Blame America first right? It's all our fault right?

Tehran Tim,
May I ask you a question ? If a person were to come to Iran, and stand up and say in front of a government (religious) official that "There is no God", what would happen to that person ?

And the reason why I ask this question is because I just want to be able to get a clearer idea of the level of democracy in Iran.

I come from a country that was run by a dictator for nearly 50 years. And in theory, everyone was supposed to have been equal and well off. But in reality, nearly everyone was poor and subject to persecution, imprisionment, and death. Theory is not reality.

I am new to this forum, but I like reading your posts as I think they help me learn a bit more of the mentality (since you are capable of knowing the people of the country you come from a lot more than I).

__________________
"I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center." - Kurt Vonnegut

Your post is based on the assumption that we have every right to determine the affairs of other nations. What gives us the right to intervene in Middle Eastern affairs, or the affairs of any other region around the world?

Although our country is admirable in many respects, we have no moral authority to intervene in the affairs of other countries and try to affect the outcome of events in other parts of the world.

The only "authority" we might have for this kind of meddling comes from the military power that we've had since the end of World War II.

So if you think we have a right to invade Iraq....if you think we need to maintain a military presence in other parts of the world in order to "protect American interests," then you're probably a Republican, or a conservative, because that's a GOP article of belief these days.

I don't subscribe to it, though. I see us behaving in the same arrogant, imperial way that the Roman Empire and the British Empire behaved in their heyday. And like the Romans and the Brits, we are hated and resented throughout the world.

And like the Romans and the Brits, the American empire will soon crumble into dust unless we start exercising moral authority instead of military might.