Tuesday, March 11, 2008
By: IranVNC
Published: Tuesday, March 11, 2008
• Blogging current affairs
In a daily posting entitled: Traditional [Persian: sonnati] votes and reactionary thoughts, on the weblog “the bitter writings of a Mashhadi”, Mas’ud Mashhadi, analyzes the upcoming elections for the eighth parliament [Majles] and believes that “every year the bulk of the votes gained are made up of traditional votes…! Especially when the young and educated strata have no inclination to vote, traditional votes cast become more effective and significant.” The blogger quotes a clergyman on the question of the necessity to vote:
“…Listen to a preacher cleric who was saying after prayers were over: `You worship throughout your life! You go to the Mosque! You pray! You fast! You help the poor! You stroke the head of an orphan child! You shed tears for Imam Hoseyn! And in short, you live like a Muslim throughout your life….When death knocks at the door, you say your final prayers and surrender your soul to the other world! On the first night in the grave, you are glad that you are no longer burdened and can reply to the questions of the two angels [Persian: nakir va monker who visit the dead in the grave to question them about their faith]! But you know that the first question they will ask you is whether you have voted or not! You know, voting is an obligation just like prayer! But being a Muslim does not merely entail voting – you should know who you are voting for and make sure that that person is not providing grist to the mill of the enemy! Is not wheeling and dealing with Israel and America! Is not betraying Islam! Is a follower of the velayat [supreme leader]! And…’ It is too much to expect miracles from these traditional votes – the traditional votes of common people bring to power those who are traditional and reactionary! And this invalidated round just continues…”
On the “song of the mountain” weblog, Farshid Fariabi quotes from a report by the Associated Press News Agency based on an institute’s survey of international visa restrictions. He notes:
“According to the [AP] report, the nationals of Finland, Denmark and the United States can travel to 130 countries in the world without the need to obtain visas and score highest [as countries whose citizens have visa-free access to other countries] whereas Iran is among the lowest ranking countries in this respect since Iranians can travel only to 14 countries without the need for visas. Among the 195 countries studied in the report, Iranians rank 194th on the index [along with Iraq and Afghanistan]. What is interesting is that according to this global ranking, the citizens of draught-ridden countries such as Burkina-Faso, Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti score higher than the citizens of Iran.”
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
http://kouhestan.persianblog.ir/post/1328
• Blogging Society
On her weblog “civilization”, Forugh conducts a dialogue with her departed father, criticizing him for supporting the Iranian revolution, voting for the establishment of the Islamic republic system and the promises made at the time of the revolution. She addresses her deceased father on the eve of the Majles elections:
“…do you remember that in the midst of those early years, they first announced that they would give free land to large households and will help them financially to build their houses. Our small four-member household increased to seven in the course of three years but we continued to be tenants and you continued to be optimistic about the future…
“…Once again we are approaching the New Year [20 March 2008] and my husband and I, who work round-the-clock, have not been able to buy new clothes for our only child.
“Father, I have come to break my promise; you know that I love you very much and I remember how on the last night, you took my hand in yours and called out my name; you were unable to open your eyes but told me that I should never turn my back on the revolution whatever else I might give up. No, father, enough of it. I cannot tolerate this winter any longer. Sorry for breaking my promise but you should know that this time, I shall not be voting, although I love you very much.”
11 March 2008
/http://hardambilenovin.wordpress.com/2008/3/11/bar mazare pedar
In the weblog “the Aryan boy” Arsin tries to trace the roots of superstitions and ignorance associated with religious worship, which are rampant in societies around him. He writes about a sacred tree in the northeastern Khorasan Province of the country:
“…I would have never believed that one day, in my own homeland, I would see this category of people until I was invited by one of my acquaintances to visit a village called Pa’in-Deh [Lower Village], near the city of Mashhad [Khorasan Province]. I heard that there was a tree in that village called Chelcheragh [Persian: chandelier], which villagers especially respect and call on [as an idol] to fulfil their wishes…
“Before seeing the goddess of these people, I kept telling myself that this tree is surely a specific phenomenon or that it is a very ancient tree and has attained this lofty status over many hundreds of years. But when I was fortunate enough to make a pilgrimage to this tree, I found that I had really been mistaken and I saw for myself that the tree was nothing special…
“Prediction: We will soon be witness to the idea that this tree has a special prayer of pilgrimage [Persian: ziyaratnameh] and tradition will have it that those who go around this tree 40 times, will have forty thousand houris [nymphs] drop in their laps all at once.”
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
http://arsin.wordpress.com/2008/03/15/sanctimonious-tree
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