Are
Persians Ready to Leave Islam?
Sep
30, 2002
Dear Dr. Sina,
I am a 21 year old
persian girl who rejected Islam from the time I was very little. I did not
need to read the Koran to know that there is nothing but violence and hate
in it. But this is only because I had enlightened parents who informed me
about the true face of Islam. But sadly even they believe in the same
scary and vengeful god that is mentioned in the Koran.
I agree with your
position that some people like you and I are mature enough to only need
their own sense of morality and right and wrong to guide them through
life. We live by the golden rule. But for a lot of people, including my
own parents, the need to believe in a god is rooted in their need to
believe that there is someone out there to look out for them, someone to
make wrongs right. It terrifies them to think that they are alone in this
world.
Dr. Sina, I agree with
your position that some people need to believe in god and others don't.
But you seem to be under the impression that humans as a group are ready
to reject all superstition, and I have seen on a number of occasions you
say that the people of Iran will be the first nation to reject religion
and become enlightened secularists. You seem to think that persians are
undergoing a renaissance. I do agree with you that many persians are
turned off by Islam; but because they are terrified to having no faith at
all, most of them will remain muslem unless a good alternative comes up.
I also believe that
having a secular society is dangerous because it leaves a gap in our
society so that 100 or 200 years from now Islam or some other cult can
raise its ugly head once again and we will be in the same mess that we are
in right now. If our Zoroastian ancesstor had been more
"fanatic" about their religon and were not willing to give up
Ahura Mazda, figuring all gods are the same, maybe our nation wouldn't be
were it is now. Let us remember that people have founght against Islam and
won. I mean Look at India, look at Spain. I am saying that if were as
religous as the Europeans or the Hindus, we wouldn't be known as terrorist
in the world right now, and we wouldn't be photographed and finger printed
and treated like potential suspects at airports all around the world.
I would like to say
that I appriciate your courage to speak out against the violence and the
hatred that you have seen in Islam. I do believe that we are witnessing a
drastic change in the attitude of Iranians toward Islam, but I don't think
Iran will turn secular anytime soon. I think more and more Iranians are
thinking about who they were before Islam came along. They think about
King Cyrus who wrote the World's first human's rights declaration, how
slavery was totally abolished from our country 2500 years ago, about how
Women rule our nation, about how unlike the Pyramids and the Wall of China
and many other monuments, Perspolis was built by paid workers and not by
slaves (They have archaeological proof of this). They also think about how
their country is known as the world's leading sponser of terrorism and
part of the "axis of evil". They think about were they were and
were they are now. I do not think persians are going to turn atheist or
agnostic. But I think that they will replace the cult of Islam with a more
humanistic religion. There are many obsticles however. The majority of
persians do not speak Avesta, and they may find current Zoroatrism faith
to be very archaic and even a little superstitous. Many believe that
Zoroatrians do not accept converts (not true). Many believe that
Zoroastrian worship two gods, some even believe they worship fire (also
not true). The few that have read Avesta (in English) have said that the
message in very philosophical and thought provoking. The impression that
they got was that it was a lot like Buddhism and other Eastrern
philosophies. There are many organizations right now that are attempting
to modernize Zoroaterism and they do accept converts. Many people are
beggining to celebrate the forgotten holidays of their ancestor. Happy
Mehrgan by the way!
Once again I want to
thank you for having the courage to put up this site. Well knowing how
busy you probably are I'll stop rambling on now. Let me know what you
think about all of this. Let's hope for better times for our country. Oh
by the way, did you live under the Islamic Repulic regime of Iran? Were
you pretty religous before you found out what Islam truly stood for? I
mean you read the Koran in its entirety in Arabic, now many persians can
do that. Well let me know. Bye for now.
Payande Iran
Dear
Anahita
Anytime
I receive a message like yours from a young Iranian and smell the
fragrance of love of Iran from it, my heart is rejoiced because I know
that this tempest will be over soon and the new generation of Iranians
will rebuild my beloved country.
I
feel proud when I see Iranian kids who have never seen Iran are so much
attached to her and value her rich culture. Yes indeed we have to be very
proud of our heritage for it was full of humanism. But the darkness of
this long night that lasted for 1400 years is close to the end. I see in
our new generation the morning stars and I know that our sun of Mitra is
dawning again very soon. The days of happiness are ahead of us. We will be
a free people again. “Free at last!… Free at last!”
Yes
I do believe that Iran is going through a metamorphosis. Remember that
over 70% of Iranians are youths. This generation has seen the evil of
Islam and is the one that wants change. They cannot be fooled by the Jumbo
Mumbo of religious dogma especially that of Islam. Christianity and other
religions have some spirituality and therefore some appeal with the youth.
What does Islam have for the young generation?
In
order for Islam to flourish and even survive it needs someone to hate.
That is why Islam is still going strong in Palestine, Pakistan, and most
of Arab countries. They have Jews, Hindus, and Americans to hate. But
Iranians do not hate anyone anymore. We passed that phase in the 70s and
80s. At that time we hated the Shah and we hated America and that was why
Islam was so strong. Today the new generations of Iranians hate only their
oppressors who happen to be those who impose Islam on them. Islam has
become synonymous with deceit, with betrayal with torture, with
imprisonments, with flogging, with stoning, with plucking the eyes and
with executions. Even the parents of these kids who made the revolution
now are repentant and regret for trusting the Mullahs and are realizing
that Islam was nothing but a hoax, an instrument of subjugation and
deceit.
The
Mullahs desperately are launching anti America/Anti Israel slogans in the
hope to revive the hate and rekindle the dying flames of Islam. But their
efforts are aborted by Iranians. The people poured in the streets by
thousands, lit candles to express their solidarity with the victims of
9/11, wept and shouted “death to terrorist”. When Iranians celebrate
the 4th of July, what message do you think they are trying to
send?
When
you visit any Iranian forum online you can see that Islam’s attraction
for Iranians is over. After the fall of this brutal regime, no matter what
constitution or polity Iran may choose, it will allow the freedom to
criticize Islam. The forces of opposition oppose Islam too. Islam can only
survive through lies, censorship and violence. When that is taken away, it
will crumble in few short years. Many Islamic countries are not ready for
that to happen yet. But Iran is ready. However once Iran falls, Islam
falls. Iran has been rightly called the lynchpin of the Middle East and
indeed the whole Islamic world. Even the present rise of Islamism that has
infested the world, has its roots in Iran. Since the begging Iran has been
the undisputed trendsetter in the Middle East. Every Islamic philosophical
thought is generated from Iran.
Today
we have a powerful tool in our hands and that is the Internet. Internet
may have changed the way people do business in the West, but its impact in
Islamic countries, where thoughts have traditionally been censored, is
more than revolutionary.
Of
course Internet is just a vehicle. It requires dedicated people,
especially coming from within Muslims to take advantage of this vehicle
and make that revolution happen. Those people are coming forth and this
revolution is taking momentum.
You
spoke about a replacement to Islam. That is not up to me to suggest. Each
person will have to choose his or her own spiritual path according to his
or her own maturity and needs. Zoroastrianism for Iranians has some lure.
It reminds us of our past glory but it must be revised and modernized.
Christianity is another option, although it certainly is not a religion of
choice for most intellectuals. Bahai Faith is also a modern religion with many
excellent social and spiritual teachings. But Iranians do not favor it. They blame it for trying to perpetuate the lie about Islam being
a legitimate religion. Also the administrative order of the Bahai Faith is so
rigidly structured that its spirituality has been lost. I think many would
be inclined towards oriental philosophies such as Buddhism that as Albert
Einstein said, is the only religion compatible with science. However my
hunch is that the majority of Iranians would choose humanism, with or
without the belief in a god.
What
is certain is that Islam will lose its monopoly in Iran and after the fall
of the Islamic regime a pluralistic society will emerge. Islam will be
rapidly weakened while other religions and philosophies will gain ground.
Pluralism is better than uniformity. Imposition
of any religion or doctrine including atheism is a huge mistake. Humanity
will eventually find its way but its freedom of choice mush be guaranteed.
I am not advocating secularism as a substitute to religion.
I am
advocating secular governments. Let people choose the religion that they
like, but state should be free of religion. And to assure that neither
Islam nor any other religion may one day become the dominant religion of
the majority and of the state, freedom of speech must be guaranteed and
the right to criticize any religion or doctrine be enshrined in our
constitution. With that, religions will eventually die out and reason will
prevail.
Thank
you for writing to me. My heart is filled with joy to see Iran is alive in
the hearts of young Iranians.
Payandeh Iran
Ali
Sina
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