a theological essay by Sheila T.

Harty

ecently, I asked a Middle Eastern man his nationality. He said Persian. I smiled at his side step rather than claim Iranian. Both terms are accurate, so one gets to choose. His choice of self-identity reflects political realities and historical pride. The country's original name was Iran, 1 meaning land of the Aryans, a Sanskrit term for the Indo-European language group originating 5,000 years ago. Persis is Greek for Iran, so Greeks called these people Persian.

Persian Empire

later. So the Persian Empire, loosely speaking, refers to all successive states from 6th century BCE up to 1935 CE, when its name changed back to Iran. At its peak, the Persian Empire was three times larger than Iran is today. Its territory included the lands of Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Palestine, Syria, Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Yemen, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates, and most of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Egypt, and Turkey, and parts of Kazakhstan, Russia, India, Libya, Tunisia, and Greece. Immense! Most Americans know that Iran is Islamic and of the Shiite sect. Yet the Persian Empire existed for fifteen centuries before Arabs conquered it for Islam in the 7th century CE. Another nine centuries passedinto the 1500sbefore Persian Muslims became Shiite. Yet, a profile of Iran as merely Shiite Islam fails to acknowledge its ancient Persian culturenoted once as the world's first religiously tolerant empire. So heres 2,600 years of political and religious history for you. 2 yrus the Great, King of Iran in 6th century BCE, 3 set the standard of the ideal rulergenerous and compassionate. When Cyrus captured Babylon, he released the Jews, captive there for two generations since the destruction of the Jerusalem temple by Assyrians, 4 and assisted them in migrating back to their homeland, though only a quarter of them did. Hebrew Scripture records Cyrus' benevolence in Chronicles II and in the prophets Ezra and Isaiah. 5 Cyrus' own account is considered the first charter of human rights, predating the Magna Carta by 2,000 years. 6 It is inscribed on a clay cylinder and has been imprisoned in the British Museum since its rediscovery in the 19th century and only recently allowed home on loan. 7 It reads:
I am Cyrus, king of the world, great king, mighty king... When I... entered Babylon... My numerous troops moved about undisturbed ... I did not allow any to terrorize the land... I kept in view the needs of Babylon and all its sanctuaries to promote their well-being. ... I put an end to their misfortunes...

he Persian Empire, strictly speaking, refers to successive dynasties from 6 to 3 century BCE. Then TAlexander the Great conquered Persia, but the Persian Empire regained autonomy two centuries
th rd

Empire at Its Peak

arius the Great, King of Persia, is also recorded in Hebrew scripture, since Cyrus' decree to rebuild Dthe Jerusalem temple took almost fifty years and into Darius' reign. An inscription on Darius tomb
8 9
1 2

The ancient version is "Aryanam." In summarizing 2,600 years of history, I relied on three major sources: (1) From Ancient Persia to Contemporary Iran by Reza Ladjevardian (Waldorf MD: Mage Publications, 2005); (2) The History of Iran by Khodadad Rezakhani (Iranologie.com, 2007); and (3) The Struggle for Iran by Christopher de Bellaigue (New York NY: New York Review of Books, 2007). A bibliography of additional sources is appended with attention to a series of articles on Iran by Seymour M. Hersh in The New Yorker, 2006-2008, and a National Geographic profile, August 2008. 3 557-530 BCE. 4 586 BCE. 5 II Chronicles 36:22, Ezra 1:17, and Isaiah 45:1. 6 Marguerite del Giudice, Persia: Ancient Soul of Iran, National Geographic, August 2008, pg. 49 7 Cyrus Cylinder Loaned to Iran by British Museum, BBS News Online, September 10, 2010. 8 522-486 BCE. 9 Ezra 4:5, 5:6.

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reflects his commitment to the traditions of Cyrus:

By the favor of the great God, I [Darius] believe in justice and abhor inequity. It is not my desire that the weak man should have wrong done to him by the mighty...

Darius was the greatest of the Persian kings. He pushed the borders of the Persian Empire east to the Indus River and west across North Africa and into Greecethe largest empire the world had yet known larger by 25 percent more than the Roman Empire. 10 Darius built impressive infrastructure, including an enormous underground irrigation system. More impressive, he had a canal dug linking the Nile River to the Red Sea24 centuries before the Suez Canal! An inscription found by 19th century archeologists recorded the king's pride:
I am a Persian. I commanded to dig this canal from a river by name of Nile, which flows in Egypt... After this canal was dug, ships went from Egypt through this canal to Persia, thus as was my desire.

Most impressive was the Royal Road, stretching 1,677 miles across the empire. The road was well maintained, free from bandits, with inns along the way. Its construction was so good that its use continued into Roman times. The road's strategic purpose was to keep the king informed; so 111 stations along the way (every 14 miles) provided messengers with a fresh horse. Travelers normally took three months to traverse the road; the king's messengers took seven days. The Greek historian Herodotus gave high praise for this ancient relay team:
There is nothing in the world that travels faster than these Persian couriers. Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor dark of night can stay these messengers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.

Yes, that's the source of the U.S. Postal Service's unofficial mottonot the Pony Express of the American West!but the words of Herodotus, the most important chronicler of Persia and King Darius' messengers on his Royal Road.

Monotheism's Prototype

ne history 11 of the Persian Empire claimed that Darius' parents knew the Persian prophet Zarathrustra 12 who converted them to Zoroastrianism. Most scholars dispute that as too early a date for the religions founder. An older dating is more probable 13 (even as much more as 1700 to 1000 BCE). This ancient religionthe world's first monotheismenlightened the historic Persian dynasties. Zoroastrianism was also the world's first religion to profess "eschatology." That is, a belief in "end times," such as the Christians' apocalypse. Indeed, Zoroastrianism was THE major influence on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Judaism reflects the Zoroastrian belief in an afterlife of either a fiery hell or a blissful heaven, which Christianity also adoptedalthough hell for Zoroastrianism was only temporary, a purgative correction. Indeed, the word "paradise" is Persian. Before the Babylonian exile, Jewish afterlife was a shadowy place called sheol for both virtuous and wicked humans as well as animals; upon return, the Jews held Zoroastrian belief about heaven and hell. Christianity reflects the Zoroastrian beliefs in free will, messianic redemption, angels, physical resurrection, and last judgment. The "Magi" who followed a star to the birth of Jesus referred to the Magians, a Persian tribe. 14

10

Much larger at 2,123,000 sq. mi. than the Roman Empire at 1,698,400 sq. mi. (six centuries later), but smaller than the Hun Empire of China at 2,509,000 sq. mi. four-a-half centuries later. 11 A.T. Olmstead, History of the Persian Empire (Chicago IL: University of Chicago Press, 1959). 12 Zoroaster is the Greek form of his name and means shining star.. 13 The dating for Zarathrustra is based on linguistics. Zoroastrian sacred texts, the Gathas, were written by Zarathrustra in an ancient language (Avestan) closely related to Sanskrit, similar to that in the Hindu Rig Veda. 14 The 1st century Jewish author of The Gospel According to Matthew (2:1-12) did not distinguish carefully among Eastern religions and cults by referring to "Magi" who saw a star in the East; more accurately, the Chaldeans (prior to Babylonians and Persians) were astrologers who interpreted celestial omens. Lendering, Jona, Magians: Old Persian Magu (www.iranchamber.com: Iran Chamber Society, 2007).

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Islam reflects the Zoroastrian practice of prayer five times a day, preceded by a cleansing ritual. Zoroastrian temples had domed roofs on four pillars with arches between, prototype for the mosque, and also had madreseh or religious schools. Zoroastrianism is often misunderstood as a dualist religion with two gods in competition over human souls. Rather, Zoroastrianism is the world's oldest religion with a duality of good and evil between which humanity has to choose. This ethical dualism is manifest in human hearts and minds, not in the cosmos. The Zoroastrian God was called Ahura Mazda. Later Zoroastrianism did animate a destructive evil spirit (Angra Mainyu) in competition with Ahura Mazda as the creative divine spiritand the good one wins. In 3rd century BCE, Zoroastrianism became the state religion of Persia. 15 Its three-fold pathGood Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deedsencouraged civic duty. Zarathrustra, who claimed no divine revelation, 16 warned against both corrupt rulers and priests and exhorted social justice. Zoroastrianism did not demand blind faith. Zoroaster said: Give ear, listen, ponder with expanding awareness, decide, discriminate; each man must choose his faith for himself. The great Persian kings took Zoroastrianism to heart. Even Herodotus noted the Persians aversion to lying. 17

Islamic Golden Age

state religionSunni Islamand Arabic the language. When the Arabs arrived, bringing what was for them the new idea of worshipping a single God, Persians had been doing so for more than a millennia. 18 As one who lived among the Persians wrote: A whole nation was transformed; yet the change was only skin deep, as soon heterodox sects prospered on Persian soilShiites, Sufis, Ismailisas if to vindicate the claim of AryanPersian thought to be free. 19

successfully defending itself for centuries against the Roman and Byzantine Empires and ChristianAfter dom, the Persian Empire fell to Arab Muslims in the 7 century CE. From then on, Islam became the
th

Still, Zoroastrian Persians found Islamic justice appealing. To this day, social justice is the hallmark of the Islamic community; in fact, the primacy of the individual is thought to be the death of society. By 8th century, Persians were fully invested in Islam, becoming rivals to Arabs for leadership of the Islamic community. 20 Relocating the Islamic capital to Baghdad reflected this rise of Persian influence; by 9th century, local Persian monarchs were in power. Once again, Persia became a world leader, this time leading the world in science from the 9th to 13th centurythe Golden Age of Persian culture. Persian mathematician Khwarazmi introduced algebra and algorithms, the basis of computing. Persian chemist Rhazes introduced the use of antiseptics a thousand years before Joseph Lister. Persian doctor Avicenna wrote a five-volume encyclopedia on all known diseases, which was used in European medical schools longer than any other medical textbook. Persian mathematician Omar Khayyam refined the Persian calendar, which is still in use today and more accurate than the Gregorian calendar that appeared five centuries later. Then came the Mongol hordes. In 13th century, Ghengis Khans grandson attacked Baghdad with unparalleled brutality, slaughtering millions. In fact, the Persian population did not recover until the 20th century. After the Mongol invasion, the Persian poet Rumi consoled a whole culture with the wisdom of
15 16

The Sassanid Dynasty. Zarathrustra had visions but said that he reached God through his own efforts simultaneous with Gods communication to him. Zoroastrian sacred texts (the Gathas), if inspired, are the inspiration of a poet. Shapero, Hannah M.G., Zarathrustra: Prophet and Founder, Ushtasaiti (Mesa AZ: Pyracantha, 2004). 17 De Bellaique, Christopher, The Struggle for Iran (New York NY: New York Review of Books, 2007), pg 147. 18 del Giudice, Persia, pg. 64. 19 Browne, Edward Granville, Chapter VI: "Mysticism, Metaphysics, and Magic," A Year Among the Persians: 1887-1888 (Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press, 1927). 20 From the Umayyad Caliphate (661-750 CE) to the Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258 CE).

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Sufism. His disciples founded the mystic order of whirling dervishes, who induced trace-like states to rise above it all. Four decades after the Mongol invasion, a Mongol Khanlike previous Greek, Arab, and Turk invadersconverted to Islam and adopted Persian culture.

Shiite Dominance

in several Islamic countries and the majority in a few, 21 yet Persia is the only country where Shiites took political control. In fact, Shiism served to differentiate Persia from the Ottoman Empire, which, along with the rest of the Arab world, was Sunni. 22 Today, 90 percent of Iranians are Shiite, whereas 90 percent of Muslims worldwide are Sunni. Persians are Muslims; they are not Arabs. Shiite and Sunni differences are significant. The schism began over succession. After Mohammed's death, a "caliph" was elected deputy on the basis of merit. A vocal minority wanted succession on the basis of heredity, specifically Mohammed's cousin and son-in-law Ali. This minority became the break-away sect of Shiites. 23 In rejecting the caliph's authority, Shiites developed an enhanced importance for their imams, who were prayer leaders in local mosques. Mullahs and "Ayatollahs," a Persian term, were the imams most learned in Islamic law. Over time, Shiism fragmented into other sects. The dominant sect in Iran believes that the last imam the twelfth, who miraculously disappearedwill return as the Mahdi after an absence of 12 centuries for the "last judgment" in the "end times." Very Zoroastrian! Shiism, however, has an integral problem in basing leadership on heredity. A hereditary line can encounter impotence or infertility. Arguably, the disappearance of the twelfth imam masked lack of progeny from the eleventh. More problematic was that no protocol existed for how to implement the rule of God in the absence of leadership. Into this vacuum arose ambitious senior clerics. Shiism is dominant in a few countries, 24 but Persia is the only one where Shiites took political control. As Shiites also tithed a fifth of the spoils of war to their imam, traditionally allocated to Mohammed, Shiites were able to finance a powerful clerical rule that evolved independent of secular government. Iran is the quintessential example.

hiite dominance of Persia began with the 16 century. Uniting Persia under his rule, Ismailthen Sthe Shah (Persian for King)made the Islamic sect of Shiism the state religion. Shiites are numerous
th

Foreign Interference
y 17th century, the Persian capital was moved to Isfahan, still a showcase of Persian architecture. Both Persia's rivalsthe Ottomans in Turkey and the Mughals in Indiapreferred Persian poetry, arts, and language. Persia's influence was especially prevalent in India, where the principal architect of the Taj Mahal was Persian. 25 Meanwhile, the economic and military gap between the East and West was wideningand Persia was at the crossroads. By 19th century, the Industrial Revolution in the West fed European imperialism. The result was British and Russian interference in Persian affairs. Local officials dealing with foreign interests corrupted the Persian courts. Reform-minded ministers were sidelined; some who resisted were assassinated. As a result, Persia lost Afghanistan to the British and some central Asian territories to the Russians. 26 Eventually, the external manipulation of Persian foreign and domestic policy triggered a popular uprising. However, the constitutional revolution of 1906 didn't succeed. One year later, Persia was virtually divided between Russian control in the north and British control in the south. Of course, within a decade, the chaos of World War I intervened.

21 22

Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Lebanon. Ladjevardian, Reza, From Ancient Persia to Contemporary Iran (Waldorf MD: Mage Publications, 2005). 23 The term shiite means partisan, i.e., partisans for Ali as successor to Muhammed. 24 Iraq, Indonesia, Bahrain, Yemen, Azerbijan. 25 The architect was Ustad Isad. 26 Today's Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

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Pahlavi Dynasty

republic would mean a loss of their power. In lieu, the clergy was the persuasive force behind Reza Khan becoming the Shah in 1925, wrongly assuming that one man as king would be easier to manipulate than a peoples republic. The Pahlavi Dynasty of Reza Shah began with progressive promise. He created modern cities with access to electricity and transportation. Industrialization brought the first transnational railway. Reforms in education advanced women. His centralization of government and military was an attempt to break the power of the clergy and tribal chiefs. The Shah was adamant to redefine Persia. In 1935, he officially asked all foreign governments to call his country by its original name, Iran. Yet, the Shah forced modernization. Many Iranians rejected such progress as assaults on their ancient Persian traditions. For example, the Shah ordered all men to wear brimmed European-style hats, whose brims thwarted prayer and thus seemed unIslamic. Crowds gathered in protest. Those who refused to disperse were shot; soldiers who refused to shoot were shot. 27 The Shahs model, though he went beyond it, was Turkeys Kemal Attaturk. Both men reviled Arab culture and mistrusted Islam. 28 In World War II, Reza Shah refused to side with the Allies, claiming neutrality. Some say that, as head of the only true Aryan nation, the Shah saw an affinity with Nazi ideology. Regardless, the Allies invaded Iran for access to its railway in order to supply the Soviets. Allied occupation of Iran lasted throughout the war. By 1941, the Shah abdicated in favor of his son. 29 Some say the Allies forced this, preferring a malleable 21-year-old on the throne. 30 After the war, Iran nationalized its oil industry away from British control. Enraged, Britain froze all Iranian assets and placed a total trade embargo, which led to the collapse of Iran's economy. British Intelligence and the CIA organized a coup in 1953with which the mullahs were complicit 31 to overthrow the democratically elected Prime Minister Mossadeq in retaliation for preventing access to Iran's abundant natural gas and oil reserves. The younger Pahlavi Shah introduced land reforms, workers' rights, and women's suffrage in the 1960s. Like his father, he implemented them poorly. His autocratic approach violated civil liberties and human rights. Imam Khomeini, 32 not yet Ayatollah, publicly denounced the Shahs reforms. For that, Khomeini was exiled, which gave him 15 years to plan his comeback strategy. Still, throughout the 1970s, Iran had political stability and economic prosperity, quadrupling its revenue. With new wealth, the Shah accelerated his reform agenda but, to counter increasing opposition, he depended on the secret police, which was formed in 1957 with CIA support. Iranian secret police spied, arrested, interrogated, and tortured opponents, including future President Rafsanjani and current Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

war's end, an unknown Army officer staged a coup and became the Minister of War, then Prime AtMinister. Reza Khan's initial objective was to form a republic. Shiite clergy recognized that a

Iranian Theocracy

1978, two million people in Tehran demonstrated against the Shah. His troops killed 2,000. The Shah In fled the country after transferring $2 billion to Swiss bank accounts. As mosques were the few places

people felt safe to organize against the Shah, the clergy gained political influence. The Shah's opponents united behind Khomeini, who came back from exile with his plan for a clergy-led government. Thousands of Shiia mullahs agreed.

27 28

De Bellaique, Rose Garden, pg 94. Ibid., pg 93. 29 Reza Pavlavi. 30 Amir Rostam Beglie-Beigie, "The Iranian Napoleon: Journey to Internment," The Iranian, April 24, 2001. 31 Ray Takeyh, Clerics Responsible for Irans Failed Attempt at Democracy, The Washington Post, August 18, 2010, pg. A15. 32 Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini.

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To justify clerical rule, Khomeini applied deductive reasoning to a 19th century welfare policy that assumed guardianship over orphans and the mentally ill. 33 Khomeini enlarged this principle to the whole Islamic community, orphaned, as it were, by the absence of the twelfth imam. Thus, senior jurists would assume guardianship of the people according to Islamic jurisprudence and claim executive authority over their affairs pending return of the Mahdi. 34 This Guardianship of the Jurists 35 rendered the monarchy unnecessary. 36 In 1979, the Islamic Revolution overthrew the Shah. Some today refer to this as the second Arab invasion of those whose national identify remains connected to Cyrus, Darius, Persepolis, 37 and Ferdowsi. 38 After 2,500 years of monarchy, Iran was now a theocracy. The Islamic Republic's official identity was revolution and religion. The new constitution made Khomeini, now Grand Ayatollah, the Supreme Leader for Life. He appointed the judiciary, all military commanders, and the heads of state television and radio. He alone had the power to declare war. Mandating conservative Islamic values, Khomeini set Iran on an anti-Western path. In the same year, Saddam Hussein seized absolute power in Iraq, oppressed the Shiite majority that had Irans support, and invaded Iran. In the resulting 8-year Iran-Iraq War, the United States supplied weapons to Saddam against Iran, thinking to divide Iraniansmonarchists, clerics, moderates, Kurds, etc.against the Grand Ayatollah. Instead, it unified them. American neocons should take note. Iranians national pride is ancient, unlike Iraq whose borders were drawn by the British after World War I. Whichever latent pro-democracy advocates are encouraged to rise up and throw off their clerical shackles, tactics of calling Iran an axis of evil and attacking its right to nuclear technology unifies Iranians against a common adversary. The Iran-Iraq War ended in stalemate and a new Ayatollah was appointed Supreme Leader: Ali Khamenei. He had just served two terms as the Islamic Republics third President, but was the first to stay in power. The first President was impeached; 39 the second was assassinated. 40 After Ali Khameneis term, the quasi-independent Rafsanjani became the fourth President in 1989 and left a millionaire. In 1997, the fifth President was the democratic Khatami, whose social and political reforms won him 70 percent of the popular vote, but conservatives never gave his Islamic democracy a chance. In 2005, the ultra-conservative Ahmadinejad beat former President Rafsanjani to be the Republics sixth President. Ahmadinejad is a pious Islamist ideologue from the provinces. A former traffic engineer, he is an unsophisticated man, but he served in the Revolutionary Guard. He is the first nonclerical president of Iran in 24 years. Nevertheless, the unelected Ayatollah Khamenei is the primary architect of Iran's foreign policy, not the elected Ahmadinejad. 41 Clearly, the revolutionary optimism of 1979 has mutated into an intolerant and radical Islam with absolute clerical rule.

Iran Today

Persians are 60 percent of Irans population; the rest are Kurds, Azeri Turks and Arabs, Today, Pakistani, and Baluchi Sunnis. In the past, foreign powers meddling in Iran's affairs used ethnic
42
33 34

De Bellaique, Struggle, pg 36, citing Hokumat-e Velayi [Government of the Guardians] by Mohsen Kadivar (Nashrani, 1998). Ibid., pg 28. 35 Velayat-e-faquih. 36 De Bellaique, Rose Garden, pp 100-101. 37 Persepolis was the ancient ceremonial capital of the Persian kinds in southwest Iran, which was destroyed by Alexander the Great in 330 BCE. Upon visiting Persepolis, Marguerite del Giudice wrote (Persia, National Geographic, August 2008, pg. 42): Whats so striking about the ruins of Persepolis...is the absence of violent imagery on whats left of its stone walls. Among the carvings, there are soldiers, but theyre not fighting; there are weapons, but theyre not drawn. Mainly you see emblems suggesting that something humane went on here insteadpeople of different nations gathering peacefully, bearing gifts, draping their hands amiably on one anothers shoulders. 38 Ferdowsi, 10th century poet, was Persias Homer and author of the epic Shahnameh or Book of Kings, a history of Iran written in Farsi. Everyone on the streets of Iran, regardless of education, can recite Ferdowso/ 39 Abolhasan Bani-Sadr (1980-1981). 40 Mohammad Ali Rajai (one month in 1981). 41 Hersh, Seymour, "The Iran Plans," The New Yorker, April 17, 2006. 42 Wood, Graem, "Iran: A Minority Report," The Atlantic Monthly, December 2006.

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conflict to fuel proxy wars for regime change or oil concessions. The United States has had covert operations within Iran, probably still does. The Bush Administration supported the Baluchi Sunnis in the south in efforts to destabilize Irans theocracy. 43 Ironically, Ramzi Yousef, who was behind the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and Khalid Sheik Mohammed, who was behind the 9/11 attack, are both Baluchi Sunnis. 44 The U.S. government had also backed Sunni fundamentalists in Afghanistan. U.S. ignorance of Sunni-Shiite history so often leads to bad decisions, usually in deference to the fact that Arab oil is under Sunni soil. Yet Shiites are not co-conspirators with Al Qaeda, but potential allies against Sunni extremism. Indeed, the Sunni Arab Wahhabism 45 behind Al Qaeda and the 9/11 attacks are anathema to the Shiite faith. Still, during the Bush Administration, the tension between the United States and Iran was like a standoff between gun-toting cowboys. A joke was popular then that Bush and President Ahmadinejad had three things in common: (1) both came to power through contested elections; (2) both talk to God; and (3) neither speaks English. 46 With such cynical attitudes, we had looked to the Obama Administration to engage diplomatically with Iran and change U.S. policy. Such prospects now seem less hopeful since Ahmadinejad won his second contested election and continues the push toward nuclear power. Lest we be naive, remember, Iran is not a participatory democracy. Consensus of the community is one of the "roots" 47 of Islamic jurisprudence. 48 Yet, because Iran is fraught with internal dissension, no consensus emergesnot even among the mullahs. The powder keg in Iran today is not nuclear but the 70 percent population under 30. In 1999 and again in 2003, pro-democracy students protested against clerical rule. Something similar may be brewing in 2011 among the pro-democracy movements in the Middle East. The majority of Iranian youth are secular and modern; they want the comforts and freedoms of democratic capitalism. The standards of Islamic virtue demanded of Irans citizens have made criminals of millions. 49 Like reading Lolita in Tehran! A current revival of Rumis poetry suggests that many Iranians want to keep their God without being excessively religious. 50 The change may yet come from within Irannot only from the young but also from those who remember and miss Persias greatness.

Copyright, Sheila Harty, 2011

Sheila Harty is a published and award-winning writer with a BA and MA in Theology. Her major was in Catholicism, her minor in Islam, and her thesis in scriptural Judaism. Harty employed her theology degrees in the political arena as applied ethics, working for 20 years in Washington DC as a public interest policy advocate, including ten years with Ralph Nader. On sabbatical from Nader, she taught Business Ethics at University College Cork, Ireland. In DC, she also worked for U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, the World Bank, the United Nations University, the Congressional Budget Office, and the American Assn for the Advancement of Science. She was a consultant with the Centre for Applied Studies in International Negotiations in Geneva, the National Adult Education Assn in Dublin, and the International Organization of Consumers Unions in The Hague. Her first book, Hucksters in the Classroom, won the 1980 George Orwell Award for Honesty & Clarity in Public Language. She moved to St. Augustine, Florida, in 1996 to care for her aging parents, where she also works as a freelance writer and editor. She can be reached by e-mail at sheilaharty@comcast.net. Her website is http:www.sheila-t-harty.com

43 44

Hersh, Seymour M., Preparing the Battlefield, The New Yorker, July 8, 2008. Ibid. 45 An extreme religious movement within Sunni Islam founded by 18th century Muslim theologian Muhammad ibn Abd alWahhab in Saudi Arabia who advocated purging Islam of impurities, thus all Shiites and moderate Sunnis are heretical. 46 Milani, Abbas, Pious Populist: Understanding the Rise of Irans President, Boston Review, November / December 2007. 47 The roots of Islamic jurisprudence are analogical reasoning, consensus of the community, the acts and words of Mohammed, and the Quran. 48 Ruthven, Malise, The Islamic Optimist, The New York Review of Books, Vol. 54, No. 13, August 16, 2007, quoting Western Muslims and the Future of Islam by Tariq Ramadan (New York NY: Oxford University Press, 2003). 49 Ibid., pg 229. 50 Ibid., pg. 82.

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