The Iranian blogger who calls himself “Mr. Behi” and blogs at The Adventures of Mr. Behi [1], is now podcasting. In his inaugural show, he gives his personal perspective about the bombings in London, Iran's presidential election, and his recent misadventures in attempting to get a U.S. student visa upon acceptance to the PhD program of a major U.S. university. Click here fror Mr. Behi Episode One (MP3 19MB) [2]. You can subscribe to his podcast feed here [3]. (The picture at right is the mug Mr. Behi drinks coffee from while blogging.)
In a separate post [4], Behi responds to somebody who posted a comment on his blog condemning Islam and saying: “Topple your own damned dictators and leave the rest of us alone.”
Mr. Behi's response is worth reading in full [4] but here is an excerpt:
I am sorry that you live in a civil society and still you are not respecting the most principal fact of democracy that is respect for others. Just because some cruel people are out there who do not obey this universal rule, does not make us free from our dedication to the principals of dialogue. We are not living in an Island and by the way, do not point it at me because I am personally am not practicing any religion and have my own big list of questions from Islam.
Read the rest of his response here [4]. Then he concludes:
We humans appeared on the surface of the Earth just some thousand years ago. We divided its united surface and perfectly matched environment into our lands as if they have been divided since beginning. There are lots of things out there that make us united and equal. We are at least residents of one beloved home The Mother Earth.
Amen. As we've been experiencing in our comments threads here [5], here [6], here [7], and here [8], emotions on the issue of religion and terrorism run very strong. People have a tendency to make blanket statements about all people who happen to have grown up within particular religious, cultural, and geographical contexts.
Mr. Behi is right. We are all human beings first and foremost. The Muslims and others from predominantly Islamic countries who participate on this blog are here because they share our belief [9] that all human beings have a right to speak and be heard – no matter where they come from. If we don't maintain respect for people as individual human beings, it's unlikely we're going to win anybody over with our arguments.
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