The Iranian regime and sexual relations with chickens

The headline is not a cheap attempt to grab attention--it'll all make sense in the end.

Iran wants to develop nuclear power--and most likely, nuclear weapons as well.

Among Iranians--and not just the supporters of the hardline Islamic regime--there is anger at the West for its perceived arrogance in stating that Iran is not a responsible enough nation to possess the power of the atom.

Count me in as one of those arrogant ones.

Late last year I read Azar Nafisi's stirring novel-like memoir, "Reading Lolita in Tehran," about her life as an English literature professor is Ayatollah Khomeini's Iran. The regime he founded, the Islamic Republic of Iran, is currently headed by a hardliner, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

This passage (courtesy of the Middle Eastern Forum), was quite humorous at first glance. However, the type of people who seriously ponder the social implications of what to do with chicken meat from a bird which had been, shall I say, spoiled by a man--are governing Iran, an Iran that may have nuclear weapons by the end of the decade.

"I have to tell you that the Ayatollah himself was no novice in sexual matters," Nassrin (one of Professor Nafisi's students) went on. "I've been translating his magnum opus,"The Political, Philosophical, Social, and Religious Principles of Ayatollah Khomeini," and he has some interesting points to make."

"But it's already been translated," said Manna. "What's the point?"

"Yes," said Nassrin, "parts of it have been translated, but after it became the butt of party jokes, ever since the embassies abroad found out that people were reading the book not for their edification but for fun, the translations have been very hard to find. And anyway, my translation is thorough—it has references and cross-references to works by other worthies. Did you know that one way to cure a man's sexual appetites is by having sex with animals? And then there's the problem of sex with chickens. You have to ask yourself if a man who has had sex with a chicken can then eat the chicken afterwards. Our leader has provided us with an answer: No, neither he nor his immediate family or next-door neighbors can eat of that chicken's meat, but it's okay for a neighbor who lives two doors away. My father would rather I spent my time on such texts than on Jane Austen or Nabokov?" she added, rather mischievously.

We were not startled by Nassrin's erudite allusions to the works of Ayatollah Khomeini. She was referring to a famous text by Khomeini, the equivalent of his dissertation—required to be written by all who reach the rank of ayatollah—aimed at responding to the questions and dilemmas that could be posed to them by their disciples. Many others before Khomeini had written in almost identical manner. What was disturbing was that these texts were taken seriously by people who ruled us and in whose hands lay our fate and the fate of our country. Every day on national television and radio these guardians of morality and culture would make similar statements and discuss such matters as if they were the most serious themes for contemplation and consideration.

So here we have a nation run by people who justify chicken-buggering, and who are most likely seeking to possess nuclear weapons. Last year the president of Iran has said that Israel "wiped off the map."

Why would he stop at Israel? If he had missiles, he shoot them as far as he wanted.

And about those chickens: Why isn't PETA speaking out against this animal cruelty?

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