Nuggets of wisdom

As I mentioned in my previous post, one of the most entertaining things about Iranian cities are the yellow signs that hang from the fences of public buildings. These signs have verses from the Quran in three languages (Farsi, Arabic and English). They are entertaining because they reveal an anachronistic notion of the role of the State in the 21st century -namely, a State that does not recognize civic and political liberties, but rather seeks to impose religious obligations on its citizens. I do not see how that can work out. Nobody likes to be told how to live, or how to practice their religion. 

On the other hand, let us remember that Iran is a theocracy. By taking a holy book and deriving laws and norms from it, they are just being congruent. The idea of a theocracy is what seems rotten to me (and to most of the world, for that matter). But I suppose that if you want to be taken seriously as a theocracy, you have to slice your holy book into nuggets of wisdom and force them down the throats of your subjects. 

In any case, here are five of these signs so you can judge for yourself.

"Advise your family to establish prayer regularly,
and yourself be a constant performer of it"

"And a believer who puts his trust in Allah, he will make
him free from the need of mankind"

"And obey Allah and the messenger, so
that you may obtain mercy"

"And those who exceed the limits ordained by Allah,
then such are indeed the transgressors"

"Say (O Messenger), to the believing men not to stare in the women's eyes
and that they should have control over their carnal desires"