You must;ve missed every other decade, or half a decade, the US threatens to dismantle the Axis of evil? Funny that since Israel & the Saudis have done more harm to the middle east than Iran & other such nations combined.I'd like to be cheered, but I've been hearing about how 'the youth' of Iran are 'turning against the Mullahs' every few years for decades now. It's like the 'vinyl is making a comeback' story. Seriously, it's come up so many times, only to be followed by another victory for the 'hard-liners'. And I always have the same thought that I did the first time (maybe back in the late 80s?). Which is 'are you sure you aren't only talking to educated urban middle-class youth?'. It has seemed to me for a long time that the media attach disproportionate weight to that demographic when discussing Iran, and neglect what goes on among the large numbers outside that group.
Which isn't to say that Iran might not be experiencing a slow growth of that very demographic, which might have a positive outcome. I just think change there might depend more on bread-and-butter economic things than abstract ideas.
Edit - I absolutely agree that dropping bombs on Iran would be a really, really bad idea, and that that approach hasn't worked out terribly well where it's been tried so far.
You must;ve missed every other decade, or half a decade, the US threatens to dismantle the Axis of evil? Funny that since Israel & the Saudis have done more harm to the middle east than Iran & other such nations combined.
The aggressive or passive aggressive stance that US has had wrt Iran, ever since the Tehran hostage crisis, has allowed the mullahs to rule over them, not to forget installing Shah & then giving him refuge after he fled to the US.Not at all sure what your point is. I'm no fan of US foreign policy. Though working out exactly how to appropriation blame for the harms of the region is beyond me. Western colonialism clearly was a massive contributor, though there seems a danger of being patronising and naive if you erase all the involvement of those who live there. Heck, you could go all the way back to the Mongols and what they did to the area.
My point is merely that the Islamic regime, however unpleasant is is in many ways, seems to have had more popular support than its over-optimistic Western opponents have tended to acknowledge. It is partially a democracy, after all. In fact, maybe the Western distorted view has something in common with how journalists missed the rise of Trump or of Brexit. Same problem of talking only to those like themselves.
If there is anything that demonstrably proves that intervention of the USA in the Middle East does far more harm than good, this is it. One of Muslim countries that we did not drop bombs on and raze to the ground and look what is happening... You fight the war of ideas with words... not bombs.
http://mpc-journal.org/blog/2016/04/04/tsunami-of-atheism-in-iran/
Thats friggin awesome... I just wanna point out that oldie but goodie "Correlation does not imply causation"
The aggressive or passive aggressive stance that US has had wrt Iran, ever since the Tehran hostage crisis, has allowed the mullahs to rule over them, not to forget installing Shah & then giving him refuge after he fled to the US.
The US tends to take a hardline stance, whenever it sees a nation not support US' world view like Cuba for instance? Of course, pleasing the Israelis & the Saudis is also a reason for the anti Iran stance.
Now are you telling me that those two are better than Iran, just because? What about Pakistan, you essentially paid for their development & arms for better part of 60 years?
My point is Iran isn't a bad place, even if it's ruled by Mullahs. There are much worse places in the vicinity, the cultural affliction is in part due to what the West did to Iran, in the past, & their present alignment with the Saudis or Israelis. I mean how can anyone justify the manufactured pandemic in Yemen, by Saudis, & yet Iran should be held to a different standard?
It may take 50 more years, or 100, or 200. But eventually the youths will destroy ignorance of religion in the ME. Will it be destroyed completely? Of course not. Much like in the US there were always be true believers because it's easier to to have faith in a god that allegedly explains everything than to comprehend science and natural facts.
Some people tend to take the easy way out.
Japan? . If there is ooone country... Though not muslim or ME... I think the point is when you decide that dropping bombs is the only path forward then you stick around for the endgame... something that has been thoroughly neglected in ME affairs.Common sense implies causation. Make people desperate enough and you have given an extremist preacher an audience.
Common sense implies causation. Make people desperate enough and you have given an extremist preacher an audience.
Japan? . If there is ooone country... Though not muslim or ME... I think the point is when you decide that dropping bombs is the only path forward then you stick around for the endgame... something that has been thoroughly neglected in ME affairs.
Common sense implies causation. Make people desperate enough and you have given an extremist preacher an audience.
Common sense most definitely does not imply causation.
First, you're using the word "implies" wrong. And second, anyone using common sense would demand to see the testing methods and the sample size before INFERRING anything from an article like that.
The American and Western imperialists have been talking about how evil Iran is for a long, long time.If there is anything that demonstrably proves that intervention of the USA in the Middle East does far more harm than good, this is it. One of Muslim countries that we did not drop bombs on and raze to the ground and look what is happening... You fight the war of ideas with words... not bombs.
http://mpc-journal.org/blog/2016/04/04/tsunami-of-atheism-in-iran/
Even if their future might be bright, certain interests in this world will always stir up trouble in that part of the world. It's been that way for a long time now.Iran is going to be a beacon of light in the region once the Islamic revolution is over. They have the culture and the human capital for it. Arab dictatorships are jealous, but their future is not very bright. No way they transition to modernity as well as Iran.
Religion will disappear eventually amongst the majority but it will take centuries to happen. Science cannot be denied. Will religion disappear completely? Never. There will always be those willing to take the easy way out because science and the universe, for some, can be difficult to comprehend. And those people will be the hard-core types.I doubt religion will ever go away, it's too central to the structure and meaning of many people's lives. And non-believers have far fewer children than believers and really hard-line believers have the most children of all.
But it's possible it will evolve into a more benign form. Non-believers need to be supportive of the gentler kind of believers, not act like they believe they are superior to them. Non-oppressive people of all faiths and none have to find the things they have in common against the headbanging narcissists who think they alone know exactly what God wants.
Religion will disappear eventually amongst the majority but it will take centuries to happen. Science cannot be denied. Will religion disappear completely? Never. There will always be those willing to take the easy way out because science and the universe, for some, can be difficult to comprehend. And those people will be the hard-core types.
Fortunately, their numbers are dwindling.
I'm absolutely not a believer, and I struggle to avoid getting into arguments with those who are (at least on-line, it's far easier in real life, at least in a country where religious people aren't that fervent). But I really can't go all the way with Dawkins-style anti-theism. While I don't think religion is 'true', I don't think anyone can get through life without some beliefs that aren't strictly based on logic and evidence. We aren't Vulcans, we all have our sustaining delusions. I'm still going to confine my hopes to religion becoming less toxic.
Religion will disappear eventually amongst the majority but it will take centuries to happen. Science cannot be denied. Will religion disappear completely? Never. There will always be those willing to take the easy way out because science and the universe, for some, can be difficult to comprehend. And those people will be the hard-core types.
Fortunately, their numbers are dwindling.