It Was Never About Islam

There is no doubt many of us Iranians and non Iranians look forward for a more healthy and humanistic problem solving style in Iran and around the world. Although, we Iranians have diverse points of view (like any other groups of individuals in this world), still we really hope for the best for our human world. Every where we meet, now and then we get into a more heated discussion on the subject of politics, Islam, religious faith, and cultural Diaspora. Obviously many of these topics influence our psychological health to a degree basically due to level of disagreement, verbal conflicts, and negativity.

The other day, I was listening to a very intellectual, educational, and interesting discussion in a dinner party. A few believed in the liberalization and modernization of Islam. Some others who are true practitioners of Islam explained why radical Muslims fear of change. Some other friends connected the serious concerns in our home country to Islam, while some others tried to take religion out of the context.

At some point the group realized that the discussion only ruined the joy of the socialization, a reason for changing the subject and switching to other areas of life.

Still, some of these individuals argued that our struggles are not about Islam or any other religion or religion in large. No one could disagree that human beings are suffering due to the notion of the abuse and misuse of religion.

I came to think further how the polarity among us Iranian about the roots for our issues keeps us confused and occupied at all times. The real problem is not the religion itself. We are in pain because religion in large has always been used as a tool for controlling people.

Having faith in Islam or any other religion is a human need and no one can deny people's right to have faith, any faith. The main concerns are how some people maltreat their power while not having any sense of when enough is enough.

Obviously we Iranian may always look back for the ways in which our life has changed due to loss, migration, and nostalgia, yet the real cause for our misery is never about Islam. Our sadness is pertinent to extend in which Islam is being blanket for all other activities. On the other side we keep hearing news about the attacks on people's faith back home.

To conceptualize our Iranian life, we need to be clear about the underlying issues for our distress. If we like to live a healthier life, we have to distinguish between misuse of power and people's need for faith, any faith.

My main interest is mental health and healthy relationship. I write mostly about how to explore mental health as a main source of having peace within our families and our communities.
I would like to promote peace, happiness, multicultural counseling and a healthy language in our daily life. I believe that we have to expand our understanding of mental health by viewing the cultural values into our ways of dealing with the world.
I like to emphasize on helping our youth as well as our next generations to integrate within whatever cultures they live in.