Roger Cohen
Today New York Times columnist Roger Cohen (9/27/13) offered some reasons to be skeptical of what we’re hearing from Iranian president Hassan Rouhani. He is, after all, Muslim:
As the Iranians say, “Not everything round is a walnut”—and not every form of “heroic flexibility” is an olive branch. Iran always operates on at least two tracks; to do otherwise would be simplistic. Its Shiite religion permits, in some circumstances, the embroidering of the truth for the protection of the faith, a divinely sanctioned dissimulation. This is a land where straight talk and virtue are not widely seen to overlap.
Now, I prefer a different kind of skepticism, one that is not religiously based; I.F. Stone’s famous pronouncement that “all governments lie” is a better, less bigoted principle for evaluating world leaders.
Cohen is offering a more nuanced, shall we say, critique than Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen, who once declared that “these Persians lie like a rug”—get it? But what’s he referring to, anyway?
We’ve touched on this before (FAIR Blog, 4/17/12; Extra!, 6/12). It would seem that Cohen is referring to an ancient Shiite concept called taqiyya (or pious dissimulation). As scholar Juan Cole explained (Informed Comment, 4/16/12), these references to an Islamic license to lie are misleading. He wrote that “in fact Islamic ethics forbids lying (kidhb),” and taqiyya was about self-preservation at a time of intense sectarian violence:
For Shiites, who were often a minority in early Muslim societies, the doctrine of pious dissimulation was permission to say that they were actually Sunni Muslims if saying that would save their lives or their big property.
Cole notes that Iran has been a majority Shiite country for the past several centuries, so the idea that Shiites would need to conceal their religious identity to avoid persecution is a stretch.
Hassan Rouhani
Jewish scholars and some Christians theologians such as Martin Luther have produced similar ethical doctrines about the acceptability of lying to prevent a greater evil. And antisemites have cited these Talmudic discussions to make the argument that Jews can’t be believed (ADL, 2/03).
But in mainstream media, you’re likely to see this kind of religious bigotry invoked against Iran, not Israel—or Denmark, for that matter. As Islam is seen as an exotic faith in US culture, otherwise sensible pundits are willing to believe that it offers a special pass when it comes to lying. As blogger Nima Shirazi (4/21/12) put it:
The claim that taqiyya permits (or even encourages) religious Muslims to lie for any reason whatsoever is simply not true—but its misinterpretation does reveal the Islamophobic tendencies of those who promote such falsehoods as a way to discount and discredit diplomacy on their way to war.
> He is, after all, Muslim.
Interesting summation … it’s almost like you want people to be pro-Iran no matter what?
“[O]therwise sensible pundits are willing to believe … ”
Some examples of their sensibleness in other instances would be appreciated.
And do they actually believe their own propaganda?
This all comes down to personal and very subjective experience, and not political gamesmanship. The generalizations that Mr. Cohen makes are so silly!
“So, “You can’t trust shiites..” you say. Well, I bet a lot of kids would say that about some Catholic priests.
” You can’t trust a black president.”.: most of the GOP TEA HOUSE.
“You can never trust Wall St..” just about everyone in the Middle Class…o.k. ex- Middle Class.
Look at pictures of Richard Nixon and people will understand why he was called Tricky Dick. Presence comes from within and it’s hard to superfacially fake that.
Why shouldn’t I trust Mr. Rouhani? After all, he is talking PEACE, which for some reason is a much hated word in our Congress. Besides that, trust also factors into a person’s presence. ( see above note re: Richard Nixon)
Let’s look at both Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Rouhani:
Mr. Netanyahu has been saying for a decade that Iran has a bomb..and lately we are hearing …forget about Syria..bomb Iran!
A big OMG WOW on street creds: going, going …gone!
Now, Mr. Rouhani talks of peace, and has a gentle presence and is not talking about bombing anyone. Besides, what nation has Iran ever bombed in the 20th or 21st century? The 19th century… before that? Mr. Rouhani also has a lovely hat, and a white one that looks like a halo! He has a very calming presence, which the world certainly needs.
Mr. Netanyahu is often yelling and looking angry; he wears no halo hat, but he does wear his hair in a comb over. I have read that people with comb overs are not dealing well with reality; perhaps that is true.
So being totally SUBJECTIVE, like Mr, Cohen….see what I came up with! GIVE PEACE A CHANCE , Mr. Cohen. besides, that here’s another great amd truthful saying: “… there are more things in Heaven and Earth, than are dreamt of in your philosophy…..” Dream bigger Mr. Cohen…PLEASE!
This repeats the anti-Shiite propaganda being used by groups like Al Qaeda and Lashkar-i Jahangir to justify mass-killing of Shiites in Pakistan and Iraq. Does Mr. Cohen know anything about about the Islamic world besides his own prejudices?
Do not believe their lies; check the Koran; tenant of faith is kill infidels; ok to lie to them until you are able to kill.
Charles ross, please delight us all with that verse in the Quran, and not some fictious one you got from the internet, anyway here are a few from the Talmud which can be researched and verified..
Abhodah zarah 26b “Even the best of the Goim (Gentile) should be killed”
Baba Kamma 113a “Jews may use subterfuge (Lies) to circumvent the gentiles”
So, is there Jewish doctrine that excuses Roger Cohen or is he just a liar and bigot on his own?
“Its Shiite religion permits, in some circumstances, the embroidering of the truth for the protection of the faith, a divinely sanctioned dissimulation.” Wrong. “Taqiyya” is particular to verbally renouncing one’s faith to protect ones life, or someone else’s life, not faith. It is particular to life or death circumstances, and nothing else.
cohen is a jew! how can we trust these jews, remember their lies before they pushed us into Iraq?
Here’s a hint….
Watch Youtube video
Netanyahu was wrong about Iraq having nuclear weapons
The piece cited by the article is typical high’n’mighty zionist bullshit. Theguy says, you can’t trust shias? That’s hardly the point. It’s not up to Iran to wave the olive branch. It’s up to the US, which has been running a campaign against Iran strictly (yes, strictly) applying the clauses of the Nuclear non(prolif. treaty (NPT). It allows Iran and anyone else to enrich uranium to generate electric power and make isotopes for cancer research.
It’s the US and its poodles around the world that have been beating the drum against Iran. Typical imperialism!!