How to dismantle speciesism?

Speciesism

– is not something unintentional, even if automatized for a big part in peoples thinking,

– it’s embedded in human history, it did not come overnight,

– it has many forms and problematic facets,

– and it is interconnected.

If we look at the foundations of this concept of species hierarchy (i.e. speciesism), we can see that a.) their fallacies can be dismantled, and b.) there is no option of not trying.

On what does speciesism base?

Different key aspect of speciesism lay in our perspectives and epistemologies coming from our angles of Religion/Spirituality, Rationality/Science, Philosophy, Culture/Civilization, Individuality/Society, in other words: the same factors that influence our outlooks on other humans and nature/the natural world.

The conflicts stemming from the systems underlying our views are comprehensive. Speciesism however is an expression of the fallacies of such systems.

This fragment as a PDF

TIERAUTONOMIE / Gruppe Messel

(Human Rights) No Freedom of thought over there … with no change in sight.

Why is free thinking banned in places like Iran? Because of the clerical “power” and the ones who support this type of system.

People are getting used to how things are in a place like Iran, from the outside at least. I can’t imagine that people inside of the country can get used to the praxis of public hanging or any type of public execution, punishment or routine torture tactics (http://iranhr.net/).

Well, there is just one place that’s as frustrating an example of political failures mixing with a totalitarian style reality of a religion, such as we have it in Iran. I was wondering if anything about the persecution of Sufis has changed in Iran. Nothing has changed, things get worse and the situation seems paralyzing. Below are some links that I found in that context.

Yet, another thing I was wondering about, was, when was Persia invaded by the the Islamic Arabs? So I took a mini excursion back into past history. I do wonder what created these strange divides that we find culturally in Iran up til today. Here is what Wikipedia says about the Muslim Arab invasion:

The Battle of al-Qādisiyyah (Arabic: معركة القادسيّة‎; transliteration, Ma’rakat al-Qādisiyyah; Persian: نبرد قادسيه‎; alternative spellings: Qadisiyya, Qadisiyyah, Kadisiya), fought in 636, was the decisive engagement between the Arab Muslim army and the Sassanid Persian army during the first period of Muslim expansion. It resulted in the Islamic conquest of Persia

Sasanian general Rostam Farrokhzād (remembered as an historical figure, a character in the Persian epic poem Shahnameh) faced with the Arabs had to experience this:

During the final day of the battle, there was a heavy sandstorm facing the Sasanian army. Rostam used a camel loaded with weapons as shelter to avoid the sandstorm. Not knowing that Rostam was behind, Hilāl ibn `Ullafah accidentally cut the girdle of the load on the camel. The weapons fell on Rostam and broke his back leaving him half dead and paralyzed. Hilal beheaded Rostam and shouted “I swear to the god of Kaaba that I have killed Rostam.” Shocked by the head of their legendary leader dangling before their eyes, the Sasanian were demoralized, and the commanders lost control of the army. Many Sasanian soldiers were slain in the chaos, many escaped through the river, and finally the rest of the army surrendered.

So here are some links on the situation of Sufis and other oppressed groups / people / individuals in Iran:

Witness Statement of Hamed Khajeheian: A Sufi Persecuted (2013) iranhrdc.org

Iran Continues Crackdown on Sufis (2013) HuffPost

Be the voice of political prisoners in Iran
http://cfppienglish.wordpress.com/

Ayatollah Hossein-Kazamani Boroujerdi, a senior member of the Shiite Muslim clergy, is presently serving the eighth year of an 11-year sentence handed down to him by the Islamic Republic’s courts for advocating the separation of state and religion inside Iran.
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4158/ayatollah-hossein-kazamani-boroujerdi

From Tahereh Ghorrat-al-Ain’s death at the instigation of reactionary mullahs [1] to today we have witnessed a century and a half of struggle of Iranian women for social justice and gender equality. It has cost the lives of thousands of women.
http://www.iran-bulletin.org/witness/ghaffar2.html

The Perils Of Religious Persecution In Iran (2013) Forbes Mag

Finally:

2011: According to BBC Persian, the largest mural in Iran (5,000 meters), found along the walls of Mashad’s Ferdowsi Square, was removed in the course of one night as part of the municipality’s “beautification” efforts. The mural had only been completed a few months ago, and depicted scenes from Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh.It had taken a team of workers a year to create. Source: fesenjoon.tumblr.com

Oh yes, let’s of course not forget about freaking gender segregation, it’s reality!!!

(All links 18th March 2014)