Do Iranians Need an Age of Reason to Succeed in Present Protest?

Protest in Iranian culture doesn’t spring from the roots of democracy so much as it does mystical beliefs. But will those beliefs prevail or should Iranians embrace an Age of Reason to become democratic?

Western cultures look at Iranian protest, in the recent events where people demonstrate following the Presidential election and the aftermath with the personalities of Mousavi and Ahmadinejad, against the backdrop of Western-style revolution and religion. Western historians underline the Age of Reason and the advent of the press as underpinnings for man’s revolt against the divine right of kings, leading to both the American and French revolutions. Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine offered the words of rational thought as part of the American treatises affirming man’s right to free government. The words “to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity” come from the writings of John Stuart Mill, Immanuel Kant, and Henry David Thoreau which allows for protest against what is considered to be unjust laws against man’s right to liberty. Iran has a different history with different philosophical roots, according to scholars; and these might form the prism for journalists to examine contemporary events. Mystics, monarchs and messiahs are principal Iranian themes with representative images that evoke ritual belief and symbolism, quite different than the foundation of governmental belief in the Western traditions. Mystic belief is woven into the fabric of the culture with the Shi’ite religion, which basis its belief upon the hope of the return of the one believed to be the successor to Ali, the nephew of the prophet, or the one considered by Shi’ite Muslims to have been the authentic inheritor of Muhammad’s temporal and religious authority. The Shi'ite Muslim is one who believes in redemption through suffering, which has become one of the major tenets of Shi'ite Islam, that developed consequent to the death of Hussan, son of Ali, who died in battle and declared a martyr. The Iranian ruler can be both secular and non-secular in governance. Khameini relied on the imagery of the symbols of martyrdom and self-sacrifice that are central to Shi’ism in Iran. These images have been carried on in religious writings and poetry since ancient times. They were used to bring Khamenei into power during his early days when he proclaimed martyrdom as his destiny in efforts to overthrow the Shah. These symbols continue to be highly important in control of ideas and direction in the modern Iran and among the demonstrators as they raise their voices in declaring God is great. Religious symbols, martyrdom and spiritual freedom are the underpinnings of liberty for Iranians. Some religious scholars believe Iran needs its own Age of Reason so that things make sense and are practical, even in the application of the teachings of the Quran. Perhaps, as the scholar Irshad Manji intimated in 2007, the Age of Reason might be what Iran needs to make its revolution translate to democratic as opposed to its present theocratic rule even as he stresses it for marriage between Muslims and non-Muslims as a reasonable and viable path. Those now taking to the streets, with the symbol of Neda, the female designate to symbolize the martyr, willing to give up one’s life in the pursuit of freedom, might consider the tenets brought forth in the Age of Reason, as an Islamic scholar invokes and declares essential, to be successful in its revolution and move to democratic government.