11th september

When it happened I was in the north of the Iran where I was studying at BS. I exactly remember the time in which we watched by television that terrorizing act. I felt sympathy for American people but, at first, I was wondering why Judaic employees could be off on that horrible day! I never understand it was true news or only was a lie.

I felt immediately it would be a starting point for important changes all over the world especially in political problems. Now I can see clearly it was right.

Ancient people were dividing whole of the time into several periods each of which had its own characteristics. They, in fact, had a strong sense regarding the time that Ernst Cassirer call it “sense of phases”. In the end of each period some new elements belonging to the next period will emerge and impose themselves upon existing circumstances. It will create powerful and immense challenges between old and new elements. In the most recent forms of archaic thought, Islam and Christianity, these challenges have been called “apocalyptic events”. I am not – in the correct sense of the word – a religious man. But I can perceive religious point of view. Then, I have always considered these five years in this viewpoint.

To my mind, the war between USA and Middle East States is not a war between Christianity and Islam. But, first and foremost, is a war between the youngest country and those countries containing the oldest cultures. It recalls the challenge between every young people and old one. Regarding this fact, the war between America and Iran should be the most important stage of this challenge. Inasmuch as since 1979 revolution, we have had a State which emphasize strongly on the archaic elements of our culture. This culture is not so much Islamic as Persian. Shiism – as Henry Corbin had pointed out – is the Persian spirit in the Islamic cloths; the Iranian volksgeist which is reflected in Arabic words and names, although is itself older than them! Then, if you pay attention carefully, you can hear nationalistic motifs in political statements of both American and Iranian politicians. I think, Islam for our volksgeist and Christianity for American volksgeist are mere useful instruments to provoke the other nations and to get drawn them into this challenge.

We must bear in mind every new period would emerge through synthesizing old and new components of the culture. They would create as thesis and anti- thesis a synthesis which will bring about cultural sphere of the future world. Thus, we must say, the future world, is neither merely western nor eastern, but a unified world. I guess we are going toward such circumstances.