Dr. Algar Critiques "Iranian Exiled Women Memoirs"

This lecture took place on February 11, 2008 at UC Berkeley on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.

Hamid Algar has been a member of the University of California-Berkeley faculty since 1965. He is the biographer of Ayatollah Khomeini and ranks among the world's leading historians of Islam. He teaches courses on Persian literature, the history of Islam, and Shi'ism and Sufism; he has written books and articles on each of these subjects, including more than 100 articles in the Encyclopaedia Iranica.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• iran
• obama
• iranian
• persian
• islam
• muslim
• arab
• palestine
• bush
• america
• england
• carter
• farsi
• english
• hostage
• revolution
• 30
• politics
• policy
• cnn
• bbc
• al
• jazeera
• anniversary
• berkeley
• professor
• doctor
• ahmadinejad
• khatami
• khomeini
• khamenei
• mottaki
• rafsanjani
• ali
• daei
• soccer
• football
• futbol
• sports
• imam
• rahbar
• shahid
• jang
• war
• iraq
• saudi
• arabia
• political
• shia
• sunni
• sufi
• literature
• russia
• china

[zelzalosolh]

...All of this while you call yourself Cyrus and live in USA? Sounds like political refugee greencard bias to me also. In that case perhaps you may not be very tempted to like Mr. Algar. I could understand.

[zelzalosolh]

1) I do not consider Homosexuality something biological. Although there is an attempt to prove it. Social sciences argues differently. We each choose ourselves if we are Gay or Straight (this is taught to us after birth, see Freud). So it is natural that in Iran there are less Homosexuals because society does not teach nor allow it.

2) I see it as a form of social corruption that goes against religion and the natural course of reproduction which evolution requires.

[afshinPROF]

it's like watching one of Qaddafi's speeches....

[SpeedOverStrength]

@zelzalosolh cold but true.

read a few of this guys books, pretty informative.

[CyrusTab]

Thank you for the civil debate.

[HesamRahmani17]

InshaAllah lets end it here if we may, my Islamic duty was to inform you, I usually don't debate online but I read your comment and thought it to be beneficial if you heard the Islamic view. As far as arguing from a belief oriented view, that is a whole different topic altogether, in which ideally there is absolutely no such thing as 'humanistic' or 'morality' w/o religion. I again urge you to capture my main point in establishing the Usul e Din. May God Almighty Guide us all, Peace be upon you.

[CyrusTab]

However, while we may not agree w homosex, there is little evidence of it being damaging to society or spreading like "cancer", as you say. I promise you, as a percent of society, there is as much homosex in Iran as America, no more in Ancient Greece than today. And, despite living in America, I can promise you that homosex can only spread so far; I, for instance, and most others, cannot possibly imagine engaging in it. Finally, if this conversation is offensive to you, I will end it here.

[CyrusTab]

Listen, I understand your point. But you are arguing from a purely belief oriented view. I am arguing from a humanistic/logistic framework, so perhaps we cannot agree. I simply cannot accept your argument based on the claim that "well, God does not allow it", etc. Logically speaking, how can homosexuality be equated with murder? Also, a child born out of incest will suffer from deformities, mental retardedness, etc. and it is sensible to make it illegal.

[HesamRahmani17]

Oh one last thing, reading between the lines of your answers, I feel as though you may not have a problem in homosexual activity, per se, but have more of an intolerance of their execution in specifically Iran. Iran's government is an attempt at an Islamic government with Islamic rulings. In the West, its values are of money: commit treason with a lot of cash and more often than not you're sentenced to life in prison or execution. In Islam, its the good health of the society.

[HesamRahmani17]

... the society as a whole and spread oppression (going against The Almighty's Command) until it has consumed the society into devaluing its act, much like it did to the society in Prophet Lot's time all the way to how it has today, exactly as it did then. The only way to stop this cancer from spreading is to kill it in its early stages. (That is why President Ahmadinejad implied that homosexuality isn't a problem in Iran like it is in the West.).

[HesamRahmani17]

This is a very utilitarian and hedonistic answer you gave me, in which the West has brought you to understand and value above all. In any case, yes, not me, but God has issued a Man engaging in homosexual activities witnessed by four Just men deserves the penalty of death. inA I will very humbly give you my own insignificant, very little interpretation and reasoning regarding this: A man engaging in such an act is like a cancer in the body - it will multiply and multiply until it has overcome...

[HesamRahmani17]

I ask of you, why does it disconcert you to have homosexuality equated with incest, for example? Please don't think of it as too out of the ordinary. Homosexuality was seen as an atrocious act just 50 years right here in the heart of the West, the United States. So, in another 50 years, lets say, if a brother and sister who are adults and both consent and agree to marriage, would it then be ok? They're not killing, victimizing, or harming everyone else, so why can't they practice their freedom?