A Conversation with a Fellow Persian Paradox Reader

If there is anybody reading my posts here, they know that my whole "weblogging" practices started when I discovered Dr. Ebtekar's Persian Paradox site, wanted to voice my opinions to her and her Reformist colleagues (and I did, plenty!!!), but sometimes when I read comments by some of her other readers with whom I wanted to "beg to differ", Dr. Ebtekar wouldn't find it appropriate to post the comments I would write on her Persian Paradox as responses to her other readers. So, I decided to come and write my comments and make my points on my own weblog and invite free and uncensored comments from her other readers.

One of those fellow Persian Paradox fans with whom I started to have these kinds of "web-tag" conversations (i.e., I leave a comment for you, you read a comment for me, and so on) was a fellow expat who signed as Holly first (just as I sign as Kathy sometimes) but then created her own weblog called "Black Chador" and is now signing with that name. Holly and I have been conducting a series of quite stimulating conversations lately over here as well as on her site. One of her latest posts prompted me to write a rather LENGTHY comment for her, which I would like to copy it here for my own readers as well.

Here's Mrs. Black Chador's new post:

http://blackchador.blogspot.com/2008/12/black-chador.html

and here's my response to her as a HUGE comment:

Dear Holly,
I would like to show you a couple of quotes here, and ask you to guess who they came from?

1)
"The revolutionary government owes to the good citizen all the protection of the nation; it owes nothing to the Enemies of the People but death... These notions would be enough to explain the origin and the nature of laws that we call revolutionary ... If the revolutionary government must be more active in its march and more free in his movements than an ordinary government, is it for that less fair and legitimate? No; it is supported by the most holy of all laws: the Salvation of the People."

2)
"Terror is nothing other than prompt, severe, inflexible justice."

go ahead guess! whose are these quotes??? Khomeini? Khamenei? perhaps Khalkhali? ha?!!!! what do you think????!!!! maybe the second one is from an Al-Qaeda leader???

:-)
No, my dear friend, these sentences are both from Maximilien Robespierre, the most influential member of the Committee of Public Safety established on 6 September 1793 in the most horrifying period of the French Revolution called "La Terreur" or "The Reign of Terror".

What's my point?
You see dear friend, if Iran had Revolutionary Committees and Courts in the first couple of years between 1979 and 1980 where some radical "bloodthirsty mullah" types like Khalkhali acted the way Maximilien Robespierre acted between 1793 and 1794, let's NOT "throw the baby out with the bath water", and let's stay more optimistic about the chances of having our revolution EVENTUALLY correct and REFORM itself according to principles of Enlightenment, albeit Islamic Enlightenment which is the only kind of Enlightenment appropriate for a country of 90% Muslims with a 1400 years of Islamic history!

December 8, 2008 8:13 PM


I hope others might be compelled to join us in this free, democratic, fair and stimulating conversation as well!
:-)

Long Live Freedom of Speech!