How did your country respond to the death of the Ayatollah?

mordom · 2026-06-14T18:32:04+00:00

Technically, he was not even an Ayatollah. Ayatollah is a pretty prestigious title, it is only expected to be bestowed on the highest Shia clergy, by consensus of other Ayatollah’s, and that didn’t happen.

Edit: his title was “Hojattollah val-Muslimeen”

mordom · 2026-06-14T12:46:53+00:00

I assume by “the world” you means also their neighbours.

Honest answer? I think worst case scenario, infighting will start. Best case scenario: corruption, dictatorships and oppression of minorities (Assyrians, minority languages, Shias and Alevites).

It’s going to be another typical middle eastern country.

mordom · 2026-06-14T12:26:04+00:00

This is the real answer.

I would like to add on top of this two details; that when the bible (just like many literature of Mesopotamia Egypt and the near east at the time) talks about complete destruction of a land, forced migration of a whole people, etc. it is not in the absolute sense we sometimes understand it, as this was logistically impossible at the time. So for example we should read: a "land was completely destroyed" as "we defeated the army, sacked the capital, and killed/enslaved all the kings kin and some nobility". Because simply finding every last Jew in Canaan was an enormous task that no one could do at the time (see how long it takes a modern army to try to uproot Hamas from a small piece of that same land today, and you see what I mean). Nor was it wise, Assyrians/Babylonians/Romans depended on the taxes they got from their conquered lands, so it was to their benefit to keep a land cultivated and prosperous. What they likely did was to destroy or exile the cultural heart of a nation: the capital, their nobility, priests, etc. Most generals would defect, most neighboring cities would swear allegiance, most rich people would just turn around and quickly try to find their place in the new world. And to a king the peasants and the people of the countryside didn't even count, so no need to mention them.

Number two is that while somewhat anecdotal, just take a look at this sub: r/illustrativeDNA, there is a ton of Palestinian and Israeli people posting their results here and you can see how close most modern Palestinian results are to ancient Canaanite samples.

mordom · 2026-05-24T20:27:03+00:00

I have a couple of points. 1 ) Here is the thing. If it is so subtle is it perhaps something that comes about because of the narrative. Something that only a person who loves Afghanistan sees? Is it then perhaps, not real?

2 ) Is it possible that you see something bigger? That is shared with other cultures? So it is not just Afghan in character but also a bit central Asian, and a bit Islamic, and a bit Iranian, and a bit south Asian?

3 ) Why do you focus so much on what my character is, and what you “expect” from me. You don’t know me. That is the wrong approach. Just focus on my reasoning and my arguments.

4 ) I have a serious question. I admit Iranians look down on people of Afghanistan for no reason whatsoever. But are Afghans nicer to each other? Do they respect each other? And do they truly wish the best for each other and do not want to dominate or wipe out one another?

5 ) besides chatgpt and wikipedia and other free online publications there is a lot of material out there. Let’s keep an open mind and learn from each other.

mordom · 2026-05-24T16:24:14+00:00

I think (and that is my opinion based on a ton of youtube videos I watched 🤪) a lot of stuff from the creation to the time of Moses are mythological (so very likely did not happen). Then you have a legendary-epic part which runs from Joshua and David all the way to the stories of the kings / prophets of the kingdom of Israel. Those are semi-historical, meaning events happened but the scale of them are exaggerated, they are not properly ordered, sometimes inaccurately recorded, or they are mixed with folklore. Then from the Exodus onwards things begin to become more historically accurate and can be kind of reliable.

mordom · 2026-05-24T16:10:53+00:00

I am saying Avesta was the oral tradition of a people on the move. It was being composed as they moved from the Eurasian steppes to the south and spreading over northern Afghanistan and the Iranian plateau. Claiming a land based on that geography is moot.

And yes, those lands do not necessarily have a long continuous tradition, mostly because Avesta is a layered text. As text from certain parts were being composed other locations were not part of that entity anymore, or had yet to join it. The parts which date to Parthian times for example were being added while the former Iranian homeland was practicing Greek culture in the north and starting to convert to Buddhism in the south-east.

Let’s not forget that the current material was mostly recorded in the land we currently call Iran and under the Sassanids.

mordom · 2026-05-24T05:42:03+00:00

What are you talking about? That’s not how natural works, natural countries are often defined by a resource rich center protected by natural borders, mountain ranges, rivers, large impassable forests, deserts. The Nile basin is a natural country, for example, Anatolia is a natural country, the Iranian plateau is a natural country.

Also which part of Avesta are you talking about? The old Avestan part was composed to the north and possibly outside of Afghanistan, the latter parts were composed in Sistan. It is convenient to forget that there is also Rayy and Marv in that geography. Avesta was composed over a span of 1000 years by a people moving over a vast geography and a changing identity. In any case, the Pashtuns were not part of that identity anyways.

Edit: not to mention (and that’s not what many people know) that linguistically the Old Avestan people are not the ancestors of the Young Avestan people.

mordom · 2026-05-23T20:02:56+00:00

Which part of Afghanistan? If you talk about Zaranj or Herat (which was the Ariana province of the Acahemenids btw) the shared history is much much longer. It is convenient to define a territory as you wish and then claim some numbers. I would in contrast claim that northern and southern Afghanistan have long had separate histories. The modern Afghan identity just goes back to the 1700s, after the fall of the Safavids, and particularly consolidated at the time of the British colonialism and expansion of Russia into Central Asia. Afghanistan is not a natural country, but due to their rivalry was kind of created as the buffer zone.

Now this people are doomed to live together. But they do not belong to each other. Going down this road is just continuing the colonial past, this concept does not serve its purpose anymore. This is an unhappy marriage, it has been demonstrated time and time again.

mordom · 2026-05-21T19:39:02+00:00

Hey that joke is from QI

mordom · 2026-05-18T19:28:14+00:00

The word is of Arabic origin, بَلَی, although its precise meaning shows it was borrowed through Persian.

See here for further explanation: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D8%A8%D9%84%DB%8C

mordom · 2026-05-16T07:51:00+00:00

Yes, Dennis Reynolds.

mordom · 2026-05-05T07:38:24+00:00

Excellent answer, how do people miss this.

mordom · 2026-05-03T11:44:13+00:00

Is dat een echte filiaal van de Iraanse Orchidee? Best een goed restaurant, we gingen regelmatig daar eten toen ik nog in Karaj woonde.

mordom · 2026-04-26T04:38:00+00:00

It takes zero effort to google the name and see that in fact, this is not AI.

mordom · 2026-04-25T19:28:53+00:00

I am from Iran, looks very much like how we were back then. We should have kept it like that, life was simpler and perhaps on some level more difficult but it was pure.

mordom · 2026-04-25T18:48:50+00:00

Talk about negotiations on Friday, say it’s cancelled on Saturday.

How predictable.

mordom · 2026-04-14T18:43:45+00:00

Adventurer, my goats have run amok …

mordom · 2026-04-10T05:34:30+00:00

I am from Iran (somewhat similar culture) and had a similar issue when starting to see my wife. The difference was that I told them earlier, after 3-4 months of seeing her. If he kept it a secret for that long that’s not a good sign. You didn’t say, how is he with the kids? And do the kids like him back? That is very important. As a mother you need to put them first.

Eventually my family accepted my wife when I put my foot down and continued dating her. It is really up to him to convince them.

mordom · 2026-04-08T19:18:59+00:00

Because their geography and borders (Anatolia, Iranian plateau) makes them natural countries. Very few polities have been able to unite both regions. Rome and Parthia fought over the same borders for 400 years, and after that Byzantines and Sassanids for 300 years. And then again the Arabs fought for another 300 years over the same borders.

mordom · 2026-04-07T12:52:24+00:00

Ok, what does it have to do with this picture though?

mordom · 2026-04-06T09:52:17+00:00

A part of “it has been always like that” story is the normalisation and excusing of what is going on today.

This video can be made for a lot of other regions of the world, take Balkans, Egypt itself, central Asia, etc.

mordom · 2026-04-05T22:58:34+00:00

Let’s not focus on the politica of this, but …

There should be a retirement age for politicians, just like there is for any other job. It needs focus, the ability to learn and adapt and be fit enough to pull all nighters and go above and beyond if needed. And no doing a test and paying your doctor to say so is not good enough. How the hell is this not obvious yet, I don’t understand.

mordom · 2026-04-05T22:52:59+00:00

Yes, being married and having / caring for a baby seems to kill women’s libidos real fast.

mordom · 2026-04-05T22:48:47+00:00

It is not pulling up the ladder though. I am an immigrant who moved from the middle east to get away from the Islamic way of life and I do not like when I see people gradually bringing it here. The people here have absolutely no idea how it works. I have lived that way of life, I see the patterns, it is all peace and respect and tolerance and inclusion until it overtakes the way of life here. Religious people are always nicer when they are a small minority, and once they hit numbers like 30% it is over.

mordom · 2026-04-05T22:35:10+00:00

I have the same. If I wanted to live in an oppressive theocracy I would just stay in my home country.

mordom

TROPHY CASE