crazy peopleThe relationship between the United States and Iran is strained. There is a definite possibility of war between the two nations at some point in the future. Some people therefore think that all Iranians are militant Muslims who wish to attack the United States and everything it represents. Are the Iranians really crazy people with extreme religious views, or is this a media myth?
 
Sometimes when the cultural practices of a nation differ greatly from our own, they seem strange and even frightening to us. They may even seem a little insane. Does that mean that the people of that nation are really crazy? Not necessarily. The average U.S. citizen may not understand the mindset of an Iranian. However, as far as Iranians are concerned, their behavior and culture is perfectly normal. Perhaps Iranians think that Americans are the crazy people.
 
Some people in Iran are insane. There are crazy people living in every country on earth. Of course the Mullahs who suggest that young Iranian men blow themselves up in the name of Allah are crazy people, just as those who take their ranting seriously are brainwashed. The Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is obviously crazy too, and highly dangerous.

The United States also has plenty of crazy people. Some people think George Bush is stupid, insane, aggressive and just as dangerous as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Indeed there are people who believe that the current United States president should be tried in the Hague for crimes against humanity. America also has a sizable quantity of religious zealots. The members of the Westboro Baptist Church, for example, could all do with extensive mental health counseling. So could the people who live on that polygamist compound in Texas.
Broadly speaking, the Iranian people are no more crazy than people from the United States. I know because I have met ordinary Iranian people. I found them to be friendly, generous and easy to talk to. Iranians are not generally crazy people, nor are they evil. In reality, they are very similar to you or I. They just happen to live under the yolk of an evil dictator. Those Iranians who are not capable of critical thinking might believe in Ahmadinejad’s propaganda, but that doesn’t mean that they are crazy people. Similarly, those Americans who believe the misinformation they hear on the Fox News channel are not crazy people, they are just easily lead.

Is Iran a nation of crazy people and religious zealots who want to kill everybody in the United States? The answer to that question largely depends on who and what you want to believe. Personally, I don’t think that Iranians are so very dissimilar to us.