Iranian Universities are barring women from 77 different courses. These include English literature, archeology, nuclear physics, computer science, forestry, mathematics, and hotel management. This is a result of clerics objecting to the results of women getting educated, including the lowered marriage and birth rates.
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This is insanity. I'm afraid it is really good proof of why extremists in religious or political or social policy view should never be allowed into power.
ReplyDeleteIt is no coincidence that Iran is doing this. Iran does not want an educated populace. They understand the axiom, "Educate a man and you educate a man. Educate a woman and you educate a generation."
It is no coincidence that every authoritarian regime that has come to power, after their direct enemies and the people who fought against them, they killed the intelligentsia next. It is much harder for a totalitarian to do what he wants to do among an educated public.
So this isn't really just keeping women in their place, though it's got a component of that as well. It's also about keeping the Iranian people ignorant. Educated Iranians would be able to see how stupid it is to try to gain world pity or support by killing innocents whether by missles or murder bombers. They would hear the outrage of the world at their support of such things.
And, as happened when the people finally couldn't stand having the Berlin Wall there anymore, the people would do something about it. Iran's leadership does not what this to happen. Therefore, this is a strategy to keep thmeselves in unchallenged power.
These people make me mad and sad and scared at the same time. While I do understand a desire to bring about an amicable peace for all parties in the Middle East, and even though I am truly a pacifist, I don't think that is even possible, or should be, until Iran stops the missiles being fired at Isreal and uses its influence to stop the murder bombers (NOT suicide bombers, since the important thing they did isn't killing themselves, but killing other people.) Only then should serious efforts toward peace be undertaken by those who would help bring it about.