Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Here are some follow-ups to Sunday's event at Harvard that I think will be of interest.
Neo-neocon muses on freedom of speech: Khatami, Cheney, whatever: misunderstanding freedom of speech
IHT: Former Iran president condemns bin Laden, praises Hezbollah for 'resistance' against Israel
In a 30-minute speech given under tight security at Harvard University, Khatami repeatedly praised the concept of democracy but said American politicians since World War II have been infatuated with "world domination."...
Pajamas Media has an excellent video on Khatami's visit to the National Cathedral: Murderer in the Cathedral
Finally, here's a letter sent to the Harvard Crimson and cc'd here. In full:
Last night I watched Iran's 'moderate' mullah and godfather of Hezbollah, Sheik Khatami, speak to the Tolerant and the Enlightened at Harvard.
At the end of the speech during the Q & A session, a young man asked Iraq's Holy Man about the Islamic Law that calls for the death penalty for homosexuals. The young questioner wanted to know if Khatami approved of this particular Islamic Law. The 'moderate' Holy Man from Teheran artfully dodged, pivoted and twirled around the issue, but in the final analysis said that every country has its laws and...well...in some cases putting the homosexual to death may indeed be called for. In some cultures, he said, the death sentence for gays may be appropriate.
There were no boos. There were no catcalls. There were no protests, angry slurs, no rotten tomatoes, no obscene placards, no cursing, no contorted red faces or shaking fists held high. There was only polite and tolerant silence from the entranced crowd seated in the presence of Allah's calm, serene spokesperson from Persia.
At the end of the evening as Khatami left the stage, there was grateful and appreciative applause...even some standing ovations. Teheran's Holy Man who just moments before had in effect condoned capital punishment for the homosexual was given a big symbolic hug from the tolerant, adoring and scholarly crowd from Harvard.
Now, just for fun, let's pretend that ...say...the Rev. Jerry Falwell had been invited to the Harvard campus to address The Tolerant and The Enlightened at Cambridge.
(I know, I know...that would never happen, but...hey!...let's pretend!)
Let's pretend that while speaking at Harvard, Rev. Falwell claimed that the homosexual act is a sin in the eyes of God. Let us also pretend that Rev. Falwell explained to his audience that through faith, repentance and God's Mercy and Grace the homosexual could receive God's forgiveness, spiritual and emotional healing and rich blessings in Christ...Eternal life in Glory from the God of Love.
Can you picture the reaction?
God bless,
Tom Graffagnino
Excellent letter. The writer gets across a good point while being humorous.
I feel Khatami's invitation to Harvard was a case of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". The current administration has labeled Iran's government as evil, therefore Khatami is someone for the liberal elite to embrace (even if they have to hold their noses). The greatest irony of this is Bush is the one who ultimately approved that visa. Khatami would have been the first to squash any dissident speaker.
I frequently attend lectures in the Harvard Square area and Khatami is just an extreme example of the pervailing attitude; patriotism is for the simple minded.....nothing is black and white, everything is shades of gray....that taking a stand is being judgemental....
Sorry, sometimes a thing is just wrong, like Khatami speaking on the eve of 9/11. Sometimes a thing is just right, like protesting that event and Mitt taking a stand against it.
Pretend? Wasn't former Harvard pres. Larry Summers worked over within an inch of his carrer for commenting on the dirth of female representation in certain disciplines having some of its basis in gender differences?
For more on Khatami's visit, I highly recommend a post by Amir Taheri available at the Benador and Associates blogsite: Lies they loved at Harvard.
Maggie:
Don't be too sure of Bush's motives in granting the visa. He may have managed to kill two birds with one stone. Had he denied the visa, the usual Jimmy Carteresque suspects would have denounced the decision, putting it down to Bush's lack of willingness to engage in diplomacy, and I understand that Khatami's visit invited hostile demonstrations, and even a law suit filed by some Iranian Jews.