Why are we afraid of Iran?

[NOW tense]

Because we have been conditioned to.

They are the people of Rumi



This World Which Is Made of Our Love for Emptiness

Praise to the emptiness that blanks out existence. Existence:
This place made from our love for that emptiness!

Yet somehow comes emptiness,
this existence goes.

Praise to that happening, over and over!
For years I pulled my own existence out of emptiness.

Then one swoop, one swing of the arm,
that work is over.

Free of who I was, free of presence, free of dangerous fear, hope,
free of mountainous wanting.

The here-and-now mountain is a tiny piece of a piece of straw
blown off into emptiness.

These words I'm saying so much begin to lose meaning:
Existence, emptiness, mountain, straw:

Words and what they try to say swept
out the window, down the slant of the roof.


That guy.
We need to start solving our differences in a softer tone. They have crazy leaders just like we have for the past 8 years. The reason is because as a whole we a afraid of stuff. We are conditioned to be afraid of what ever it is that we don't know about. Understand the cultural difference and honor them and things will come around.

[OwnedByFerrets]

1. I have never been afraid of Iran or any other country. I fear OUR

leaders much more than I do another countries people.

[NOW tense]

2. Exactley.

It is our leaders that we elect when we are afraid that is the problem. That is what the last 8 years was or atleast the last 4. That is what is going on in every crazy leader country right now. Afraid of their traditions changing.

[cosmik debris]

3. Because they control an enormous amount of oil

And they can disrupt the flow of Saudi oil and UAE oil through the Strait of Hormuz.

And because many people there hate us for the shameful way we have treated them in the past.

And because many of their leaders are absorbed by a bronze age religion.

And because they may be developing a nuclear or radiological weapon.

I agree that we should find a peaceful accommodation with them, but until we do, it is prudent to fear the power that the might wield.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

4. Well said CD

It doesn't mean we have to go to war with Iran, but a healthy fear of a country that has the power to do us a lot of harm (and has threatened to do harm) is not a bad thing.

Unfortunately, they control a large part of our economic stability because of what they could do to oil production and delivery. It's the perfect reason to look for non-petroleum sources of power.

[cosmik debris]

5. The OP seems to believe

That 13th century Persian poetry can adequately explain 21st century Iranian politics.

I have my doubts.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

6. And since Rumi can accurately be described as a theologian

I can certainly question the ability of those poetic words to govern a modern society in any sort of progressive manner. The mixture of theology and government is usually toxic to a nation's citizenry.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

7. Given that the U.S. invaded Iran's neighbors on both sides

and called it part of the "Axis of Evil," I'm not surprised that they're developing weapons. Don't you think the U.S. would get nervous if the same country invaded and occupied both Canada and Mexico?

As nasty as their government is internally, they have a proud culture that is thousands of years old, and all reports I've heard from travelers say that people are friendly to Americans.