Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Putting It All In Perspective

Lynn Cockburn takes all the broad-brushing by the wingnuts and puts it nicely back in perspective for us.

The ordinary Iranian is not insane. It's the political leaders in Tehran who are nuts.

I have proof. Of both. Over the past few years, I've taught English to quite a number of new Canadians from Iran. They were all determined to learn English as fast as possible, get jobs in their chosen fields and find out as much as they could about sexual habits prohibited by the Mullahs.


As if to reinforce my long held suspicion that most religious leaders are in it for the power kick they get out of things, Lynn points out:

Another man, an avid swimmer, remarked that one of the many reasons he was glad to be in Canada was that he could swim with his wife and two daughters, something he had never done before.

And one woman, a doctor, said she knew it wouldn't be easy to get her medical licence in Canada and would take any job for now. "I'll drive a bus," she said.

My students were funny, sometimes outrageous, hardworking and open to new ways of living. What they weren't is radical or extreme.


Bingo. That's the real point that we need to focus on. Most people are just that - people. It's the political powerbrokers and religious "leaders" that are the problem - not so different from us when you think about it. Our leaders are just as nutty, our religious leaders (the vocal ones), just as looney - only it's a brand of looney we're used to.

Not so subtly, she has just told Michael Coren and his ilk to Shut Up!

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