Ask a persian.

[caketastydelish]

How do you average Iranian/Persian view us, the Baha'i?

Well the Iranian government considers them to be "the enemies of God" but I have absolutely no problem with the Baha'i. I don't know anyone in my Iranian family that has a problem with them either. Does that answer your question?

Would you consider yourself part of the Iranian/Persian-American community? Do you hang out with other Persians or go to ethnic oriented festivals or anything regularly? (outside of family)?

I hang out with my Iranian family, and I have gone to a Norwuz festival before. Does that count for anything?

On the topic of architecture, does the term "Persian Palace" offend you for those overly large houses with no lawn on the West Coast?

I have never heard that term before, so no opinion.

Similarly, I actually know a Native American that insists on calling himself an "Indian". The way he sees it, a "Native American" is an alcoholic that is using the name as an excuse to get affirmative action benefits, while an "Indian" is a fierce warrior that is attune with nature.

Then again...He is way more of an alcoholic than a fierce warrior. He gives "spirit tours" at the Grand Canyon though, so he might be attune with nature.

I posted my responses in bold.

I'm lead to understand that he founded what was essentially the first constitutional monarchy in the world. Is that correct?

Also, I read an article in National Geographic which claimed that Cyrus has become a popular figure in the Iranian pro-democracy movement, as he is seen to represent a secular form of Persian/Iranian nationalism, and his aforementioned interest in constitutionalism marks him as, at least in spirit, a more liberal ruler than the current theocratic regime. Is there any substance to this? (Incidentally, he seems to parallel the Scottish monarch Robert the Bruce in this regard, who has also become a secular nationalist icon, uniting both Catholics and Protestants, and who's support for popular, proto-constitutional monarchy has long made him a radical/democratic icon.)

I am not sure if he founded the first constitutional monarchy or not but what I am sure is that he was was one of the first (if not the very first) to have signficant papers on human rights. (well not literally papers, but you know what I mean)

 

[sophie]

I am not sure if he founded the first constitutional monarchy or not but what I am sure is that he was was one of the first (if not the very first) to have signficant papers on human rights. (well not literally papers, but you know what I mean)

No, I have no idea what you mean. Please, enlighten me.

 

[caketastydelish]

No, I have no idea what you mean. Please, enlighten me.

I will put it in numerical order.

1) I do not believe that Cyrus was the first constitonal monarchy, although it may have been, I am not sure about that.

2) He was however, definently one of the first if not the very first to have human rights written down and handed to people.

 

[Dachs]

Rights can't be "written down and handed to people". Those are privileges.

 

[caketastydelish]

Rights can't be "written down and handed to people". Those are privileges.

Poor choice of wording on my part. Hopefully a link talking about what I was referring to will help you.http://www.iranchamber.com/history/cyrus/cyrus_charter.php

 

[Kraznaya]

Why are you such a race traitor?


Moderator Action: Warned for trolling.
Please read the forum rules: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=422889

 

[caketastydelish]

Why are you such a race traitor?

If I had any idea what you were talking about, that would help. And hopefully you are not flaming me.

 

[cardgame]

Race traitor is a pejorative reference to a person who is perceived as supporting attitudes or positions thought to be against the interests or well-being of their own race. For example, one or both parties to an interracial relationship may be characterized as "race traitors." The term may indicate racialist attitudes on the part of those who use it.

So, yes, he is quite possibly flaming or trolling.

 

[Bast]

The current regime gives Iranians no basic human rights, whereas Cyrus The Great did.

Exactly! The greatest ages for Persia happened under the rule of Zoroastrian dynasties like the Achaemenids and Sassanids.

It is sad what's happened to Persia since the Islamic conquest and especially in the last few decades.

Muslims pray toward Mecca; Persians pray toward the tomb of Cyrus the Great.

 

[Tee Kay]

What do you think about the Kurds?

 

[caketastydelish]

What do you think about the Kurds?

They're alright I suppose. I don't know much about them, but from what little I know like I said they seem to be just fine. I don't see why I would have anything against the kurds.

 

[civ_king]

Would you consider yourself part of the Iranian/Persian-American community? Do you hang out with other Persians or go to ethnic oriented festivals or anything regularly? (outside of family)?

On the topic of architecture, does the term "Persian Palace" offend you for those overly large houses with no lawn on the West Coast?



Similarly, I actually know a Native American that insists on calling himself an "Indian". The way he sees it, a "Native American" is an alcoholic that is using the name as an excuse to get affirmative action benefits, while an "Indian" is a fierce warrior that is attune with nature.

Then again...He is way more of an alcoholic than a fierce warrior. He gives "spirit tours" at the Grand Canyon though, so he might be attune with nature.

1) What part of the west coast uses the term Persian Palaces?
2) Please tell the Native American that real Indians want him to stop, also Our Words Are Backed With Nuclear Weapons

Rights can't be "written down and handed to people". Those are privileges.

You can inform the populace what their rights are

Muslims pray toward Mecca; Persians pray toward the tomb of Cyrus the Great.

huh? Zoroastrians or even Muslim Persians?

 

[NovaKart]

Iran was really powerful under the Safavid dynasty so I wouldn't say that all of Iran's past glory was in the pre-Islamic period. Iran was never captured by the Ottomans (unlike the Arab Middle East) except for a few parts like Baghdad, the Caucasus and eastern Turkey which were at times controlled by Persia. Also the Ottomans captured parts of Iran proper like Tabriz but I don't think they held that for a significant amount of time. Unlike the rest of the Middle East Iran remained independent of the Ottoman Empire.

The Kurds have some things in common with Iranians. They both celebrate Noruz and their language has a lot of common vocabulary but the grammar is very different. They have more in common culturally with Iranians than with Arabs or Turks. Some Kurds follow the Yazidi religion (though most are Muslim) which has some things in common with ancient Persian religion but I don't know much about it. I met one Yezidi when I was in Tbilisi whose parents or grandparents (I don't remember) were from Iraq and another Kurd I met in Turkey said his ancestors were Yezidi but he was now Muslim.

 

[Graceheart the Leopard]

Yeah, I know that I'm bumping a two-year old thread, but can anyone give me some good quotes by Shah Abbas and Khomeini? I'm planning on adding the Iranians (as in Persia from the Middle Ages onwards) to Civilization IV, and I'm looking for some good quotes to use as first contact text.

 

[muhtesem insan]

Linguistic evidence shows that Kurds are descendants from Medes. Even PKK's first tv channel was called MedTV.

 

[Traitorfish]

Linguistic evidence shows that Kurds are descendants from Medes. Even PKK's first tv channel was called MedTV.

Linguistics is generally a very poor basis for tracking descent. It can reflect certain cultural and ethnic continuities, but it really doesn't imply actual descent. Take England, for example, where everyone speaks a Germanic language, but whose population has been demonstrated to be of overwhelmingly pre-Anglosaxon (and indeed pre-Celtic) descent.

 

[caketastydelish]

Yeah, I know that I'm bumping a two-year old thread, but can anyone give me some good quotes by Shah Abbas and Khomeini? I'm planning on adding the Iranians (as in Persia from the Middle Ages onwards) to Civilization IV, and I'm looking for some good quotes to use as first contact text.

If you want a quote by Dr. Shan Abbas, surely you can just talk to him yourself. http://www.vitals.com/doctors/Dr_Shan_Abbas.html

Or if you mean the Persian ruler: Sorry man, I looked and looked but I couldn't find any quotes by him.

 

[General Pilates]

Linguistic evidence shows that Kurds are descendants from Medes. Even PKK's first tv channel was called MedTV.

They are descendants of Medes in the same way that Turks are descendants of Phrygians.

 

[Oerdin]

I have to admit there are many smoking hot Persian women (we have a fair number of them here in California) though having dated some I can say they tend to have more body hair then most European-Americans and especially Asian-Americans (as a group Asians seem to have the least body hair). That's not good or bad but it is a superficial difference and, let's face it, the superficial differences are how we describe "race". There are a number of middle eastern groups which have the same issue/characteristic; Christian Armenians have even more body hair on average than Persians and it's an extremely minor thing related to a local genetic peculiarity of no importance but I do have to admit I teased my Persian ex-girlfriend about her weekly waxing regimen simply because she was moderately sensitive about it the stereotype and we could both laugh about it.

As a Germano-Celtic American (English & Scottish mostly with 1/8th French) I seem to not have much in the way of body hair (which really doesn't mean anything at all) but, let's face it, people tend to fixate on dumb minor differences. That said a freshly waxed Persian woman is something special to behold.

 

[Oerdin]

BTW in many ways the Persian diaspora seems to me like the Cuban diaspora. Like in Cuba when revolution hit Iran the people who left all seemed to be the elite members of society. They were the leading political figures, the doctors & lawyers, the leading scientists, the military officer class (often educated in western universities), the trained technocrats, the richest & most successful businessmen, etc...

Their exodus meant the intelligentsia of the country were driven out, the educated and forward thinking people, the poets & scientists alike, the literati (let's face it, the last people theocrats want around are folks who ask uncomfortable questions or question official policies), and so when you meet Persian people in the US or Canada or the UK they tend to be descended from that privileged class much like the early Cuban immigrants to America were descended from the upper classes. Now, the Shah was a repressive autocratic SOB but I do think this shows that the revolutionaries throw the baby out with the bath water to the great determent of their country's development.