Ideas or beliefs, that's the question!
The last week was a week of excessive religious mourning in Iran. People come to the streets and mosques and mourn the death of a person who was killed more than a thousand years ago. Some hit themselves by some chains and some do it with daggers! Of course this kind of serious mourning is not that much seen anymore but still it's being done in some parts of the country.
Right now in Tehran it has turned into this huge carnival where a group of young men dressed in black march rhythmically along the streets accompanied by huge amplifiers and synthesizers. They are all walking and hitting themselves softly with the chains. The drumbeats are the organizing signals how to walk, how to move the chain, when to stop and when to sing. You can see many young boys dressed according to the latest fashion but in black amongst them. You see mourners dressed in Levies pants, Nike T-shirt with Adidas shoes, with the Enrique's hairdo walking past you in these groups; makes you wonder how much of a religious believer there is in each of them.
It's the time for free food and drinks too. Many pray and then for some specific wish give out treats on these occasions. A lot of sheep are beheaded in front of the mourners' group and the meat is quickly taken to some house or mosque where they cook something with it and hand packs of rice and stew out to the mourners and people who were watching all the time. Some housewives impatiently await these days! They just go walking, have fun watching the carnival and then get enough food for everyone for a couple of days!!!
For some weird reason I have great problems with most of the things my people do in my own country! It must be my fault as I see others are just having fun and tagging along year in year out. It must be my fault that I cannot understand why such considerable amount of money is being spent on such ceremonies, feeding people who have food themselves while there are some who are in desperate need of every Rial they could get their hands on. Whenever I talk of my concerns on these issues I'm forced to shut up by the accusation of disrespecting others' beliefs. They say that if I am not a religious person it doesn’t mean that others cannot do these things!
Yes it is my fault. I'm an idealist idiot who thinks people who want to give away their money for a good cause should first think of those in need. I'm not talking about cutting back on personal expenses and giving to others, just the money that you put aside and want to spend on a good cause. Yes I know I am wrong. It is commonly accepted that people have beliefs and that's respectable; no-one has the right to wonder about the justifications of these actions. That's the problem, BELIEFS.
I think it was in the movie Dogma that an angel was talking to some guy and he was talking about faith, beliefs and ideas. He said something that is so close to my idea too. He said, "Beliefs are dangerous things, people kill for their beliefs, ideas are better. You can always change your idea as you progress in your life". It's so true. Everyday I'm hoping for a world full of ideas and no beliefs.
Oh by the way, don’t you want to help that lady I have put a donation box on the top for? Her name is Maryam, she is a widow with couple of orphans she has to support. Recently she has had a heart surgery and is not allowed to work anymore. So we are now trying to gather some money for her to get by until we find a solution to her problem. Any amount of help you can provide her with is highly appreciated :)
