American government always plays a role in global politics, and one which is usually hidden from the eyes of its citizens, which is uncovered only after the fact. The net answer to your question is that there may not be a direct role that the United States can play in Iran per se, and this is probably best for now for the sake of the Iranian people and the safety of those who are literally putting their lives on the line. Given the global culture of which we are all a part, there is a great deal of love and support that is being communicated to the Iranian people by way of direct and indirect messages (via the social networking realm) and numerous other actions, all of which in totality have a power that is beyond any overt action or role that a single individual government could play. These actions can and must continue and should not just be limited to Iranians, but should extend to all members of the human family.
I am in constant contact with people inside Iran and the knowledge that there is worldwide support for the Iranian people and their desire for freedom helps to give them sustenance in this struggle. Contrary to what people may think, the struggle in Iran is not a political issue so much as it is a human rights issue. The indiscriminate use of the iron fist with which the Islamic regime has used to control the Iranian population since the 1979 revolution is widely known, both inside Iran and beyond. Especially under Ahmadinejad, the use of brutality has been taken to new heights and any kind of dissent is crushed with imprisonment, torture, murder and execution. The regime has found any excuse to control and dominate the population only some of which include discrimination due to religion (Baha'i, Christian, Jewish, Zoroastrian), sexual apartheid, lack of freedom of expression, extralegal violations of human rights, etc. The people in Iran are making a stand not ultimately for the winning candidate, rather they are making a stand to be able to enjoy basic human rights of which they have been deprived for too long.
Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right. – Mahatma Gandhi, 1931
This blog is so well put. Any literal interpretation of religious books be it the Quran, Torah, New Testament or the Vedas presents a narrow and exclusive path that is to be walked. Taking the spiritual stories and metaphors that great teachers have used to make a deeper point and using them as cookbooks misses the deeper meanings of those teachings. Fear based fundamentalism from any religious right creates