Iran - Outlawing the Social Sciences....

[Coito ergo sum]

So much for the claims we've heard about how forward thinking and progressive Iran "really" is....

http://atheistnews.blogs.fi/2010/10/25/ ... n-9763126/

"TEHRAN, Iran – Iran has imposed new restrictions on 12 university social sciences deemed to be based on Western schools of thought and therefore incompatible with Islamic teachings, state radio reported Sunday.
The list includes law, philosophy, management, psychology, political science and the two subjects that appear to cause the most concern among Iran's conservative leadership — women's studies and human rights.
"The content of the current courses in the 12 subjects is not in harmony with religious fundamentals and they are based on Western schools of thought," senior education official Abolfazl Hassani told state radio.
Hassani said the restrictions prevent universities from opening new departments in these subjects. The government will also revise the content of current programs by up to 70 percent over the next few years, he said."

[Animavore]

First I've heard of it. Who says Iran is "forward thinking"?

[Clinton Huxley]

Doctoring the curriculum for political ends? Would never happen in America! Well, except, perhaps, in Texas....

[Coito ergo sum]

Doctoring the curriculum for political ends? Would never happen in America! Well, except, perhaps, in Texas....

That comparison is a bit of a stretch. Doctoring curricula for political ends happens everywhere, not just in Texas. Declaring Philosophy and Science to be incompatible with the law is quite a different animal.

[Coito ergo sum]

First I've heard of it. Who says Iran is "forward thinking"?

A few folks around here.

[Clinton Huxley]

Doctoring the curriculum for political ends? Would never happen in America! Well, except, perhaps, in Texas....

That comparison is a bit of a stretch. Doctoring curricula for political ends happens everywhere, not just in Texas. Declaring Philosophy and Science to be incompatible with the law is quite a different animal.

It's a question of ends of the spectrum, sure. Political elites like to monkey with education.

[Animavore]

First I've heard of it. Who says Iran is "forward thinking"?

A few folks around here.

Really? I don't see how any theocratic country could ever be called "forward thinking". They're not compatible.

[Clinton Huxley]

Iran is run by a bunch of clowns and crooks but I do have a soft spot for the Persian and Persian history.

[Coito ergo sum]

Doctoring the curriculum for political ends? Would never happen in America! Well, except, perhaps, in Texas....

That comparison is a bit of a stretch. Doctoring curricula for political ends happens everywhere, not just in Texas. Declaring Philosophy and Science to be incompatible with the law is quite a different animal.

It's a question of ends of the spectrum,

...as is almost everything.

sure. Political elites like to monkey with education.

Differences in degree, quite often, make all the difference.

[Coito ergo sum]

Iran is run by a bunch of clowns and crooks but I do have a soft spot for the Persian and Persian history.

They were bad-ass and pioneering folk...until they were subsumed within the Mohammedan milieu.

[Svartalf]

So much for the claims we've heard about how forward thinking and progressive Iran "really" is....]

Iran could be one of the most forward islamic nations... trouble is that they have been under the mollahs' regime for 30 years and the non medieval elements are being actively repressed by the pithecanthropi in charge

[Coito ergo sum]

So much for the claims we've heard about how forward thinking and progressive Iran "really" is....]

Iran could be one of the most forward islamic nations...

Key words..."Islamic nations..." - that's like saying Pat Robertson could be one of the most freethinking fundamentalist Christians.

[Clinton Huxley]

Be interesting to see how things play out. 2/3 of Iran's population is under 30. There is an opposition to the Govt, with women taking a lead role. What they can achieve against the hardline conservatives remains to be seen. Then, communism looked rock solid, until someone gave it a nudge....

Maybe one day we will see the site of Ahmadinejad being airlifted from the presidential palace, to exile in France, and the establishment of a democratic govt. Stranger things have happened, though not very often.

[Coito ergo sum]

Be interesting to see how things play out. 2/3 of Iran's population is under 30. There is an opposition to the Govt, with women taking a lead role.

Who are the top women leaders in the Iranian opposition movement?

[Svartalf]

So much for the claims we've heard about how forward thinking and progressive Iran "really" is....]

Iran could be one of the most forward islamic nations...

Key words..."Islamic nations..." - that's like saying Pat Robertson could be one of the most freethinking fundamentalist Christians.

Turkey used to be a very nice place when the backward iuslamics were not yet in power... heck, there used to be girls wearing miniskirts in Kabul before the taliban arose.

The problem is with relgious fundamentalism in political control, not with the dominant religion in the country.