#iranian atheists

[atheostic]

Famous Atheists

Ervand Abrahamian

Iranian-Armenian historian of Iran.

He wrote in the preface of one of his books that, "as far as religious conviction is concerned, [I am] an agnostic on most days - on other days, an atheist."

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

Since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini under the custody of the Iranian morality police for allegedly not wearing her hijab correctly, massive waves of demonstrations, primarily led by Iranian women, have challenged not just the country’s mandatory hijab law but also the regime that strictly enforces it.

I call on international pharmacists to support their Iranian colleagues. Many women lost their job for the crime of resisting compulsory hijab laws. Forcing women to wear hijab is an insult to all women and men across the globe. Human rights is a global matter. Show your…

— Masih Alinejad (@AlinejadMasih) March 7, 2023

But while the protests that have started since September 2022 brought the issue to the international stage, the Islamic Republic only intensified its crackdowns further against any dissident, man or woman. The Iranian government detained thousands of protesters, tortured several dissidents, and even sentenced them to death.

In its latest attempt to suppress dissent, the Iranian Food and Drug Administration released a new order that required female pharmacy workers to wear a black hijab while at work.

A few weeks ago, officials from the agency sent letters to trade unions urging them to strictly implement the new mandatory law in stores and businesses across Iran’s capital, Tehran.

The new directive also requires pharmacy managers to monitor how their female employees wear the hijab. Online news site Iran International also reported that anyone wishing to open a new pharmacy should submit a written commitment to authorities promising to follow this new rule.

However, Iranian male pharmacy workers showed their support and solidarity for their female co-workers and mocked the law by wearing black hijabs themselves while at work.

A new law in Iran has been issued by regime which forces female pharmacists to only wear black veil (any other type of hijab or color is prohibited) in workplace, as a response male pharmacists are wearing it as well to mock this law pic.twitter.com/vo2sp7CvdH

— ZenArchie (@zenarchy2) March 7, 2023

The hilarious photos of male pharmacy workers wearing black hijabs became viral on social media, especially on popular social news and forum site Reddit. Many netizens were happy with their defiance against the regime and praised the men for their bravery.

Male Pharmacists in Iran wearing Hijabs in response to women being forced to wear them pic.twitter.com/ikxU6KNXe8

— Anna Quintana Pablo (@AnnaQuin07) March 12, 2023

"Wondering if this will backfire on the men or not? But good for them for standing in unity." Reddit user u/GregoryGregory666666 commented on the photo posted in the subreddit r/interestingasf**k.

"Those men are incredibly brave! I hope they and their families stay safe!” Another Redditor u/ZoopZeZoop said.

One of the most upvoted comments in the post even asked why the law only required black hijabs to be worn and not other colors, which garnered many replies mocking the mandatory rule of hijab in many Islamic countries.

Although Iranian male pharmacy workers and netizens worldwide made fun of the new mandatory hijab law, the government seems bent on imposing the rule harshly and seriously.

A few weeks ago, two pharmacies in Tehran and Amol were shut down by authorities because their female employees allegedly wore their hijabs incorrectly. But the head of the Mizan news agency, a media outlet connected to the Iranian judiciary, claimed that the pharmacy in Tehran was closed because "its owner disrespected the person who warned her to observe the hijab.”

[ef-1]

So infuriated by the people horrified because "omg Israel is bombing Christian villages too" of course they are? Lebanon is one of the most religiously diverse countries in the Middle East, wherever they bomb, they'll be killing everyone. But this would not be any less a desecration of the sanctity of humanity if they were Muslim, you people are parroting Imperial talking points that are at least 500 years old.

If you are Lebanese, Palestinian, Iraqi, Yemini, Afghan, Iranian, brown or black, then American-Israeli imperialism doesn't care if you're Christian, Muslim, Jewish, agnostic, atheist, anti-theist it will not spare you violence.

Watching videos of the indiscriminate bombing of Lebanon in the early hours of the morning as the call to prayer sounds in the background, a man stands on a pulpit reciting and his voice does not waver when the long arm of imperialism drops bombs that shake the walls of the mosque. Videos of people cleaning off rubble from their roofless Churches. Would those videos mean less to you if you didn't know their religion? Is the resistance against Imperialism not enough?

Resist! The! Urge! To! Fall! For! Imperial! Talking! Points!

[beardedmrbean]

Iran's Supreme Leader released a message of support for American college students who have participated in pro-Palestine protests.

"Dear university students in the United States of America, you are standing on the right side of history," Ali Khamenei wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

His comments sparked fury on social media, with several people suggesting that having support from the authoritarian leader was not a good thing.

House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote on X: "When you've won the Ayatollah, you've lost America."

A popular right-wing X account, End Wokeness, wrote: "Imagine telling someone 10 years ago that the Iranian Supreme Leader would be thanking a bunch of blue-haired atheists at Columbia."

Several other X accounts, including the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and the Orthodox rabbi and adjunct professor David Bashevkin, suggested that having Khamenei's support might suggest the protesters are actually on the wrong side of history.

Iranian American activist, Elica Le Bon, who often criticizes the Iranian regime as well as pro-Palestine protesters, wrote on X: "From the regime's Supreme Leader to students in the U.S. How can it be right in front of them and they still can't see it?"

In response to Hamas' October 7 attack which killed 1,200 and took 250 hostage, Israel began an aerial bombardment and ground offensive into Gaza. Nearly eight months later, Israel's campaign has flattened much of Gaza, displaced millions and killed more than 35,000 people, many of them civilians, per the health ministry.

In response to Israel's offensive, pro-Palestine protests have erupted in college campuses across the U.S., leading to thousands of students being arrested.

Iran's Supreme Leader also shared a piece of advice with American students, writing on X: "Dear university students in the US, my advice to you is to become familiar with the Quran."

Khamenei also released a longer open letter, in which he wrote that he wanted to express "empathy and solidarity" with student protesters.

"You have now formed a branch of the Resistance Front and have begun an honorable struggle in the face of your government's ruthless pressure—a government which openly supports the usurper and brutal Zionist regime," he wrote.

Khamenei also invoked antisemitic tropes about Jewish people controlling the media.

"The global Zionist elite—who owns most US and European media corporations or influences them through funding and bribery—has labeled this courageous, humane resistance movement as "terrorism," " Khamenei wrote.

Iran has long been one of Israel's greatest regional foes, and tensions have reached new highs in recent months, escalating to the point of Iran launching hundreds of drones and ballistic missiles at Israel.

The Islamic nation has also been known to support Hamas through providing training and funding.

Khamenei has repeatedly expressed support for Hamas, describing them as "defending" their home. He also met with the militant group's leader Ismail Haniyeh earlier this month during the latter's visit to Tehran.

[humanplaypretend]

Gotham characters in my style ଘ(੭ˊ꒳ˋ)੭✧

「Close ups + my hcs below the cut ↓」

Fish Mooney

African American. Haitian descent. Can speak Haitian, but mainly uses it with her mum only

Bisexual (canon), preference for girls. Aromantic spectrum

AsPD, NPD

Grew up Christian, and although she no longer believes in god, she wouldn’t necessarily call herself agnostic nor atheist. Religion played a big part in her childhood and she holds those memories near and dear to her heart

She’s pretty good at chess, although she doesn’t play much if any

Ed Nygma

Iranian descent (Iranian mum, white American dad). Learnt Irani later on his adult life as a way to reconnect with his roots

Bisexual (+ comphet) pref for girls

Autistic (canon), OCD, OSDD, C-PTSD, NPD

Atheist, doesn’t understand the concept of religion as something other than a cool thing to psychoanalyse

He developed his own language as a kid and still to this day writes his diary and most personal stuff in it

Oswald Cobblepot

Jewish-Hungarian American. Speaks Hebrew, as a kid his accent was much more noticeable

Gay (canon) & transman. His mother was his first supporter

Autistic, NPD, HPD, C-PTSD, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Used to struggle with social anxiety as a kid/teen

Jewish

Dogs are his favourite animal because of their unconditional loyalty

Is actually very good at cooking

Johnathan Crane

White American

Aromantic asexual, transmasc

Autistic, OCD, C-PTSD, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, dermatographic urticaria. Born with schizophrenia (inherited from his mum) which was worsened by his father’s experiments

Vehemently atheist. In his thoughts, even if there was a god, he wouldn’t worship anyone that sat and watched people like him go through such hells without helping

Whenever he’s stressed, he picks, nicks and scratches his skin, sometimes until blood. His body is filled with tiny scars and scabs all over

[psychologeek]

I love your work and fics but because of your support of the genocide in Gaza Strip I am unable to truly continue supporting you.

I know that you believe that supporting the Palestinians is anti-semitic but if you learned about these topics you would know. Zionism is inherently anti-semitic itself, Zionism is a political philosophy that was first created in the 1600s by anti-Semitic Christians who believed Jews from all over the world should be expelled and gathered in one place. And then Theodor Herzl, an atheist, adopted Zionism to find a "suitable country" to colonize, and several countries were suggested: Uganda, Argentina, Cyprus, and Madagascar. But with Jews' rejection and with the support of Western politicians, Zionism secured their interests in the resources of the Middle East, thus Palestine.

Maybe if you learned what it was like to see through the eyes of people like Bisan Owda, Wael Al-Dahdouh, Motaz Azaiza, Hind Khoudary, or maybe even the six year old Hind Rajab who died after traveling through a "Safe Zone" with her family and being stuck in a car with their bodies for 12 days.

This is not a war. This is a genocide. I'm not asking you to change overnight, but knowing the full truth of what Israel is doing under the same excuses that you're telling yourself will help you understand what's really going on.

Thanks for the compliment? I think? 

Uh, ok, this isn't about my writing - this is about you complaining about my thoughts and experiences. Cool.

Edit: I have to admit that I'm curious what brought this up. Was it the A/N in "Some of Them (want you)" (a Damian-centric fic), and the mention of the bombed hospital in Israel? Raising awareness to the facts refugees need to bribe their way into Egypt to save their lives? (From Sudan and Gaza)? Was it the mention of the war in Kurdistan? Or maybe it was the way I talked about the Iranian regime, and how Baluchistan and Akhwaz are a flame?

Or perhaps it was the PSA in "Who am I? (to disappear)", in which I tried to remind ppl that watching and passing forward videos of ppl being tortured/killed/sexually assaulted is a bad thing. Do you not agree with the sentiment?

Or maybe you just don't like Cass. That's probably another option

Anyway -

Support genocide etc.

A. I do not support genocide.

B. What's happening in Gaza rn isn't genocide. It's war. And the use of that term is very disrespectful and dismissive to other places, in which there IS, actually, a genocide.

C. That being said, I don't support war. I don't support death. And I really wish this wouldn't happen.

I Don't??? Think?? Supporting Palestine is antisemic??? 

I do think that pro-palestine rallies with chants like "Gas the Jews" and harrasing jews and Jewish place ARE antisemic, yes.

If you need that difference explicitly said, I guess you should look at the rallies and pro-p things you're talking about.

"But if you learned about these topics"

EXCUSE ME????

If I LEARNT ABOUT IT?

Because of course - my knowledge, as part of a minority group, of a subject that is INHERENTLY related to in-group topics, and the what I learnt from people in-group are obviously less relevant than what you, oh great saviour, has learnt through Tik-Tok.

"Zionism is inherently anti-semitic itself"

Do you even understand how ignorant saying that is??

Do you understand how much this is propaganda?

"I believe that (Jewish people right to self-determination and live peacefully) is a bad thing" - do you even hear yourself?? 

"Zionism.... was first created in the 1600s by anti-Semitic Christians who believed Jews from all over the world should be expelled and gathered in one place. "

No. Just don't.

Idk - maybe this is what they teach in America or idk where, right next to "jews, Muslims and Christians lived peacefully before the evil Zionists colonisers " (look up the massacres in Zfad, the massacre and ethnic cleansing of Habron, Gush Etzion, Gaza-several cleansing btw).

Anyway, Zionism in the older form (yearning to go back Home, Eretz Israel as the Jewish homeland, and a connection between God-People-Land) is one of the first things in the Jewish narrative.

Practically, the Jewish calander is SoLunal calander that based on the seasons, weather, and agriculture in the levant.

Religiously - jews prayed to go back to "build Jerusalem" every year since the 2nd temple was destroyed. We kept practicing traditions and Mitzvahs that are related to the connection to the spesific area.

(And there always, always been jews going to Israel.)

Herzel's thoughts and actions to create the Zionist movement came after he watched the Dreyfus trial and realised that jews will always be haunted and discriminated BECAUSE of their Jewishness. So if you want a place without this, you gotta make a Jewish state.   (There are many kinds of Zionism,  I go with this as a general and simple explanation.)

(more about why this is problematic undercut)

"You don't know what it's like" -

What. The. Fuck.

You said you came here via my fics. 

I'm sorry.

Did you miss the whole long AF a/n I wrote in the last months??

About my personal experiences with war?? 

Both current (the whole saga with physical/mental safety, the evacuation, losing my glasses, etc. ??)

And previous (being bombed and evacuation 1 as a kid. My first PTSD. Terror attack and PTSD number 2 (ft. dead babies. Fun times). Rockets, more rockets, war, friends hurt in terror attack, friends-of-friends DIE in terror attack, more wars, etc.

(And that's not even the reason I was suicidal since young teen).

"This isn't war, it's genocide"

I'm sorry, do you remember how it fucking started?? How it continues?? How there are still FUCKING ROCKETS AIMED AT Israel??

Yes. This is sad. People shouldn't die in war. 

In fact, I truly believe that death-machines and people should not be near each other.

**Which is why I'm so mad at the fact non one's talking or doing anything to make Egypt open the fucking borders and let ppl through without having to bribe their life out**

" the full truth of what Israel is doing"

Right.

You, who's purely immune to Propaganda, of course.

You sure knows much more then me - who, you know, the one who ACTUALLY LIVE THROUGH this, and actually familiar with the history of the country and conflict (no, it didn't start in 1948. Not even in 1918. It was way earlier.)

(And just as you mention - have you heard about Ellin (9) and  Eithan (5) Kapshiter? They were shoot in the car with their entire family.

Ellin was considered missing for 2 weeks, before her body was identified. That was a couple of hours after her family's funeral.

For some reason, I didn't see any "where's Ellin?" On Tumblr.

Oh, and do you remember Kfir and Ariel Bibas? Kfir just had his first birthday.

They are still held captive, btw. For some reason, I don't see anyone in the "ceasefire now" crowd talking about how CRUCIAL it is that Hamas bring back the people they, you know, kidnapped. That they should get medical attention and visits from the RC. 

In fact, in the last hostage deal, this was something Hamas refused to include.)

Calling it genocide is problematic in many ways. Including for the people who suffer from this war.

Calling it genocide allows the the activism to be mostly anti-Israel, instead of pro-palestine.

For example, focusing the efforts on "stopping Israel" and "Israel is bad" and "boycott Israel", instead of "how do we save lives" and "why Egypt not opening the borders".

Less "ceasefire now!" (Though a good target) And "defund Israel!"

More "release the hostages and let humanitarian aid in".

(not to mention that all those efforts, for some reason, never go to other places and other people who suffer. Never even go to Palestinian in refugees camps - in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria.)

Pro-tip:

If someone tells you "a (very important thing in a minority's group culture) was actually created by (A majority group) as a (bad thing)", then you have one of those options: It's a lie, reclaiming, and "yes but no" .

1. It's a lie - aka: Just bc you didn't know about it, doesn't mean it's not real. (Sort of like the term of "dark ages" - that come to portray the intellectual darkness in Europe between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance. Though it wasn't the same if you look at non-european history.)

And in a simpler example-  Pasta! Usually considered "Italian", but only got there at 4th century BC. Evidences in China during the Shang Dynasty (1700-1100 BC). There was also African form of pasta, made of kamut crop. 

2. Reclaiming (see "queer" - was used as a general term, then a slur, going back to an Identity.)

3. Yes, but actually no (take for example sign language (s) - languages, as community languages, started to form when schools-for-deaf became a thing. Residential schools, where the students lived together and worked together ehad to learn to communicate.

Then they learn sign language - of the area/country/etc.

It doesn't mean that "Hearing created SL". The languages were built from home-signs (look at the difference between simple words, like "eat" in different SLs - like brit vs. Japanese) , and gained depth through the creation of Deaf communities. 

[theupfish]

One of the world's oldest and most persecuted religions is making a comeback

If you live in "the West," you might not have heard much about the Zoroastrian religion, outside of that memorable monologue in the first "Austin Powers" movie. But as priceless as that speech is, the Zoroastrian religion deserves to be known for more than just shaving Dr. Evil's balls. Actually, if you follow any Abrahamic faith, your religion owes its existence in part to Zoroastrianism.

Originating in Iran, Zoroastrianism is one of the world's oldest monotheistic religions. It's founder Zarathustra, AKA Zoroaster, lived some time between 1,500-1,000 BCE. He was one of the first in his part of the world to preach the idea of a single, non-corporal deity, as well as the idea of an eternal battle between good and evil. Fire factors into many Zoroastrian rituals, but they don't literally worship it, which is a common misconception.

In Hebrew school, my teachers taught us that ours was the first monotheistic religion. In my Hebrew teachers' defense, it was the 90s, and information was nowhere near as easy to come by as it is now; plus, half of them were in still high school themselves (our synagogue was tiny). In any case, Judaism took inspiration from Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrianism is to Judaism as "Dune" is to "Star Wars." And by extention, Christianity, Islam, Baha'ism, and the Druze religion have a bit of Zoroastrianism in them.

Zoroastrianism uh, declined after Islam became the main religion of Iran. Some Zoroastrians chose to remain in their homeland despite persecution. Others emigrated, and moved throughout the Middle East and South Asia before finally finding refuge in India. This group is now known as the Parsi people.

Freddie Mercury of Queen was a Zoroastrian Parsi.

Zoroastrianism has remained a small religion in numbers, not only due to the persecution, but also because like Judaism, Zoroastrianism has red tape for converts, which it doesn't seek out, and sometimes the kids of mixed marriages aren't counted as members of the faith. (Link)

However, Zoroastrianism is now making a comeback in Iran. The Islamic Republic of Iran has backfired, causing many Iranians to secretly leave Islam for other faiths. Since apostasy is punishable by death in Iran, the exact numbers of those who do so are hard to pinpoint, since they won't exactly broadcast it. Zoroastrianism, Baha'ism and Christianity are all popular choices, while many others are simply Atheist or Agnostic.

Zoroastrianism growing particularly among Kurds rediscovering their roots, and who particularly tend to feel disillusioned with Islam, what with the oppression and genocide and all that.

Many Iranian Muslims have a positive view of Zoroastrianism, recognizing its influence on their culture. Some more fundamentalist individuals on the other hand deny the identity and authenticity of this indigenous faith (And if you're Jewish, you're now saying to yourself, "Woa, deja vu!") But there are also many Muslim leaders who defend Zoroastrians, and call for peaceful coexistence.

And peaceful coexistence should always be the goal.

[hero-israel]

Hi there! Could you please expand on the Qatari funds at US banks? I saw someone claim US had indirectly funded the terrorist regime that sponsored the 10/7 program — supposedly, the 6B that the US authorized into Iran because of the ransom transfer deal had not been reimbursed by that time and were strictly for humanitarian purposes, coincidentally said to “frozen at Qatar’s central bank” (I don’t know if this claim is legitimate, but that was reported by US officials), yet there’s also the claim that the fungibility of the money (knowing they had money coming) could have emboldened Iran into funding Hamas? How does this relate to the Qatari funds at US banks, and is there other ways the US (even if not Biden specifically*) has indirectly funded Hamas/Iran (aside from UNRWA, for instance, or US aid to Palestine —which I’m not sure if it belongs to a separate category)?

They don't relate, they are entirely separate issues. My suggestion was to freeze all Qatari assets currently involved with the U.S. banking system - no liquidity, no withdrawals - as we did with Japan in 1941. It would have gashed their economy, shocked and humiliated them, and almost certainly would have helped us get Ismail Haniyeh on a rope by Thanksgiving. (And no, Qatar is not 1940s Imperial Japan, it does not project military power - but if they felt like fucking around, sure, we'd let them find out.)

The Iranian funds released to Qatar were supposedly "frozen," I'd like to believe that is the case, but a lot of - I'm sorry to say this - Democrat State Department types are just hell-bent on rehabilitating and normalizing Iran. We saw this with Obama's deal mechanism, with Ben Rhodes hologramming newly-invented foreign policy groups into public discussions to sway opinion, with the overbearing notion that as long as you give Iran lots of money and good seats at the Davos Forum they won't be imperialist fundie assholes anymore. The same people who were sure they'd be able to control Iran were totally blindsided by Brexit and by Trump winning. Their words on paper were totally going to constrain the IRGC, but then Pennsylvania Republicans did something shocking and unfair that they couldn't deal with.

Highly educated Western atheists just do not comprehend violent religious fundamentalism and how it can give its practitioners wholly different priorities. To borrow a phrase, Iran really DOESN'T want to cure cancer, they want to turn people into dinosaurs.

[ladyhindsight]

Hi, I saw that previous ask that was sent by someone else about the parallels between the Shadowhunter society and Israel and it reminded me about the way that Cordelia is portrayed in TLH. When CC initially said that there would be Iranian characters (Cordelia and Alastair) in TLH (before the series was released), she was asked on her tumblr blog if these characters would be Muslim. She said that they cannot be Muslim because Shadowhunters do not follow any religion therefore they are all atheist. But this was really strange to me because in all of her books, the characters reference God a lot, their swords are named after angels in the bible, they are always quoting bible verses, and they also reference events that happened in the bible. So it always seemed like to me that the entire shadowhunter society was based off of religion. If Shadowhunters are all atheist then why are they always talking about God and the bible? In TMI, it’s stated that the two first Shadowhunter parabatai were Jonathan and David who were close as brothers; this is referencing Jonathan and David from the bible. It’s stated that the entire Shadowhunter race was founded when the angel Raziel mixed his angel blood with human blood which means that in this universe angels are REAL. I also think it was stated that Raziel was sent down by God or something but I can’t remember. the demons of hell (Asmodeus, Belial, etc) are also real. Hell is real as well apparently.

So basically the implications of this are that Cordelia assimilated into the Shadowhunter religion rather than her own. Since she’s a Shadowhunter that means she’s half angel.. so of course she can’t be Muslim because her entire existence disproves that in CC’s view. So since CC chose to make angels and God real in her universe, and also saying that Cordelia and Alastair cannot be Muslim, what is she even trying to say?? That God and angels and the bible are real but other religions aren’t??

Not to mention that Cordelia and Alastair are half white by father and have English first and last names (just like all of CC’s characters of colour..)

The faith of Raziel has been a previous discussion point on the blog years past, so I'll reiterate some points here. The topic has rared its head every now and then again, mostly because it is inconsistent and senseless and pretty insensitive to the whole concept of religion.

Clare created a religion for the Shadowhunters to follow, to believe in Raziel as their angelic creator, and formed some base rules for it, which essentially are that Shadowhunters have their own religion and thus don't practice others, and the Ascendants have to convert from the any previous religion to the one of the Nephilim. When discussing Sona, it is stated that "some Islam and Qur’an stories have been blended into Sona’s beliefs, though she is not exactly Muslim as Shadowhunters do not conform to any mundane religion and have their own where they worship Raziel." Which is still yeah, alright, but the whole faith in Raziel is still contradictory at best.

How can you draw so much religious inspiration while at the same time divorce yourself from it completely? The Nephilim religion is based on their creation, mundane religions also based on creation myths, so how is the Nephilim one the one everyone has to adhere to when all the stories are true? It's ludicrous that the Shadowhunters are brought up with such doctrines as "all the stories are true", basically act atheistic, but also at the same time demand other people from other religion to join their faith instead and adhere to their doctrines in which you wouldn’t necessarily believe in.

It seems "all the stories are true" don't apply to religion but fantasy elements such as witches, warlocks, vampires, werewolves, and faeries. With religion (Abrahamic ones to be exact), Clare is being picky.

The Shadowhunters aren't even particularly religious themselves, they have no culture or customs surrounding the faith of Raziel, no rites or holidays or sacred traditions or anything. They might as well be atheistic in the sense that none of the characters, sans Cristina (and her family?), practice the Nephilim religion. But even with Cristina, how does her faith show other than her belief in angels and her religious medallion she wears? Clare not being particularly religious is really reflected on the fact that not much though went into this. Previously when discussing Jonathan Shadowhunter, I said that:

Jonathan’s country of origin is never told, but of course from when the map was what it was during the Crusades. Not that it really matters because we can pretty much deduce they were Europeans since the First Crusade was initiated by the Latin Church and was partaken by the contemporary European kingdoms and empires. There’s also the fact that the roots of the birth of the Nephilim are in religious wars, and trying to remove Jonathan Shadowhunter and the origin of the Nephilim from that is evasive. Okay, let’s leave this thing here and go do this completely other stuff, totally didn’t just try to invade another land and get distracted. It’s interesting to note some liberties authors and filmmakers take when it comes to representing a part of some culture, religion, or myths. What makes inspiration differ from misrepresentation and all that. The wiki states that: “Jonathan then transformed his sister, Abigail, and his friend, David, into Shadowhunters. Inspired by the tale of their coincidental biblical namesakes, Jonathan and David took that story and became the first parabatai, performing a ritual where they took each other’s blood, spoke the oath, and inscribed the runes upon each other.” In Books of Samuel, Jonathan and David, bonded by a strong friendship, form a covenant by taking a mutual oath. “Now it came about when he had finished speaking to Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as himself.” It’s funny that an author writes their coincidental biblical namesakes when there is absolutely nothing coincidental about it. It isn’t just that Clare was inspired by the writings in the Old Testament, she outright writes that her characters took that story, being coincidentally named the same, and created the parabatai bond based on it. They acted on religious texts. And of course, Jonathan’s sister just happened to be named after the second wife of King David. [...] Why is their faith so centered on Raziel alone when their universe is obviously filled with other god-like beings and entities? I guess it’d be fine if Raziel was worshiped as a patron but didn’t exclude other faiths and the Nephilim didn’t outright demand you to just drop the religion you practice. Why is it suddenly the Shadowhunters’ business what you can worship and what not? There plenty of polytheistic religions so why can’t the Shadowhunters be polytheistic too? It’s nothing away from worshiping Raziel.

Clare made ground rules for the Nephilim religion but failed to ask the follow up question that essentially makes the basis crumble. Let's even consider Jace Herondale who first said that he does not believe in angels or a god. As the series progress, it becomes all the more evident and rather glaringly so that angels (Ithuriel) and Raziel himself/themselves(?) are very real. Jace experiences no growth or acknowledgment as to this. When Jace is faced with Lilith, he throws her and Sammael's love and Sammael's earlier demise at hands of the archangel Michael at her face, names his angel blade Michael when fighting Lilith, but at no point do we really see how did we get from point A to point C where any of this contradictory behavior is realized or discussed between the characters. Or even acknowledged that holy shit, these biblical beings actually exist.

Hell, even The Last Hours has God (or a god?) himself smiting down Belial, a fallen angel, and NO ONE EVEN BATS AN EYE. Most Shadowhunters are really apathetic towards heaven-level stuff happening right in front of them. In some other older post I said:

The thing that strikes me as particularly odd is that they constantly cite the Bible, and their oaths—the parabatai one, for instance, from the Old Testament—are of biblical origin, and Jonathan Shadowhunter himself was told to be a crusader, yet none of it is considered Jewish or Christian. Angels are inherently religious beings, and Abrahamic religions and whatnot where they appear are far older institutions than Shadowhunters are as a race. I just don’t see it as a good idea to draw so much from their religious mythology but completely cut ties with their spirituality and meaning.

[Here's a link to a post compiling some of the earlier pondering on this mess.] If you want, you can also check my Jonathan Shadowhunter tag, I've been sent some great thoughts about him and the Nephilim creation.

Part of the problem also lies, once again, within the worldbuilding, the major lack thereof, because I don't think materializing the Princes of Hell was in the early plans for Clare, at least considering books 1-3 of The Mortal Instrument. None of it was essential to her nor a primary objective in the development of the Shadowhunting world.

[thehummingbirdpost]

Jewish Voice for Peace Advocates for Palestinian Rights

Dale Colleen Hamilton

edendale24@gmail.com

April 2024

My friend Esther Farmer has lived in Brooklyn her whole life. Her parents, Palestinian Jews, immigrated there in the 1920s. Her father, a politically progressive activist, was labelled a communist and black-listed, making it difficult for him to find work. Her mother was way ahead of her times and her support for the Palestinian cause was loud and often fierce and she battled sexism fearlessly.

Esther calls herself culturally Jewish, religiously atheist, politically non-Zionist and passionately pro-Palestinian. She’s been involved with Palestinian rights organizations for decades and is on the leadership committee of Jewish Voice for Peace, whose membership has exploded since the war on Palestine began. Their protests have attracted thousands of people and have included shutting down Grand Central Station and the Manhattan Bridge.

On my recent visit to New York City, I went with Esther to several pro-Palestinian anti-war demonstrations. She says there’s some form of pro-Palestinian protest almost every day, so there were plenty of choices. While I was there, she did a reading from a book she co-edited, A Land with People as well as several zoom presentations. She lives and breathes Palestinian rights these days. One of the most moving things I’ve heard her say is that her grandmother told her that Palestinians, Jews and Arabs used to live just fine together in Palestine, until in 1917 the British decided, in their imperial “wisdom,” to "declare" that Palestine should be a Jewish state through the Balfour Declaration.

The first protest we went to was intended to take place in front of the Brooklyn home of Chuck Schumer (Democratic Senate Majority Leader) but police in riot gear blocked his street. Schumer is being targeted, in part, because he was given over $100,000 in campaign contributions by pro-Zionist AIPAC (American Israeli Public Affairs Committee). In response to the police blockade, the effigies of dead swaddled children being carried by the protesters were laid at the feet of the police. And the protesters read aloud a list of 64 names of dead Palestinian children. These names represented one tenth of one percent of the children killed since Oct 7th. It would have taken 24/7 for 2 days to have read all the names. As the names were spoken, I found myself watching the faces of the police officers for any glimmer of support or remorse, but they were well-trained to show no emotion. However, as the procession wound through the Saturday farmers’ market, many people stopped and quietened respectfully.

Another protest we attended was staged in front of the United Nations in Manhattan. Again, riot police were in full force. Although no arrests were made, Jewish Voice for Peace always has a lawyer present and a team of members ready to support anyone who does get arrested, as was the case during the Grand Central Station action, where over 300 people were arrested. To me as a Canadian gentile outsider, the most striking element of this protest was the range of participants, including Armenian and Kurdish rights activists, an Iranian Feminist group and about a dozen Orthodox Hasidic Jews, who have been demonstrating for Palestinian rights and denouncing Zionism and the Jewish state for years. It was the Sabbath so they aren’t allowed to take public transit or drive, so they had walked from Williamsburg, over 6 kms each way. Although Hasidic Jews are sometimes criticized for sexist practises, I couldn’t help but admire their dedication to the Palestinian cause.

In between demonstrations, we had the best Middle Eastern food I’ve ever experienced at a Palestinian restaurant called Ayat on Cortelyou Road in Brooklyn. Their menu includes a call for an end to the occupation and asks diners to “pray for peace for all”. The meal we had there felt sombre, but it also felt like a celebration of the swell of awareness and support for Palestinians and a rethinking of what it means to be Jewish and Israeli and the role US-made armaments play in the genocide.

By a stroke of dumb luck, I got the last rush ticket to see a sold-out play called The Ally, at the Public Theatre in Greenwich Village. In keeping with the apparent theme of my trip, it was a play about the Palestinian Israeli conflict. It presented all sides of the issue, which left my head spinning. In the lobby after the performance, a man who sounded like he knew what he was talking about said he thinks it will be remounted, which makes sense, seeing as it’s such a timely and important topic.

And oh yes, by way of contrast, while in New York I also experienced cherry trees in bloom (eerily early), an earthquake (4.8 magnitude centered in New Jersey) and the solar eclipse, which we watched grow to 90% totality in Prospect Park. And after the intensity of the protests, back at Esther’s each evening, we’d sit on the couch and watch Democracy Now and Aljazeera, trying to make sense of a world apparently on a collision course with itself.

[weemietime]

I love Armin Navabi. MoJab is such a fucking jackass. Glad to see him put in his place. I'm not an atheist, but I enjoy this channel a lot because I sympathize with the atheist/apostate movements, especially in religions like Islam where apostasy is met with violence and killing. Religion is a deeply personal matter and no one should ever try and force their religious beliefs on another person. He does a lot of good work with promoting Zionism and New Iran, and Women Life Freedom. Israel/Iran solidarity, we love to see it! A reminder that people are not their governments, only 15% of all Iranians support the IRGC. Most young Iranians are very pro-Israel and not antisemitic at all.

[professionalnooneatall]

Everyone Keeps Saying Make Something New, but When I make Something Aggressively New, I Get "not like that,"

I was talking with an Imam once and I asked him how a Muslim would go about doing the Hajj if they lived on Mars. With zero hesitation he said "Get on a rocket and go back to Earth, there's only one Mecca." The quote stayed with me and for over a decade I've been developing a television show around that sentence:

It's the far future. Humanity and our allies live throughout the Milky Way and there are Muslims on every planet where there are humans, which is to say all of them. Let me introduce you to the characters.

Master Fleet Adm. Achmed Abdul Qadir

Regal, bird like, rather tall with a well-trimmed mustache, salt and pepper hair, Qadir is a devout Muslim with a calm “been there done that” attitude from being Nearly 100 years old. Shrewd but compassionate, Qadir applies Islamic jurisprudence as often as possible, resulting in a high degree of compassion. Because of this Qadir was among the first wave of volunteers to fight under the banner of the Alliance first on Mars under NATO/METO and later as Alliance Forces Earth, and finally just the Alliance. Qadir is unflappable in nearly every respect. If he ever uses foul language, it’s not a good sign.

Command Sergeant Major Maya Abdel-Fattah

Lean, lethal and shorter than most people. Always wearing hijab in public. Cybernetic right arm starting at the shoulder. Maya is the strong, silent type. A full Alliance Marine, qualified planet and space she wears the Galaxy Globe and Anchor. Maya was widowed and lost her whole family in a space transport accident and so she transferred to the recently codified Alliance Marine Corps from Alliance Forces Earth Quartermaster Corps. Maya served with the Black Sword Brigade, a particularly tough unit specializing in deep strikes and decapitation attacks. She serves as the senior enlisted on the ship and if there's fighting to be done she can get it done from 1,000 meters to 1 centimeter.

Command Sergeant Major (ret) Robert W. Leary

Hearty, tough, Irish and Black American. Very American military, Qadir’s best friend, so much so Qadir’s actual wife, Jamila, referred to Leary as “My husband’s work wife” when they worked together under NATO and METO military operations before the Alliance conflict. Father died in Corpo Wars, mother retired from the 1st New York Brigade after the North American Protectorate was codified. Leary met probably his closest friend Achmed Qadir while on R&R leave in Iraq, specifically when he attended the completion ceremony for Al-Rahman Mosque is Baghdad. Leary is deeply atheist but very respectful and knowledgeable of many religions; he’s both street-smart and socially intelligent. Leary is also the Alliance Cultural Preservation, Restoration, and Development (CPRD) Officer, ensuring cultural needs and practices are cataloged and practiced, respected, and continued for and by Alliance personnel.

Lt. Cmdr. Dikembe Emenike

Eminke is the executive officer of the Grand Falcon. All four limbs are cybernetic, an aerospace engineer, a race car driver, and Chief Engineer in the construction of the Grand Falcon, the ship that takes Muslims back to Earth for Hajj. Emenike is an accomplished pilot and like most veteran pilots of the war has an absurd amount of flight hours. He was onboard a ship that had to use its jump drive system without calculation and it jumped into a planet’s atmosphere, subsequently crashed and plunged into that planet's ocean. Emenike was among the survivors and due to his actions - using the ship's propulsion to beach the craft on the nearest landmass - the casualties were low.

Master Chief (ret) Paulina Stevens “Boston” Abdur Razzaq

Boston is an Iranian American, punk rocker, with lots of tattoos,  lower jaw is cybernetic, it’s a subtle piece, though, and mostly matches her skin tone. She has close-cropped curly hair and a nose ring. Experienced medic and explosives technician, Boston formed her own contracting company - Iron Pineapple - after the war for “post-war and peacetime operations,” which has an extremely broad definition meaning her team didn't want for work. Boston has been divorced twice, from a man and a woman. She doesn’t do anything by half measures and this extends to her personal relationships. She connects intensely with people and intimate partners are no exception so her command style with her team is often very blunt but compassionate.

Maj. (Dr.) Mohammed Al-Aziz Billah

Dr. Billah, or "just Dr. B," as he would introduce himself, is stocky, bearded, intense, and driven but is kind and has an impeccable bedside manner. Billah is often in a doctor’s coat over his Alliance uniform. He is Qadir’s nephew on Jamila’s side. A devout Ahmadiyya Muslim, Billah saw becoming a doctor as a holy mission. He is a certified physician for both people and earth animals, having studied both sciences concurrently at Penn State. Billah served in Iraqi military as a combat doctor and in between tours he worked with members of the Jain Dharma as a veterinarian. His incredibly wide skill set made him ideal for treating non-human beings and many foundations for combat medical procedures were established by him and other members of The First Medical Fleet which would become Alliance Medical Command. His refrain, "Death Is my Only Enemy," became the official motto of First Medical Fleet, "Death Our Only Enemy"

Special Warrant 2 (ret) Shen She Zhan

Shen underwent sixteen very painful surgical procedures to increase her height and skin grafts to make her skin look like that of the Hiraska aliens whose empire threatened the whole galaxy with facial reconstruction including reshaping her jaws and her eyes were fully replaced. Her cover was blown but she was able to escape however he pod was intercepted by Alliance Forces Earth personnel who didn’t believe she was actually human. Qadir’s ship received the signal and he intervened but not soon enough. Qadir, Leary and Billah were there for her recovery so they are on the very short list of people she trusts, those three serve as kind of her “sounding board��� for certain topics and issues. Qadir was furious with the task forces’ treatment of Shen and he disbanded the task force and several senior leaders were relieved of duty. After the war she joined Iron Pineapple and Boston became the fourth person in the galaxy she trusts. This history informs much of Shen's responses and actions. Among strangers, she is very controlled but given the presence of one of the four, she will speak her mind clearly.

Major (ret) Maria Shahid Rodriguez-ChavezMajor (ret) Maria Shahid Rodriguez-Chavez

Latino and Arab Christian. A real technical wiz Chavez can fix anything; hardware or software even if she's unfamiliar with it because she has an intuition about technology overall. Chavez is a trans-woman but presents as masculine in the war flashbacks. She is gradually becoming more and more comfortable with herself but will often retreat into her technological expertise and focus on solving tech problems rather than personal development. She often seeks guidance from Boston, Leary, and Billah. She is estranged from her father but is in touch with her mother and kid brother, who live the Leo City, the domed human settlement on Mars. Her plan settle with them somewhere and open a small business, probably an automotive repair shop and salon.

Senior Command Chief Jamila Qadir

Jamila is a highly experienced nurse with time in ERs, plague zones, and combat zones, and her compassion for humans is matched only by the sheer “lack of fucks,” she gives. Her compassion for people is matched by her husband Achmed, but she will not suffer fools gladly, will not make time for bullshit, and definitely won't stand for your nonsense. She has tried to play matchmaker for Leary on several occasions. It didn’t go well each time. She is often the smartest person in the room as she knows how to apply her knowledge of people learned through being a medical professional in any given situation.

Petty Officer 2nd Class (ret) Akira Shima 

Akira was a quantum navigation systems programmer and he is exceptional at that, having served on many task forces and has a mind for science and tactics but he is largely untested due to getting relegated to "IT bullshit" when he was in uniform. He is motivated to prove himself at every opportunity and is often unorthodox in his thoughts and actions but he is effective and when he combines his abilities with Chavez they are unstoppable. He is very intuitive and empathetic. He understands software interacting with organics as he often had to fix cybernetic limbs in the war when no formal technician was present. Shima is “always on,” and will often wake up in the middle of the night having dreamed of a solution to a problem he may have only heard about in passing.

Valerria Vall

Assigned a special advisor to the Grand Falcon, Vall is a member of the Omega, a race of beings who once fought a Terminator-style war between organics and machines. After about seventy years they realized it was pretty stupid and over time they became a “joint race,” the Hiraska saw them as the greatest threat to their empire and released a plague that destroyed all organic life in their home system. They barely survived and are now fully artificial. They founded the Alliance as an anti-colonial and defensive force against the Hiraska to prevent what happened to them from happening to any other beings. As they connect with new extraterrestrial species they send a representative to study and learn from their cultures, altering their whole physical and mental self to mirror that race to create a deep cultural understanding.

Kimi Running Rabbit

Running Rabbit is part of the new generation of humans that grew up off-world and is the youngest member of the crew. She is part of the Alliance Tribal Nations, a recognized part of the Alliance government’s judicial, social and educational systems. Running Rabbit began as an alliance cadet but the war ended and she spent two more years just training with little engagement against real threats. When she saw the Hajj ship needing volunteers she signed on with an individual contract. Like many other personnel who were born off-world, she’s only heard stories about how vicious earthbound humans were to each other but especially horrible to the indigenous peoples and she hates Earth and doesn't want to ever go there. This mission is the first time she has been around a significant population of earth-born humans. Kimi is well educated in languages, histories, and cultures through the Alliance Primary Education system but she has limits as they are "textbook,"

Lt. Cmdr. Jordan Nusholtz 

Nusholtz is the youngest pilot of the main ensemble and uses direct interphase to pilot vessels. While Qadir uses zero augmentation and Enemike uses maximum augmentation to pilot starfighters, Nusholtz is the middle ground between those two schools of thought/action and will come up with unique solutions within that content. In fact, he has skills and experience on par with Qadir and Enemike despite being at least a decade younger.. He initially joined under a task force assembled by the Israeli Defense Force but they withdrew from the Alliance after Mars was secured and Nusholtz joined the alliance as a pilot - and accepted a three-step demotion due to the nature of the alliance rank structure at the time - to bring the war to a conclusion and in solidarity with his adopted brother Anthony who is Palestinian.

Master Sergeant (Ret) Anthony Sydnor 

A former infantryman turned technical repairman, Sydnor is the Rosencrantz to Cmdr. Jordan Nusholtz’s Guildenstern, with a more absurdist sense of humor and a more practical view of the world. Sydnor is a widower but has three sons who are all in the Majiid initiative. He has a rather dim view of being in space, however, like many humans, he seeks the leave Earth behind and settle on one of the Alliance's home planets or even one of the terraformed planets which could include Venus would be preferable. He is Palestinian American and that informs his cynicism. He runs general supply on the Grand Falcon and if something needs to be acquired, he’s the one to acquire it.

Col. Rashad Ibn-Arai Al-Wali

Col. Al-Wali is the “by the book” type of person who doesn’t care much for individuality. He is an alliance sentience code enforcement officer, meaning he ensures the rights, history and dignity statutes for all living beings are, in fact, assured. Rather like a police officer but personal property isn't the goal. This also makes him the de-facto first contact officer. His personal feelings actually run counter to the sentience codes so in a way the codes are his “check,” to do the right things. The codes were NOT written exclusively by humans so in a way, he seeks guidance from them in much the same way Qadir does with Islam. However, Qadir seeks to justify compassion, kindness and justice whilst Al-Wali tries to justify his personal feelings and gets consistently thwarted.

[ghelgheli]

like, not only did the secular/atheist iranian people's fadāyān name themselves after sacrifice and uphold their martyrs, but it was also a matter of some embarrassment to the islamist people's mojāhedin that until the final years of the revolution, the fadāyān were significantly more active and had a wider presence in the people's consciousness because more of them were getting martyred.

[female-malice]

It’s very strange to me just how strongly the people in my internet sphere (ie those here on tumblr and also people I know irl on Instagram) have latched onto the I/P conflict. Not to say I agree with or condone either of those entities (I don’t) but this ask isn’t about them, and is more about people’s response to it here, hundreds or thousands of miles away… it just feels off that this gets so much more emotional and loud than other conflicts or human rights violations taking place around the world. I see so much more about it than I ever saw about the Uyghurs, Afghanistan when the US withdrew, the Iranian protests, or even Ukraine or Uvalde. The only thing that I can recall it to in recent memory is BLM in 2020, but that response made more sense to me given that it was largely an American issue so of course other Americans would be talking about it. The social media response has been weirdly fascinating from an internet behavior point of view

Well. "Holy Land"

Check this out

It really doesn't matter how new-age, neopagan, or atheist the average internet user is. If your grandparents are Christian, you're culturally Christian. If your grandparents are Muslim, you're culturally Muslim. Yes, we are adults with our own spiritual beliefs. But the social influence of Abrahamic religion is not all about individual spirituality. It's mostly about social structures, ancient cultural attitudes, relationships to land, righteousness, and tribalism. We are each socialized with characteristics and tendencies that reflect the socio-cultural influence of our family's dominant religion. And the political discourse in a region is defined by that region's dominant religion.

That's why activists fixated on this conflict constantly echo the socio-cultural influence of their Abrahamic faction. Even if they think they are neopagan atheist fluid, they still end up rehashing ancient blood libel and Abrahamic tribalism.

I'm an atheist but my grandparents are all Christian and I live in a Christian society. I think we always need to be aware of stuff like that or else we'll develop a cultural blindspot.

[sailorspica]

i am floored by islamophobia every single day jesus fucking christ but probably More disturbed by gentile zionists who aren't even from the US who really think they're fighting antisemitism by spreading vintage orientalism

the religion of any of these people Does Not Matter to usamerican material interests in the region (oil) but Does succeed in convincing the dumbest lib christians and and atheists in the west that iran and lebanon's involvement as "theocracies" justifies wiping gaza off the map, the same stupid 9/11 sex and the city 2 hand ringing about those repressed iranian women is back but even worse as you've stood by and let hundreds of thousands of palestinian women of Many religions, including judaism, die from bombs or starvation or preventable fucking dehumanizing lack of hygiene

[whileiamdying]

In Mehran Tamadon’s new films, Iranians remember their torture

“Where God Is Not” and “My Worst Enemy” underline the hypocrisy of the theocracy

image: andana films

One weekend in 2012, an atheist film-maker discussed secularism and the compulsory wearing of the hijab (headscarf), among other topics, with four Iranian mullahs. Mehran Tamadon, the film-maker, recorded the whole thing, hoping to initiate a dialogue with the supporters of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The resulting documentary, “Iranian”, had the opposite effect. Iranian intelligence agents confiscated Mr Tamadon’s passport in 2012 and, on returning it, told him to leave the country. He has not returned since.

His story has become depressingly familiar in Iran, where censors ban any work considered critical of the theocracy. Dissenting directors are subject to travel restrictions, interrogations and imprisonment. Despite all this, cinema continues to be an outlet for resistance against the regime. After a long hiatus, Mr Tamadon has resumed his “social experiments”, this time turning his lens on the barbaric techniques deployed in Iran’s prisons. His two new films, “Where God Is Not” (pictured, above) and “My Worst Enemy”, have their premiere in Britain at Sheffield DocFest this month.

One weekend in 2012, an atheist film-maker discussed secularism and the compulsory wearing of the hijab (headscarf), among other topics, with four Iranian mullahs. Mehran Tamadon, the film-maker, recorded the whole thing, hoping to initiate a dialogue with the supporters of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The resulting documentary, “Iranian”, had the opposite effect. Iranian intelligence agents confiscated Mr Tamadon’s passport in 2012 and, on returning it, told him to leave the country. He has not returned since.

His story has become depressingly familiar in Iran, where censors ban any work considered critical of the theocracy. Dissenting directors are subject to travel restrictions, interrogations and imprisonment. Despite all this, cinema continues to be an outlet for resistance against the regime. After a long hiatus, Mr Tamadon has resumed his “social experiments”, this time turning his lens on the barbaric techniques deployed in Iran’s prisons. His two new films, “Where God Is Not” (pictured, above) and “My Worst Enemy”, have their premiere in Britain at Sheffield DocFest this month.

In “Where God Is Not” three exiled Iranians re-enact their experiences of solitary confinement and torture in jail, including the notorious Evin prison in Tehran where thousands of political prisoners are detained. Mr Tamadon’s subjects are Mazyar Ebrahimi, a businessman who was accused of being a spy; Homa Kalhori, who wrote about the devastating torture she endured in the 1980s in her memoir “A Coffin for the Living”; and Taghi Rahmani, a journalist who has spent over 14 years in prison.

Each describes the horrors that their captors inflicted on them. The former prisoners remember the size of their solitary cells in paces. Mr Ebrahimi recollects how his tormentors played ping-pong after beating him in a makeshift torture chamber. To his persecutors, he implies, it was all a game. “Where God Is Not” is hard to watch, but that is the point, says Mr Tamadon in the film. He wants the abusers to confront their inhumanity when they see the documentary. They are however, unlikely to have the chance—and the film’s subjects dispute the idea that brainwashing can be countered so easily. “Stop patting yourself on the back!” Mr Rahmani tells the director.

image: andana films

In “My Worst Enemy” (see above), Mr Tamadon ends up agreeing with the naysayers. The film itself rebuts the claim that cinema can “make the interrogator doubt himself”, as the director puts it. Zar Amir Ebrahimi, a prominent Iranian actor who is also in exile (and is not related to Mazyar Ebrahimi), stages a mock interrogation of Mr Tamadon. She forces him to strip, hoses him down with icy water and makes him stand for hours. She lampoons the notion that you can conduct a meaningful conversation with a “killer holding all the power”. In any case, she asks him, in making these films,isn’t he profiting from others’ suffering? Mr Tamadon may not altogether have lost his faith in cinema’s ability to inspire change, but it is evidently wavering.

Nonetheless the visceral depiction of torture and interrogation in both films reflects a bold shift in Iranian cinema. After decades of employing subtle references to evade censors, auteurs are showing violence even though it invites allegations of “siah namayi”, or “painting black” Iran’s image. For example, in “Holy Spider” (2022), a religious extremist murders sex workers; “Law of Tehran” (2019) is a gory crime thriller. This defiance reflects the mood in Iran, where anti-government protests have continued since the death in custody last September of Mahsa Amini.

“My Worst Enemy” succeeds in capturing the process by which the abused can become the abuser. In the film, Ms Ebrahimi expresses her shock at the excitement she feels as Mr Tamadon’s interrogator. She attributes her vicious feelings to her own repeated questioning by security forces: having been denied power, she now wields it. The film insinuates that the depredations of a totalitarian regime can unleash an individual’s potential to commit heinous acts. This echoes Mr Rahmani’s warning in “Where God Is Not”: “Man is a wolf to fellow man,” he tells Mr Tamadon. “Don’t become that wolf.” ■

“Where God Is Not” and “My Worst Enemy” have their premiere in Britain at Sheffield DocFest between June 14th and 18th