tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33755875.post6658646911458234973..comments2023-10-11T12:03:05.848+00:00Comments on Universal Thoughts: Compare the twoHazar Nesimihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03906681712746544309noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33755875.post-5480206610603468652008-02-12T22:52:00.000+00:002008-02-12T22:52:00.000+00:00I see. You have counter-arguments, or propaganda i...I see. You have counter-arguments, or propaganda in mind that I have no idea of - Wahhabi ones, for instance. Point made.NoolaBeulahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02181815160785834692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33755875.post-75027899575731485522008-02-12T15:36:00.000+00:002008-02-12T15:36:00.000+00:00Awkwardly put expression that religious muslims in...Awkwardly put expression that religious muslims in Turkey have the all the freedoms they would want in a secular state. Everything else is Wahhabi propaganda. Synagogues - more than enough actually for the number of worshippers, but for Christians there are problems - mainly to do with Greek Orthodox community restrictions. These are in place no doubt and should be relaxed. But there is not a single mosque in Greece, by the way.<BR/><BR/>As for Iran - clergy and bazaar now form a class that defines the elite. They mismanagaged the coutnry for last 15 yearsHazar Nesimihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03906681712746544309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33755875.post-48699609934710173702008-02-12T00:57:00.000+00:002008-02-12T00:57:00.000+00:00Very good piece, Nazim. Really interesting and inc...Very good piece, Nazim. Really interesting and incisive. <BR/><BR/>Your criterion seems to me both Western and universal - How does it satisfy the people's needs? If you leave aside the rhetoric of democracy (and it is mostly rhetoric), then that question is what you are left with. Not how good they are, or how close to God, or communism, or American, or whatever, but does the state do the job? <BR/><BR/>Agree entirely as well with the phrase "futile duel with the West and Israel". For so long, this has been the escape clause for exploitative, oppressive regimes whose only excuse for existence has been their 'struggle' against the West or against the 'Zionist entity'. <BR/><BR/>I am curious about these sentences: "There is – despite the hype – no restriction in place to pressure people’s beliefs, for there are more functioning mosques in Istanbul than in the whole of Europe." I don't quite get the point. Of course there are more mosques in Turkey than in Europe! The problem with Turkey is that there aren't so many churches or synagogues.NoolaBeulahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02181815160785834692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33755875.post-10636426546200568442008-02-11T15:35:00.000+00:002008-02-11T15:35:00.000+00:00I must admit that I find it hard to believe Iran i...I must admit that I find it hard to believe Iran is democratic, judging from the way it is usually portrayed by the media (which I conceed might not be the most accurate portrayal).Vannyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11814025517185126126noreply@blogger.com