Iran is Racist and Homophobic

Off Topic Politics and World Issues
1

I don’t think we need to re-hash the “Iran doesn’t have homosexuals” comments from Ahmadijihad, but the racist practices of the Iranian government are not discussed in this forum.
Quoted from Amnesty International’s report on Iranian Human Rights, Feb 2006:

Despite constitutional guarantees of equality, individuals belonging to minorities in Iran, who are believed to number about half of the population of about 70 millions, are subject to an array of discriminatory laws and practices. These include land and property confiscations, denial of state and para-statal employment under the gozinesh criteria and restrictions on social, cultural, linguistic and religious freedoms which often result in other human rights violations such as the imprisonment of prisoners of conscience, grossly unfair trials of political prisoners before Revolutionary Courts, corporal punishment and use of the death penalty, as well as restrictions on movement and denial of other civil rights

The only thing worse than terrorists, are racist terrorists.

2

While I’m not giving Iran a free pass, there are other countries in Africa and as well as the middle east that are just as bad, if not worse. Just because they treat their citizens like shit isn’t justification for John and Jane Q. Taxpayer to care or shell out money for another war. Again, it’s not our business to care. If Iran needs change, let their people initiate it. If they want it bad enough, they’ll do something about it.

3

Religious government and tolerance have never exactly walked hand in hand ya know…

4

BH6, I can’t tell if you’re quoting Amnesty’s report or pulling the text out of your ears.

Many Iranians are anti-Arab, and the government cracks down on Kurdish separatists, but racism is certainly not part of the report. All you have in the (outdated) report are allegations. If you’re gonna complain about repression of Kurdish population, start with Turkey. AI’s has unequivocally labeled the country as a racist state, yet, the massacres are carried out with US money and weapons.

This board seems to be obsessed with demonizing Iran lately (reminiscent of 2002-2003 Iraq), so if you really want to go into racist states, I’d say focus on Saudi Arabia. Those jerks make Iran look like a beacon of tolerance.

I defy anyone to find an Amnesty report calling Iran a racist state. However, the organization produce several reports that say Turkey and Israel are. Don’t make me fetch the billions of dollar figures Washington gives out to Ankara and Tel-Aviv. The only thing you need to know is that it’s an obscene amount of money.

5

He just quoted AI’s Feb 2006 report!

6

[quote]BH6 wrote:

The only thing worse than terrorists, are racist terrorists.[/quote]

I know you are very much in love with that word, but governments are hardly “terrorists” in their own country, even if they spread terror.

Unless of course you´d call the ATF, FBI and US army “terrorists” after Waco, which is when I´d consider cleaning your own house before worrying about the state of others.

7

[quote]lixy wrote:
BH6, I can’t tell if you’re quoting Amnesty’s report or pulling the text out of your ears.

Many Iranians are anti-Arab, and the government cracks down on Kurdish separatists, but racism is certainly not part of the report. All you have in the (outdated) report are allegations. If you’re gonna complain about repression of Kurdish population, start with Turkey. AI’s has unequivocally labeled the country as a racist state, yet, the massacres are carried out with US money and weapons.

This board seems to be obsessed with demonizing Iran lately (reminiscent of 2002-2003 Iraq), so if you really want to go into racist states, I’d say focus on Saudi Arabia. Those jerks make Iran look like a beacon of tolerance.

I defy anyone to find an Amnesty report calling Iran a racist state. However, the organization produce several reports that say Turkey and Israel are. Don’t make me fetch the billions of dollar figures Washington gives out to Ankara and Tel-Aviv. The only thing you need to know is that it’s an obscene amount of money.[/quote]

Well then I´ll call them un-democratic religious fanatic bigots or terror sponsoring homophobe murderers.

I doubt that there is any argument there.

8

[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:

He just quoted AI’s Feb 2006 report![/quote]

I know - it is surreal to behold.

Rest assured also, if there was an AI report that used the exact same language to describe the US, Lixy would have started a thread declaring the US a “racist state”.

9

[quote]gatesoftanhauser wrote:
While I’m not giving Iran a free pass, there are other countries in Africa and as well as the middle east that are just as bad, if not worse. Just because they treat their citizens like shit isn’t justification for John and Jane Q. Taxpayer to care or shell out money for another war. Again, it’s not our business to care. If Iran needs change, let their people initiate it. If they want it bad enough, they’ll do something about it.[/quote]

And it´s not as if the majority of the population is under 30 and they have an astounding collection of (illegal) satelite antennas and democratic institutions that slowly but steadily gain power.

That is of course the perfect situation to drop bombs and rally them behind their leaders.

That way they remain a “threat” for the whole century!

Why build a bogeyman every 10 years if one will do for so long?

10

Yep. The Baha’i could attest to Iran’s treatment of religious minorities.

11

[quote]Sloth wrote:
Yep. The Baha’i could attest to Iran’s treatment of religious minorities. [/quote]

Name one Middle Eastern country that doesn’t discriminate against religious minorities.

Check out Saudi Arabia.

12

I bet their anti-semitic too.

13

[quote]lixy wrote:
Sloth wrote:
Yep. The Baha’i could attest to Iran’s treatment of religious minorities.

Name one Middle Eastern country that doesn’t discriminate against religious minorities.

Check out Saudi Arabia.[/quote]

Thanks for agreeing with a big point I’ve been trying to make on these forums. Reform Islam.

Perhaps these religious minorities should start a campaign of terror throughout the middle east, borrowing the human shield tactic from their oppressors, and seek to free themselves from the rule of Muslim Clerics? Perhaps Mosques should go up in flames all over the ME. Then I can sit here and play apologist for my Christian brethren. Oh, and even for the Hindu, Baha’i, Jew, etc. Freedom fighters?

Back to the point. You defy us to find an AI report declaring Iran to be a racist country. You go on to toss out Israel (no surprise there). But then, when I give only one example of Iran’s bigotry, you suddenly change to an “all ME countries do it” type of argument. Why do we even need an AI report when your argument has become “so, they all do it!”

14

[quote]pat36 wrote:
I bet their anti-semitic too.[/quote]

Aye. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion are a huge hit over there. And when Clerics teach that Muslims must fight jews everywhere, and that the tree and rock will betray the jew, in order to bring about the Hour of Resurrection…Yeah.

15

It’s all fairy tale bullshit and people been dying over it for centuries. Iran is all of that, and so is the USA…of course, you might not be aware of that fact if you’re not a minority, or gay.

16

[quote]USNS physique wrote:
It’s all fairy tale bullshit and people been dying over it for centuries. Iran is all of that, and so is the USA…of course, you might not be aware of that fact if you’re not a minority, or gay.[/quote]

The US has room for improvement, no doubt. But, the US isn’t “all that” with regards to what can be found in Iran. The US is light years ahead of Iran, or any muslim nation for that matter, in it’s tolerance for women’s rights, homosexuals, and religious/non-religious minorities.

I work with two very openly Gay individuals, while I myself am a Christian with very traditional views concerning sexuality. Yet, not only do I peaceably coexist with these two, I consider them extremely good friends of mine. If anyone was to try to harm them, even if they proclaimed to do so under the umbrella of my own faith, I’d do what I could to protect my friends.

Furthermore, in all the years I’ve worked with them, we’ve yet to have religious authorities attempt to hang them. Nor does the State attempt to block them from University, or from high-income employment. Additionally, I’ve attended school with blacks, muslims, Jews, atheists, and Christians. Try being an open evangelical Christian, Bahai’s, Mandaean, or a convert away from Islam (apostate) attempting to attend University in Iran. You won’t…

Again, the US could still use some work. But to even equate the two, the US and Iran, is absurd. And it does a disservice to religious minorities and homosexuals living in Iran.

17

[quote]Sloth wrote:
Back to the point. You defy us to find an AI report declaring Iran to be a racist country. You go on to toss out Israel (no surprise there). But then, when I give only one example of Iran’s bigotry, you suddenly change to an “all ME countries do it” type of argument. Why do we even need an AI report when your argument has become “so, they all do it!”[/quote]

Are you drunk or just plain ignorant?

Racism and religious discrimination are not the same animal. The title claims that “Iran is Racist”. Check out the number of people they execute each year and try to find ANY correlation with race. Or the disproportionate representation of a race in jails. Contrast with your beloved nation.

P.S: Play fair and append an EDITED tag to the posts you tamper with, will you?

18

[quote]lixy wrote:
Sloth wrote:
Back to the point. You defy us to find an AI report declaring Iran to be a racist country. You go on to toss out Israel (no surprise there). But then, when I give only one example of Iran’s bigotry, you suddenly change to an “all ME countries do it” type of argument. Why do we even need an AI report when your argument has become “so, they all do it!”

Are you drunk or just plain ignorant?

Racism and religious discrimination are not the same animal. The title claims that “Iran is Racist”. Check out the number of people they execute each year and try to find ANY correlation with race. Or the disproportionate representation of a race in jails. Contrast with your beloved nation.

P.S: Play fair and append an EDITED tag to the posts you tamper with, will you?[/quote]

Not OK to discriminate on race, but perfectly ok to discriminate and even kill based on sexuality and religion. Thanks for sharing your views.

19

[quote]lixy wrote:
Sloth wrote:
Back to the point. You defy us to find an AI report declaring Iran to be a racist country. You go on to toss out Israel (no surprise there). But then, when I give only one example of Iran’s bigotry, you suddenly change to an “all ME countries do it” type of argument. Why do we even need an AI report when your argument has become “so, they all do it!”

Are you drunk or just plain ignorant?

Racism and religious discrimination are not the same animal. The title claims that “Iran is Racist”. Check out the number of people they execute each year and try to find ANY correlation with race. Or the disproportionate representation of a race in jails. Contrast with your beloved nation.

P.S: Play fair and append an EDITED tag to the posts you tamper with, will you?[/quote]

My what a strong retort! Yes, the title does include ‘racist’, which is probably why I ended up using ‘racism’, while meaning ‘bigoted.’ I did use the more general word “bigoted,” after all, when I brought up the Bahai. My point was this, you defy us to find a report showing Iran to be racist, while shrugging off that Iran is horribly intolerant of religious minorities with a “all the ME countries do it” attitude.

Most importantly, I made my statements knowing that the very report you demanded had already been provided in the original post…You know, the 2006 report you called outdated? Did you even bother to pull up the document and read it? I did.

My underlying point behind all of these sub-points was that you ignore, cherry-pick (oh my, just like Bush!), or simply shrug off well documented and deserved criticism of Iran, while cutting the US and Israel no such slack.

Lastly, what the hell are you talking about with the edited accusation? You’ve done this before, and I invited you to give an example then too. So once again, what is it I’ve edited that is relevant? Oops, just edited that last sentence to clear up what I’m asking of you. My apologies! Hah!

20

[quote]Sloth wrote:

I work with two very openly Gay individuals, while I myself am a Christian with very traditional views concerning sexuality. Yet, not only do I peaceably coexist with these two, I consider them extremely good friends of mine. \ [/quote]

So big of you.
Now if you could just get that love thy enemy thing down.