Hello everyone,

I am a 24 year old female, born and raised in Tehran, Iran, and have lived here for the last 9 years.

Iran, as you might know, is a fundamentalist religious state and has contributed a lot to my views regarding God, religion, superstition, human rights, etc. 

I’m finishing up my PhD in molecular biology and biochemistry of lung disease at the University of British Columbia.  I am very interested in health education, and human rights, and have been constantly challenging others to question their beliefs. 

I can see myself doing a mix of policy analysis and policy making in a conjunction of health, law, religion, human rights, and education.  Talk about optimism.

I’ve known about Center for Inquiry for a couple of years now, but was [u:04f75f1e67]skeptical![/u:04f75f1e67] to join in earlier.  Now, I just can’t resist.

I definitely want to bring a live working copy of this center to beautiful Vancouver, and where ever I go for that matter, and hope to learn a lot from all of you, and from the center, at large. 

Hope to join in on your discussions soon,

Salome

Hello from Vancouver, Canada!

Hello everyone,

I am a 24 year old female, born and raised in Tehran, Iran, and have lived here for the last 9 years.

Iran, as you might know, is a fundamentalist religious state and has contributed a lot to my views regarding God, religion, superstition, human rights, etc. 

I’m finishing up my PhD in molecular biology and biochemistry of lung disease at the University of British Columbia.  I am very interested in health education, and human rights, and have been constantly challenging others to question their beliefs. 

I can see myself doing a mix of policy analysis and policy making in a conjunction of health, law, religion, human rights, and education.  Talk about optimism.

I’ve known about Center for Inquiry for a couple of years now, but was skeptical! to join in earlier.  Now, I just can’t resist.

I definitely want to bring a live working copy of this center to beautiful Vancouver, and where ever I go for that matter, and hope to learn a lot from all of you, and from the center, at large. 

Hope to join in on your discussions soon,

Salome

Great, Salome, welcome!

I’m very glad we are getting people like you with wide experience. Please feel free to join in with questions, comments, agreements, disagreements, news, whatever.

All the best to you.

Re: Hello from Vancouver, Canada!

Hello Salome!
Welcome to the CFI Forums.
Bob

Hello Salome,
Welcome,
I put up an essay by George Friedman in the Political Section
Friedman Essay
I was given it by a friend who believes the author to be an extremely prescient analyst re the situation in the middle east. I had hoped my friend MFMahamed would read it and comment. I still hold out that hope and now I add you to the list of those persons who I hope will provide insights after a look at the article.
I have a friend in England who has spent considerable time in Iran working with the government to set up a business - he believes the Iranians to be good business men (women have little or no opportunity to advance in either business or politics - he says) who are no danger to the west if we leave you alone. Should that be the aim of US policy? Just clearing out?

Lots of questions - what a welcome!!

Jim :o

Jim, I think we should also say that no single person should be expected to be a “mouthpiece” for his or her culture, or to know or agree with any particular thing his or her culture does. (And for all we know, Salome may consider herself Canadian now).

My wife isn’t from the US, and when I visit her family back in the “old country” I often am the token American ... I can feel this pretty strongly sometimes, especially when I disagree with US policy. Sometimes I can honestly say that I have no idea what people are thinking over here!

:?

Thanks Doug for clarifying that I am not a ‘mouthpiece’ for what any particular government or culture does or represents.  Infact, I would like to think of my ideologies and philosophies as quite individualistic.

My thoughts are influenced by living in these two countries, but more importantly by the people I have come across in my life, what I’ve read, and my experiences.

I think that someone who is interested and has studied Iran-US politics would be definitely of more use to you than someone like me, who can only speculate!

Jim, I am still reading the exerpt that you referred me to, and trying to make sense of it all, and will write my comments soon.  As far as the comment on Iranians being good businessmen, I must agree with you although I tend to think of the majority of Iranian businessmen as opportunistic and immoral.  I believe that the competition for scarce economic resources is an important factor in making good businessmen there, even out of doctors and engineers.

Women do have little opportunities in general, mostly because of the culture, reinforced by the abusive interpretation of Sharia law imposed on them by the government.

I think it is extremely dangerous to leave any country on their own.  I do believe on holding governments in check.  All lives are affected by the policies made around the world.

I don’t think the US is the best candidate to get involved in any region in the middle east, or infact most places around the world. The hatred for the US government has been on the rise around the world, but the situation can be quite volatile in the middle east in particular.  I do think that the US should clear out, and the peace keeping soldiers from the UN take their place until the situation is stabilized (but why should they when the US single-handedly got itself into this mess in the first place!).

As far as the talk in the Persian community goes (in and out of Iran), I’ve heard many Iranians say that they prefer supporting the current Islamic state than the US, and with good reasons too if you consider the history of US foreign policies of Iran. 

I feel like I’ve said more than I should, don’t wanna get in trouble now!!!

Salome

If you get in trouble in Canada think of the trouble I’m in in the US with the watchers we have now.
Thanks for the response - It is good to have someone who knows the ground [an old Indian scout phrase used in old cowboy stories] provide commentary.
Jim

Hey Salome! It’s Miguel from Lincoln, NE. I’m happy to see you’ve found the CFI forums. I really must take this opportunity to say that you are an extremely intelligent and beautiful woman. Although we don’t completely see eye to eye on every issue (who does?), it was truly a pleasure to meet you. I greatly enjoyed our discussions in Amherst and hope to continue them at some point in the future. Best of luck to you in Vancouver and where’er you tread!

-Miguel

Welcome to the forums, Salome! Yay!

Hey Salome, I spoke too soon again I see, instead of the simple welcome I wrote I should have tried to con you into believing we require a picture be put up by every new member. OH well too soon old - too late schmardt!
Jimmie