tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032816196196082410.post5625208017380442792..comments2023-07-13T07:29:10.307-07:00Comments on Rev. Magdalen's Blog: An Outsider's Perspective on the "Message to Iranians Abroad"Reverend Magdalenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02945001541426369515noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032816196196082410.post-56964254610009108552010-01-09T02:25:50.939-08:002010-01-09T02:25:50.939-08:00Amen to that sister! never lose hope.Amen to that sister! never lose hope.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4032816196196082410.post-13062951801927841532010-01-06T11:36:37.351-08:002010-01-06T11:36:37.351-08:00A lot of the discussion in the last 24 hours has b...A lot of the discussion in the last 24 hours has been about the role and nature of leadership in Iran. I like @manydrums comments on my blog (http://jamesthehype.blogspot.com/2010/01/war-over-words-in-iran.html) that allude to a fluid leadership, one governed by decisions that small groups of people make that contribute to the collective action of the entire Green Movement. <br /><br />However, that "fluid leadership" seems to be more and more convinced that the path forward for Iran is to dump the theocracy and create a secular government. This will pit the masses against the figureheads like Mousavi and Karroubi, because these officials are attempting to reform the government that already exists. (see my article on religion and the Green Movement: "The Philosophical & Ideological Revolution in Iran: http://jamesthehype.blogspot.com/2010/01/philosophical-ideological-revolution-in.html"<br /><br />One observation is that if reform was possible then how did we get this far? Barack Obama managed to get elected on a platform of change. Nobody in the government tried to assasinate him, or arrest him, or block/hack his websites, or arrest people at his rallies. The government didn't even rig his election. That's how a government of the people, by the people, and for the people works. The Islamic Regime is none of those things. <br /><br />The fluid leadership seems to have figured this out. The blogs are full of discussions about secular government, the failure of the theocracy, the hypocrisy of Mullahs, the the paradox of the hijab. There is a lot of evidence for this. On Twitter. comments like the following are frequent:<br /><br />"RT @jefryslash: You can not push Khameneii off Power by reform or any of that Crap!<br />IRAN will be Free only by a Revolution #iranelection #Iran #CNN #Reuters"<br /><br />Opposition members removed the Islamic Crest from the Iranian flag. "Death to the dictator," has been shouted from the rooftops... I could go on.<br /><br />The political leaders (Mousavi, Karroubi, Rafsanjani, ect.) walk a fine line between tyranny and obsolescence, as the government threatens to arrest them and the masses seem to move beyond them. In the comments on my post, @manydrums argued that the Green Movement didn't need the MLK/Ghandi type central political leader in order to be well led. So far, that point of view seems to be coming true. We'll see in about a month what the fluid leadership can do next to free Iran.James the Hypehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13857383881984439826noreply@blogger.com