A message from Tehran (x-post from science forum)

[supernova]

I'm cross-posting this from the science forum. Pokerfan posted it there, but I know most don't go to the science forum and I thought it deserved wider attention.

For about the last year, I've been following the discussions on the imdb board for Ben Stein's Expelled movie. It has drawn scientists and laypeople (and a handful of religious fundamentalists) from all over the world and I have learned much from reading it. (My background in biology is woefully lacking having mostly studied physics and engineering.)

Anyway, one of the regulars from Iran just posted the following...

Board: Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (2008)

OT: Religion, Enlightenment, Revolution, and Change
by Yithian 15 hours ago (Sat Jun 20 2009 21:32:19)

Guys,

As most of you are aware, I live in Tehran, Iran. With all the chaos that's been flying around this past week, I haven't been on much lately, indeed since the days following up to the "election". I must unfortunately announce to you all that due to some recent developments, I'm not going to be able to come here anymore. I'm going to be in some trouble more than likely for what I've posted here and on other message boards. Our web browsing is monitored, even moreso now.

With the protests, the government has started censoring the Internet more and more, mainly the news websites and blogs; thankfully, Twitter is still going and my sister Sina told me that MySpace and Facebook are working, and I did some Twittering to my friends in Europe and America with her along with my brother-in-law Badi. Our cellphone networks have been shut down entirely. I have not been able to call or text anyone for the last few days or even get service. We have been told by the police you are to be beaten if you take one out in front of them, and they will do the same to you if you have a camera.

We are in a full revolt as of this moment in time. There are hundreds of people dead and hundreds more injured from what I have heard and seen. There is talk of conflict and dissent in some areas of the military, but some is not enough and I do not know if such things are true or merely incorrect rumor to begin with. But I have been in the riots just yesterday, and things are most terrible for the protesters.

I am posting this because of my personal values. Because for so long, talking about things like science and thought outside of religion here has been a crime, punishable by death; because expressing who we are and what we desire to obtain (freedom) has been deemed an offensive to Islam by the mullahs; and so we are maimed and killed and bled dry in our arduous quest for it at this very moment. It is, to say the least, a sad and depressing sight.

For over 20 years, Iran has been locked away from the rest of the world because of religious fanaticism. We were once a great nation that gave much to the fields of science, mathematics, medicine, art, history, literature, and music, but that all changed after we became the Islamic Republic of Iran. We had since become dogmatic barbarians shouting and killing "in the name of God", as so many before have done (both in and out of the ranks of Islam). Let this serve as a lesson: fanaticism of ANY KIND is dangerous and for this very reason should be stamped out before it can consume even a small part of society; it will cause trouble, period.

Years ago, as I have told some before, I served as a member of the Basiji during the Iran-Iraq War. I have been ashamed of myself and feel guilty for my stupidity and naivety. "Baseej-e Mostaz'afin" (the full name of the organization) means "Mobilization of the Oppressed". Now, in the riots, they are helping oppression from above. They have come to put down the "mobs" and have been responsible for much of the damage done to our homes, property, and families. And I feel unhappy with myself because I used to be a proud part of them but look now. They have gone to hospitals and killed, arrested, and tortured the injured. They have defiled their own brethren. All because of religious fanaticism.

But out of this fanaticism has come hope. The protesters obviously are fighting for the good of the people and the nation because they have been educated. They have gone to such places as America and England and Germany and France. They have learned because of this what freedom is like, and they have spread their enlightenment to others. And from this has come what you see today: revolution in the name of freedom. Freedom from oppression, from brainwashing, from fanaticism, and cruelty; for democracy, justice, knowledge, the good of the people, and the good of the nation. And indeed for freedom itself. To say what you want, to love who you want, and to live happily for all your days.

Intelligence is an infectious thing, that much is for sure. Anybody can learn so long as they have an open mind and a yearning to attain knowledge, something the mullahs and government have been trying to destroy for so long now for their own greedy and self-centered motives. Well no more will this be the case, we hope. It was the great Scientific Revolution of the 1600s and 1700s that sparked intelligence and question and ultimately led up to the French and American Revolutions of 1789 and 1776 respectively. For us, it has come down to technology and our students being taught in foreign nations, then returning home with what they have come to understand.

I do not know whether this all will turn out to be a tremendous success or a disastrous failure. We can only try. What have we to lose that is not already in jeopardy? Or more importantly, that HAS NOT ALREADY been put in jeopardy? Nothing, that's what. Everything is at risk now, no one will be spared from the consequences in the end of it all (be they good or bad). If we would become free, we must fight; fight the mullahs and Khamenei or become slaves to them, which is what we've been these past three decades since the Shah was overthrown (justified, IMO) and an Islamic Republic was declared (not justified, IMO).

So that's it. This is more than likely my last post here. Think it dramatic, true, overthetop, intelligent, stupid, or otherwise. It doesn't matter to me. I have learned much from you enlightened minds here, such as Drew, Werecow, and Ruth; I have laughed with comics like Ernie and Ella. I wish I could learn and laugh more with you guys. But for the time being, I thank you all for sharing your knowledge and talents with me, and I hope you will continue to do so for the future. If we fail, then I will be executed by firing squad for having taken part in such discussions (it's not a question of "if" with this government), in which case I still give you all my thanks anyway for such valuable assets. The same will be done with anyone else who has spoken of such things.

Perhaps something good will come out of this mess for Iran and we the people, and I will be able to resume using my account here under more peaceful and happy circumstances. I may come back with updates from time to time. I may.

With deepest respect, sincerity, good wishes, and hope for the future.

Akbar

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1091617/board/thread/140868...

DU link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=228&topic_id=53193&mesg_id=53193

[Ohio Joe]

1. Wow...

I hope Akbar, his family and friends can stay safe. Just as much, I hope they find a way through all of this an emerge with a once again great nation. All my best to the people of Iran.

So very brave.

[YOY]

2. Stay safe Akbar.

n.t.

[JPZenger]

3. Please delete names and identifying information

It is valuable to re-distribute messages from inside Iran. However, any names, user ids or other identifying information should be removed before posting. We don't want to hurt people while trying to help them.

(FYI - As seen in another post, Nokia in 2007 sold Iran the technology to listen in on cellphones and to intercept instant messages.)

[Swede]

4. This is not good.

Thanks for posting.

[supernova]

5. Kick

:kick:

[struggle4progress]

6. There are lots of reasons to dislike the Iranian regime: they hang a lot of people,

they beat a lot more, they practice amputation punishment and they may still practice stoning -- but it's very unlikely that "talking about .. science ... has been a crime, punishable by death"

Rough Cut
Iran: The Stem Cell Fatwa
Science and religion's unlikely union
BY Jonathan Schienberg and Neil Katz
June 08, 2009
... While American headlines about Iran barely get beyond religious extremism and nuclear bombs, on a visit there recently, my reporting partner Neil Katz and I discovered a more unusual pairing: religious devotion and medical science. This staunchly conservative theocracy has become a hub of world-class research in embryonic stem cell science ... http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2009/06/iran_stem_cell.html


This article can be found on the web at
http://www.logosjournal.com/issue_4.4/simmons.htm
A Critical Look at Science in Iran
by
Mike Simmons
... Iran’s scientific community has grown since the revolution in 1979. The number of professional scientific societies has seen a five-fold increase in that time with the greatest increase occurring in the past decade. The number of books published in fields of science and technology nearly doubled in the six years from 1996 to 2002. Iran’s international standing in science has grown as well; the number of papers published in international scientific journals increased from less than 100 after the revolution to almost 3500 in 2004, with an increase of 44% from 2002 to 2003 alone. The changes are not a coincidence; a recently-published proclamation of Iran’s goals for science and technology over the next twenty years includes, “(Iran) shall be of the first rank in economy, science and technology in the region, and shall keep pace along with the increasingly progressive growth of science.” International cooperation is increasingly seen as important to achieving this goal, an idea not lost on the many Iranian scientists trained in the west. The Ministry of Science, Research and Technology has several programs in place for expediting international programs, particularly strong cooperative programs with Europe ... http://www.logosjournal.com/issue_4.4/simmons_printable.htm

Harmonising science and Islam in Iran
Source: Science
24 July 2006 | EN
... The clerics ignore most science, but researchers in subjects such as evolutionary biology, psychology, neuroscience and sociology risk upsetting them ... http://www.scidev.net/en/features/harmonising-science-and-islam-in-iran.html

[supernova]

9. If this post is true

I expect he'll be arrested for more than getting all science-y on the net.

[struggle4progress]

12. Right now, I think they're preoccupied with arresting people on the streets, expelling

reporters, and claiming foreigners are spies; they probably have a major split in the ruling elite about how to handle the unrest; and they've got a political problem associated with the question of ballots

I don't like theocracy at all -- but I have some doubts about the accuracy of the post. I think Iran has been trying to modernize technologically: the notion that we have a twittered revolt in a country that the rightwing has been claiming is on the verge of producing an atomic weapon and that we know is supporting cutting-edge stem-cell research -- all this is inconsistent with the claim made in the post that one can be executed for talking about science

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. And this is what they are fighting for, basic shit

like the ability to read a science blog

[Kaleko]

8. One of the best posts I've ever read.

Wish I could recommend it a thousand times.

Stay safe, Akbar.

[glitch]

10. K & R no words. nt

[Kaleko]

11. Kick