Ethics Of Tolerance In The Age Of Violence

Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami, is scheduled to deliver a lecture this weekend at Harvard University on the topic of "Ethics Of Tolerance In The Age Of Violence"!

Is there anybody out there that sees anything wrong with this?!?

Need some help on this one? Mr. Khatami held office as president of Iran from 1997 to 2005. During his tenure minorities like Jews, Christians, Sunni and Sufi Muslims, Bahais, dissident Shiite Muslims and Zoroastrians had faced systematic harassment, discrimination, imprisonment, torture and even execution because of their religious beliefs. During Khatami's term, Iran persecuted reformers, students, labor activists and journalists for "insulting Islam" and publishing materials deemed to deviate from Islamic standards.

Of course, then he was the president and needed to go along with his Supreme Leader. Yeah right! How about one of his most recent quote:

“...we believe that Hezbollah has an authentic Lebanese identity, which of course we like and is close to us. Hezbollah will remain and keep its weapons!”

Have I mentioned already that Mr. Khatami’s own party is calling itself the “Militant Clerics League”? What exactly has Mr. Khatamy done now or in the past that qualify’s him to promote himself as the intellectual leader for a dialog between civilizations? The fact that this man is touring around the US, pontificating the crowds iabout ethics of tolerance, is a true joke. Yes, he might be a little bit more moderate, then the latest moron Ahmadinejad. But what does a little more moderate really mean? The fact that the man knows that the Holocaust really happened and that whipping Israel off the face of the earth is not really an option?

As stated many times before; The Republic Of Iran is a third world country which is stuck in medieval times and struggles with massive infrastructural, cultural and social challenges. The country is a theocracy, ruled by a so called Supreme Leader. Iran is currently disregarding the UN and its resolutions, the world and is openly supporting militant terrorists. If Mr. Khatami needs to reform and educate anybody, he should be doing so at the University of Tehran and not at Harvard University. But then again: If he did that, he would be either in jail or executed! For us it really does not matter whether the man has a few intelligent things to say and may even have a few valuable opinions too. If he wants to help the dialog between his country and the real civilization's to be beneficial, then he urgently needs to bring his Iranian peers up to the level of what is considered civilization in the twenty-first century. That will keep him busy for a long time!