Democracy in the Middle-East — Is it even possible?

Hope there's a light at the end of this dark tunnel

One of the things I always enjoy doing is talking to my dad about my thoughts, point of views on things, daily news, social matters, philosophy, almost everything. And man, he’s so open-minded and more than willing to listen to me. I feel bad for him sometimes. I can be full of shit sometimes, and who wants to listen to bullshits? But he does. He eagerly does. And I feel special. He makes me feel special. Thank you, Daddy!

Today, he told me why not writing about all these in my blog. He’s right, why not?! So here we go. From now on, I’ll be writing about all these crazy thoughts here. These are just how I think at the time, in the moment. Who knows, I might change my mind tomorrow. I love to hear about other people’s views. So bring it on. I want to hear it.

I’m copying and pasting my conversation I had with my dad earlier today via email. This is only reflecting my way of thinking, not my Dad’s. He might agree with me or not. But it’s none of my business to speak on his behalf.

My conversation is based on the ongoing events in the Middle East, especially in Iran:


Hope there’s light at the end of this dark tunnel

You know what scares me? It almost annoys me at the same time, when I see people so brilliant and smart who have a good head on their shoulder, who have a high education and intellect, just being a sheep. They are only being a follower. They willingly want to be used.

Or maybe, that’s just the way they’re thinking. I’m talking about religion, politics, lifestyle here. What if you let your religion and your ideology rule your life. Imagine you want to mix them all together. Is it even possible? Can we bake a salty, sweet cake? Maybe we can make it hot and spicy at the same time. Yuck!

Religion scares me! Even the word, every time I hear it, it’s like an alarm. Man, they’ve been many good men in the past that I adored, but because of religion, I tried to stay away from them. I don’t follow any religion or faith out there. I tried. But it didn’t take me that long to start questioning. I’m not agnostic either. I believe there’s something out there. I’ve never looked for it though. I don’t know what it is. But I call for it when I need help. Maybe it’s the inner me. Maybe I just believe in me.

Anyway, back to religion, I have to say for some reason religious people bother me. Most of them can be very biased. And it’s hard for me to trust them. I see them as people who are lost, those who have identity crisis. I don’t want to generalize here though. I said most of them. I still know a few who are reasonable, open-minded people while practicing their faith.

Yes, I do believe that people’s idea and point of view change from time to time. And there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s very normal. It’s part of the human nature. But there’s something that never changes in us. And that’s the foundation, root, base, whatever you want to call it, the thing that makes us the person we are. That’s the thing people always remember us as.

Here’s what I’m trying to say, in the 21st century with the modern lifestyle and the technology constantly changing, if you don’t think of religion as a personal belief (something between you and whoever you believe in), it’d contradict with all the changes happening around you. This is why I think most of those people have identity crisis. And they keep changing gears because they see they get stuck from time to time, so they have to change direction. This is why I find it hard to trust them because I don’t know what they’re going to do next.

In addition, I think it’s not enough just to be tolerant of other people’s faiths and views. You need to be understandable of where they are coming from and why they’re thinking and acting in a certain way. Why they are so different from you. And we can achieve this by educating ourselves.

Also, by being open-minded I mean we need to be willingly to be open-minded, with a good intention. Not just because others (the authorities, the ones with money and power) say so. Maybe we need to work our own brain from time to time. But unfortunately most people with strong faiths are just so brainwashed that don’t see others. And it’s hard for me to trust them.

Maybe this is why I don’t support any of the political groups in Iran nor in the Middle East. I hate seeing people getting hurt. I hate watching people getting killed. I’m for people. I think sometimes (most of the time) security and stability are more important than freedom. In some circumstances, people are just not ready for that kind of freedom. They basically don’t know what it is. They are not educated about it. It’s just the idea of it that excites them. Life is too short. You can be on the street shouting out the word ‘freedom’ and hope for a change.

But the question here is, ‘what changes? What do you want to change? Why change? And who are you putting your trust and faith in to make that change happen? And why do you trust that person? Why do you think he’s better than anybody else?’ What is this change everybody talking about?

In my opinion the nation (I’m talking about Iran here) is being irrational and emotional in the so-called Green movement. What change? What do they want? I know they’re fed up with the regime and injustice (and I don’t blame them. Why do you think I live here and not there???), but my question is what’s the difference between these new reformists and the ones in power???

I think Obama was the same with regards to change too. During his campaign he never explained what change he was talking about. I can change my shoes right now and say, “yayy, I’m for change”. What is Change?

I want all these to stop. I am scared. I am scared. My loved ones are there. I don’t want anything to happen to them. Call me selfish. Then I want to be selfish. I just want these to stop. I hope there’s a light at the end of this tunnel!

I like questioning things. I find it an easy way out by not questioning. That way you can look at things from a different angle. You can see other views. Everybody can listen to BBC and get their news and updates from there. But I like looking at the patterns, the history. The human nature... People call me pessimistic, but I think I’m just being realistic.

32 years later, another revolution...

Irony: Iranian Revolution on Feb. 11th, 1979; and today is Egyptian Revolution on Feb. 11th, 2011.

Nothing's changed since the Iranian Revolution. We're still witnessing dictatorship, corruptions, big gap between the rich and poor, ignoring human rights, injustice, and many more.

It's too early to congratulate the Egyptians. They only took the first step. Now it's all up to them to take advantage of this opportunity to build a foundation for a better and brighter future for their country and next generations. They better learn from other nations' experiences, or they will make the same mistake. Hope it will be a good change for them.

Let's just hope...

Harper follows Israeli line on Egypt

Unfortunately, when it comes to foreign policy and everything else really, our prime minister is not the wisest man out there. Take a look at Haroon Siddiqui's opinion piece in the Toronto Star.

And this is my editorial cartoon.

Let's all hope for an election in Canada very soon. He is certainly not representing the majority of the Canadians.