Theos-Talk Archives (August 1997 Message tl00099)

Here is an interesting news item.

If Iran and their Moslem Clergy have taken note and recognized the
importance of Internet, I hope any "theosophists" who talk of theos-l as
doggie-doo better start rethink their ideas about Internet and
maillists. Soon they all will be left behind for their own good.

............doss

==================================
>From CNN On-line News:

                     Islam, Iran and the
                     Internet

                     May 22, 1997
                     Web posted at: 2:47 p.m. EDT (1847 GMT) 

QOM, Iran (CNN) -- Eighteen years after launching
their Islamic republic -- a government built on Muslim
fundamentals -- Iran's leaders remain split over how to
reconcile the demands of religion with the realities of
the 1990s. 

The holy city of Qom -- a center of pilgrimage for the
Shi'ite faithful -- celebrates the spendors of its past. At
the same time, however, the clergy are mindful of the
future. 

At the Ayatollah Gulpaybahane Computer Center in
one of the city's theological colleges, Muslim instructors
known as mullahs are transferring over 2,000 Islamic
teachings -- first to CD-ROM and then to the Internet. 

When it comes to spreading Islamic beliefs, they know
the Net is a resource they can't afford to ignore, even
though some of Iran's leaders have spoken out fiercely
against dangerous Western influences just a
mouse-click away. 

The director of the computer center, Sheikh Ali Korani,
doesn't debate the issue but says the Internet is a reality
that Iran must learn to live with. 

"Take a knife, for example. You can use it in the
kitchen or you can use it to commit crimes," he says. 
"Many things have such a double nature and the
Internet is one of them. You can use it in different
ways. The main thing is to use it for the good. And at
present our clergy have not said that it is forbidden." 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.