Iran proves an unpopular cultural truth
Deep cultural roots do matter, and they matter a lot. Iran is not Islamic and never was.
I haven’t taken world history since high school; my son is taking it now (AP, of course). The little I do know is that the Iranian people are incredibly ancient, dating back to the Bronze Age. The period at the end of the Iron Age in ancient Persia is the part detailed in the Old Testament in the Book of Esther. It’s Purim, the holiday associated with that book, which started yesterday and continues today. For my Jewish friends, chag sameach (חג שמח).
There’s a line of reasoning that shoots straight through most progressive thought, which goes like this: ignore historical ethnic roots, because people are programmable. It goes along with the whole “critical race theory” underpinning of power and cultural appropriation, that certain civilizations were victimized and plundered, and therefore are owed, which can be directly linked to skin color or other racial characteristics. The only thing that matters, however, is relative power. The history is only for marking grievances, but it’s not “sticky.”
In other words, it would be racist to say that certain cultures are prone to certain behaviors. That is, except when it’s applied to, say, Jews. But that’s a different post for a different day.
The truth is that some ancient cultures retain their properties, like metals retain certain physical properties. Some metals are more easily alloyed, while others don’t hold together. Some alloys are stronger than the individual metals alone, while some have better heat resistance, malleability, etc. Some cultures are highly resistant to external change. Again, take the Jews, who are resistant regardless of where they live.
This is why I really have no problem with certain cultures in the United States that “do not assimilate.” Of course they assimilate, but it takes longer, maybe two or three generations. But American culture is really a miracle—the ultimate alloy of pluralism which takes the distinctiveness of those who bring their cultures with them and adds it to our own, making the result stronger. For example, the EPIC City, Texas (East Plano Islamic Center) brouhaha. If Muslims want to live in a majority-Muslim city in the dust between Royse City and Farmersville, then let them, and unless they’re training terrorists, leave them alone. Also, leave the Hasidim in Crown Heights alone.
It’s one of the things I hate about today’s political climate is the progressive liberals think all of history, the bad stuff, is the fault of white Christian culture, and the people who defend white Christian culture are quick to label all Somalis (for example, or Haitians, or Ethiopians) as criminal trash. Neither is true, but many ancient cultures are proud of their heritage, and some are loathe to give it up. This is why so many Irish and Italians still call themselves Catholic, despite having been in America for many generations.
Let’s talk about Iran.
Iran is not a cultural amalgamation. It is the metal that formed other cultures. Ancient Iranians spread through Mesopotamia into Cappadocia (currently Turkey), into Galatia, Phrygia, Armenia, and Pontus.
I’ll quote some history from Dr. Kaveh Forrokh:
The Iranians of Cappadocia fought against Alexander at Gaugamela in 331 BCE and continued to resist the Greeks, even after the fall of the Achaemenid Empire (Raditsa, 1985, p.106). Hellenization took longer to find its roots in Cappadocia and began a century after Alexander’s conquests. The Iranian character of Cappadocia was recognized as late as the time of Roman Emperor Augustus by the ancient historian Strabo who considered Cappadocia as: “a living part of Persia” (Strabo XV, 3.15).
The image of the Lion and the Sun dates back well before the Achaemenid Empire, and likely to the days of Artaxerxes II, the son of Darius II, who held the title “King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire” which stretched from the borders of India to Libya on the North African coast, and into Macedon and Thrace on the western shore of the Black Sea.
The Lion and Sun plaque above was found in Turkey, in the region of ancient Pontus, far from the mountains of current-day Iran. Iranian culture is woven deeply into Greek, and therefore Roman, culture which exists to this day in Europe, and also the United States.
By comparison, Islam is very young, having begun around 610 A.D. The relationship between the Children of Israel and the Iranians is much more ancient, and both cultures are highly resistant to external cultural assimilation.
So let me take this to my conclusion. The last 47 years under the Islamic Republic is not who the Iranian people are. The Islamic Republic, though ushered in by the people of Iran, who threw off the despotism of the Shah, was a cultural invasion. Once Iranians found out what living under Sharia Law is like, they bristled at it. They didn’t conform. They didn’t “become radical Shiites.” Now of course, there are radical Shiites in Iran. Those people join the IRGC, the Gasht-e Ershad (religious police), and the FARAJA (security police).
The Iranian Revolution to throw off radical Islam has been in progress since at least 2009. It has been repeatedly crushed by the autocrats of the Islamic Republic. But the revolution will succeed eventually. Just like communism was bound to end in Russia (but not despotism, that’s another cultural property that doesn’t change in a very ancient people), the Islamic Republic is bound to end in Iran. America could either help, oppose, or do nothing.
For decades, we’ve been promising to do something, then doing nothing, which is about the worst thing we could do. Time after time, we’ve condemned, made red lines, and then backed off. The ayatollahs want a nuclear weapon. They are “Twelvers” who believe they can usher in the end-times. The ayatollahs want to destroy “the Great Satan” and “the Little Satan” (America and Israel, respectively). It’s suicide to do that, and most Iranians are not on board. Iranians want to live in a rich, educated, modern nation, and participate in global trade and culture. Therefore, most Iranians are on board with the revolution to throw off the Islamic Republic, and go back to the Lion and the Sun.
George F. Will wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post titled “At Last, U.S. Deterrence is Being Restored.” Many were shocked, knowing what George Will thinks of Donald Trump. But it’s true, finally the U.S. did something we promised to do for decades. We got on the side of the Iranians, who were going to overthrow a government they don’t want, and hopefully before that radical government commits national suicide. Maybe now other countries will believe us when we make promises (or threats).
We could either have done nothing, and the Iranian Revolution might have succeeded, and they’d have every right to chant “Death to America!” Or we could have negotiated with the radical Islamic Republic and gotten them to give up their suicide pact. We tried, and that didn’t work. Or, we could do what we are doing.
The Islamic Republic has never been this weak since the days when Jimmy Carter presided over a weak “Desert One” rescue attempt. The ancient Iranian people will eventually prevail. Our politics don’t matter to the Iranians. Sure, there’s politics involved, but that’s not the most important thing.
President Trump could have done it the correct way, and sought approval from Congress. They would not have granted approval. I don’t think they’d have approved what we are doing for any president over the last two decades. Trump doesn’t care if he violates the law or the Constitution. That’s troubling, but Trump’s been impeached twice and not convicted. He doesn’t seem to be worried about adding a third impeachment. Then again, I think he believes we will win this one, and quickly enough to affect the November midterms. Then he’ll go back to Congress for approval, after the fact.
No other president would have made this massive attack on Iran. Congress would never have approved it. The only way it could happen is a lawless president using his power. I don’t think the Iranians care about that. Whether this attack topples the Islamic Republic or if it hangs on for another few years, they’ll be naming streets in Tehran after Trump, like they do in Jerusalem.
Here’s to the restoration of the Lion and the Sun. Iran will be free because the ancient and proud Iranians will it so. Iran refuses to be assimilated.
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