[reactordev]

I was just saying this to someone this morning. Iran’s theocracy was the only one that has withstood the Middle East political wars in Jordan, Syria, Afghanistan, etc.

To rephrase it… if The Middle East was the UK, Iran would be British. If the Middle East was the US. Iran would be California.

[breppp]

Jordan political system is much older than Iran, as well as the Saudis and others. Iran theocracy is a new phenomena in the Middle East, ushering the implementation era of political Islam, later continued by ISIS, Hamas and the milder Qatar and current Turkey

[dotancohen]

Well stated.

Modern Western Christians are centuries removed from experiencing religion-as-politics. Islam is as much a political ideology as it is a religion - just like Christianity was before Locke and the American and French revolutions. Today's modern Western Christians (and Western atheists, who share Christian values) do not understand that the essence of political religion is to spread in both people and in geography. Muslims who move to Christian-majority lands do not assimilate or convert.

For what it's worth, I come from the perspective of being neither Christian nor Muslim, but having lived years among Christians and then years having lived along Muslims.

[reactordev]

Not debating who came first. I’m also not debating that Saudi’s are equivalent to the French to the Iranians (if they were England in my UK analogy, or Texas for the US one).

I also don’t think that, in general, there’s any animosity there just talking size and influence over the region. Iran and Saudi are/were it. It’s a really interesting dynamic of faith, tradition, authoritarianism, and manipulation.

[animuchan]

Another good analogy would be, said theocracy is (was?) like a very bad piece of legacy code, impossible to refactor, until the entire feature gets thrown in the trash.

[reactordev]

That’s a greater analogy

[dfc]

I was with you until you said California. You think that Californians are understand Southern or Midwestern culture?

[reactordev]

Not about culture. Size and GDP.

[quotz]

> The Middle East was the UK, Iran would be British.

Did you mean England perhaps, not "British"?

[krapht]

Why? Is Scotland innocent?