“And why is it new age values in Western society would tell us there is no inherent evil in the world but only gray areas of right and wrong? Oh, he wasn’t evil when he raped a teenager; he may have been foolish and weak, but not evil. Or he wasn’t committing an evil when he stole a box of apples from the supermarket, he was hungry and lacked clear judgment. Why?

What is it about calling an act evil which Sargonians and the rest of ’em object to? Because if they called evil for what it was, they would have to consider that the individual does not control one’s own destiny. There are other powers at work in this temporal world of flesh and blood besides their western psyches and behavioral processes. There is a greater power! God is great!”

“God is great,” the assembly responded. Zareen and I heard some in the crowd start to chant “Allah Akbar!” We left without socializing with anyone. The next day I was scheduled to meet with Jaleh. We hadn’t seen each other in months. I had been corresponding solely with his cousin Jahan.

Copyright December 12, 2014

John Rubens