From the CSM‘s Scott Peterson:
For those who believe, the devotion is real. Tears stream down the cheeks of 2,000 men ripe for the return of the Mahdi, the 12th Imam they expect will soon emerge to bring justice and peace to a corrupt world.
Eyes stare upward and arms open wide to receive God’s promised salvation. The storyteller’s lyrical song speaks of tragedy on the path to salvation, prompting cries of anguish and joy.
As at a Christian revivalist meeting that promises healing and redemption, many weep as they pray for the Shiite Muslim version of the second coming of the Messiah. “Sometimes I feel they don’t need me,” says Mahdi Salashur, the religious storyteller, after leading congregants on an emotional late-night journey. “They are wired to God in their hearts.”
Among the true believers is Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who predicted with “no doubt” his June election victory, months in advance, at a time when polls gave him barely 1 percent support. The president also spoke of an aura that wreathed him throughout his controversial UN speech in September.
“O mighty Lord,” Mr. Ahmadinejad intoned to his surprised audience, “I pray to you to hasten the emergence of your last repository, the promised one, that perfect and pure human being, the one that will fill this world with justice and peace.”
Later, at a private meeting with a cleric that was caught on video, Ahmadinejad shared his views of the moment. “I felt that all of a sudden the atmosphere changed, and for 27 to 28 minutes the leaders did not blink,” he said. “They were astonished…. it had opened their eyes and ears for the message of the Islamic Republic.”
A spokesman last week dismissed the video as fake (other sources confirm it is authentic), and denied that Ahmadinejad bases decisions on “heavenly affairs.” But this presidential obsession with the Mahdaviat [belief in the second coming] yields a certitude that leaves little room for compromise.
From redressing the gulf between rich and poor in Iran, to challenging the United States and Israel and enhancing Iran’s power with nuclear programs, every issue is designed to lay the foundation for the Mahdi’s return.
Ahmadinejad’s executive self-confidence contrasts sharply with the eight-year presidency of Mohammad Khatami, a moderate cleric who advocated a “dialogue of civilizations” and Iran’s return to the international fold.
Ahmadinejad is instead transporting Iran back to the first radical years after the 1979 Islamic revolution, defined by battling imperial US and Soviet powers and Zionism. The former Revolutionary Guardsman says Israel is a “tumor” that must be “wiped off the map.” He denies the Holocaust. And he is pushing the Iran’s nuclear-power card; stalled talks with the European Union to curb those plans resume Wednesday in Vienna.
“This kind of mentality makes you very strong,” says Amir Mohebian, political editor of the conservative Resalat newspaper.
“Bush said: ‘God said to me, attack Afghanistan and attack Iraq.’ The mentality of Mr. Bush and Mr. Ahmadinejad is the same here – both think God tells them what to do,” says Mr. Mohebian, noting that end-of-time beliefs have similar roots in Christian and Muslim theology.
“If you think these are the last days of the world, and Jesus will come [again], this idea will change all your relations,” says Mohebian. “If I think the Mahdi will come in two, three, or four years, why should I be soft? Now is the time to stand strong, to be hard.”
That mind-set also hearkens back to the missionary ambition of the newly forged Islamic Republic. “What Ahmadinejad believes is that we have to create a model state based on … Islamic democracy – to be given to the world,” says Hamidreza Taraghi, head of the conservative Islamic Coalition Society. “The … government accepts this role for themselves.”
Any possibility of détente with the US may also be in jeopardy, if the US-Iran conflict is cast in Mahdaviat terms. That view holds that the US – with quasireligious declarations of transforming the Middle East with democracy and justice, deploying military forces across the region, and developing a new generation of nuclear weapons – is arrogantly trying to assume the role of Mahdi.
The possibility exists, of course, that this story—like those written about President’s Bush’s frightening religious fervor (which drives many secular elites to the point of distraction, even as they’re certain it drives Bush to the point of speaking in tongues)—is overstating things a bit. But whereas I suspect Christian revival meetings sometimes end with a bit of weeping, it’s rare, I imagine, that they end with the call for the annihilation of an entire country—and rarer still with the announced intentions to affect such an annihilation.
Ahmadinejad—and he is not alone among Iranian hardliners in his thinking—has in recent weeks called for the destruction of Israel and has denied the Holocaust. Is there any doubt that, given the opportunity to martyr himself (and sacrifice for his own perceived glory those who will die in the retaliatory strikes), he won’t take it?
Where’s Pat Robertson to say what needs saying here…?
(h/t Allah)
Just like you neocons to imply “anti-semitism” at every opportunity.
Can’t you zionists understand that one can disagree over certain policies and not be racist?
Some of us believe that Isreal should be wiped off the map. Isn’t this just a difference in policy? But you have to pull the old Jew-Card.
One of these days all will come true.
Faithful hardliners will look up and see a mighty flash of light on the horizon and know the Mahdi has returned.
And then, as the shockwave hits, they will be with their God.
Then the F-15s will fly back to Israel.
BECAUSE OF THE ESCHATOLOGY!!!!!
Hahaha, no shit Bruce. Israel’s thinking, “I got your second coming right here buddy.”
Ahmadinejad strikes me as highly unstable, couple that with their nuclear proliferation and you’ve just put a huge potential for disaster in the hands of a guy who’s a religious extremist. The Israeli’s as well, wouldn’t hesitate to pre-emptively push the button, I think.
But hey, if some nuclear war gets set off, at least I won’t have to worry about paying off the mortgage right?
I know I’m praying that the next time some “thieves” target Ahmadinejad, they make their mark. That guy is one scary motherfucker. Not because he is religious, but because of his particular brand of religion.
A couple of years back I was taking a Mid East Politics course (right before the Iraq War, actually). The professor was Israeli, and gave a good perspective on Jewish beliefs, and a general idea of what Israelis think about the political situations in the Mid East.
As a counter-point he invited a local Imam to come give a talk about Islam. Mostly it was stuff I already knew, but he brought up a few interesting things. Then, with 20 minutes left in class, someone asked about Iran. He spent the rest of the class explaining how war in Iraq would prove to the Muslim world that the end was near. The next step after war in Iraq, was for the Iranians to rise up and strike.
He ended by asking if it was really so strange of them to think that, given recent events.
Scared the hell out of most of us in that class, he did.
I seem to remember the origins of this quote being in dispute. Am I wrong?
Dammit!
I had “Ahmadinejad’s Judentod Rally = Promise Keepers Meeting” on my Who Are WE To Criticize? bingo card today, and you went and soiled it with mockery it before noon.
Now no one’s gonna say it and mean it.
Maybe.
(“Indian Policewomen Truncheon Dating Couples In Parks While TV Cameras Roll = American Girl Wears Abstinence Bracelet” is still open.)
Jeez, Robert, why would he need to bother God? If he’d just called me up I’d have told the President to topple the Taliban and clean up that mess we made wrt Iraq. No need to bother Himself on that one…
The fact that this is “hat tip to Allah” just … it’s just so … perfect.
(TW: “son”. You’re shitting me, right?)
But whereas I suspect Christian revival meetings sometimes end with a bit of weeping, it’s rare, I imagine, that they end with the call for the annihilation of an entire countryâ€â€and rarer still with the announced intentions to affect such an annihilation.
As a devout Southern Baptist (with qualms about that alcohol/dancing thing), I can assure you that our Sunday sermons end with nothing more than an exhortation to annihilate some fried chicken, mashed potatoes and jello. Although there have been some embarrassed silences when our family has run into fellow church members at such apostate after-church eateries as El Maguey or Hong Kong Chinese Buffet.
And in the southern climes, fried okra comes under harsh attach as well.
Iran. Hmmm. Let me see now, isn’t Iran headed up by Shias? Iraq? Didn’t they have an election where it appears the Shias have a majority?
So when it’s all over, we’ll have two theocracies in the Middle East; sharing a common border.
An Iraq allied with Iran. The Neocons didn’t see that result coming, did they?
If the Israelis have any sense at all, they’ll drop a few bombs at a few sites in Iran. Right now!
Maybe that’ll kick some sense into the Iranians.
But I doubt it.
Guess those 30,000 troops won’t be coming home, after all.
Hey,
Eeyore McClellan Bartleby Debbie DownerCarl’s back! And with super-duper-extra Slogan Power!!! (power, power…power…[echo fade])Relax, tongueboy. Carl is simply pointing out that all Shia are religious zealots waiting for the rapture, and that it takes a good, strong dictator to keep their zeal in check.
Sometimes you gotta shred a few Shia in an industrial plastic shredder to make an omelet…
I’m frankly surprised thar Carl didn’t manage to work the word “uppity” anywhere into his comment.
and also…
BECAUSE OF THE MANECHEISM!!!!!!!!!!!!
For the life of me I can’t work a viable French angle into this one.
Dammit.
Well, the Ayatollah Khomeini spent most of his exile years in Paris. Why does it seem like most of the 19th and 20th century’s freaks and geeks spent some quality time in either Berlin or Paris?
tongueboy;
And here I thought it was going to be a day without sunshine. Thanks!
CN
Thanks, CN.
Thought for the day: Morris. Door. Ass. Reyes. Hola!
My favorite has always been that 3 of the top 5 people in the Pol Pot regime had Ph.D.s from U.Paris.
My messiah can beat up your messiah. Don’t let those Renaissance paintings fool you; he’s quite beefy and tan, and the long hair is actually a Billy Rae style mullet. Kickass!!!
Admadinejad thinks Bush is the Anti-Mahdi. And it’s obvious Admadinejad is the Antichrist. So this aught to be getting really good real soon. I got dibs on the movie rights.
Where does the Bill Pullman character fit in with all this? And that real cute nun/non-nun?
Enquiring minds want to know (no, no typo).