I have a friend whom I could’ve trusted with my daughter’s care since birth and even today I could continue to trust with nearly every aspect of my life, even though we haven’t seen each other in 30 years. Farhad.
Yet, the two of us couldn’t be more different in our beliefs about religion and God. Farhad is a devout Shia who not only truly believes in the pillars of Shia Islam but also lives by them. I find it difficult to believe he would knowingly do anything wrong. He has lived his life this way, even before the religious fervor that followed the revolution.
Farhad isn't a proselytizer. If he genuinely believes something is right for you, he may offer guidance ( امر به معروف — نهی از منکر ) , but his religion doesn't grant him authority to enforce rules. He's simply a guide, as intended. Ironically, this often leads people to doubt his sincerity, assuming he's merely pretending. I know from the bottom of my heart that he is as genuine as they come.
The problem is that he’s genuinely a good person, and his beliefs shouldn’t undermine his worth. He’s selling himself short and doing himself a disservice. Had he been born and raised in rural Texas, he might have been an Evangelical; in the Vatican, a Catholic. He could have been a devout follower of any religion, depending on his birthplace.
Let me explain why. Despite knowing that, according to his teachings, I should have been punished, he hasn’t harmed me. He doesn’t aggressively defend the truly horrendous rules of his religion. Instead, he focuses on the positive aspects while ignoring the negative ones. He is selective. That's not the power of religion; it's his kind heart and intelligent mind that discern right from wrong, morality from immorality. He doesn't need religion. Religion is for those who struggle to make such distinctions.
I wish Farhad had been born millennia ago, during the Mayan Empire, at the time that Islam and Shia Islam were already conceived, but not known anywhere but Middle East. Keep in mind that Shia Islam didn't exist in Iran at that time either. It wouldn't arrive for another 600 years. So, even if Farhad had lived in Iran in the 1600s, he wouldn't have been exposed to Shia beliefs.
What would he have done if he hadn't been exposed to Shia Islam? Would he have waited for divine intervention, or would he have intuitively discerned right from wrong? I hope that God didn't favor him with his timing and location, as that would be discriminatory towards the other 105 billion people who have ever lived. That necessitates serious reconsideration!
Personally, if I were to believe in a deity, I'd lean towards the Mayan gods. They were credited with remarkable advancements, including medical practices like endodontics and brain surgery. Their society was organized around a socialist framework that prioritized the well-being of all. They even developed a non-violent sport, similar to basketball to compete. No wrestling, no fencing, no fights.
Once a year, a sacrificial ceremony was held. The victim wasn’t a random person; instead, a member of the elite class was selected for this purpose. Someone whose leadership, though well-intentioned, produced suboptimal results compared to others. People would have queued for hours to hear the verdict, and a secret ballot would have determined the outcome.
The temple of the annual blood sacrifice.
Given the abundance of potential candidates in both Iran and the US, selecting a singular 'worst leader of the year' for sacrifice would be a daunting task. I would preferred at least 1,000 per year in Iran, and 10,000 in the US, for the first 100 years!
The heads of the elite were kept as a chilling reminder for future leaders. Preserved individually behind stacked carved stones.
Pilgrims would journey from the far reaches of the empire, drawn by the promise of divine revelation. A three-day fast preceded the main ceremony, ensuring solemn reverence and undivided attention (no bathroom breaks). While under the influence of hallucinogenic substances, devotees would congregate at the temple to receive the latest revelations, which frequently encompassed scientific and technical insights. (No record of how to sleep or when to sleep with spouses)
The temple's apex would be the stage for God's representative, who would impart divine guidance, including agricultural and meteorological predictions for the next year.
The is the serpent side.
The other sides are flat.
The serpents are everywhere. One of the heads left behind while being looted.
The pyramid's acoustic properties suppress single-clap echoes. However, rhythmic clapping can induce a unique auditory phenomenon, producing a sound resembling a kukulkan the mystic serpent. Perhaps the ancient builders, inspired by the unique acoustic properties of the temple, named the serpent after the sounds they heard. The echo could have been seen as a divine manifestation, a voice from beyond.
Up close, you'll notice the intricate wall patterns that create the magical echo.
The Mayan Calendar presents a non-traditional approach to time measurement, focusing solely on days, disregarding larger temporal units, tracking time in days, not months, years, or decades. Not even 24hours.
A reminder Mayans used a vigesimal (base-20) positional numeral system. The numerals are made up of three symbols: zero (a shell), one (a dot) and five (a bar).
The world awaited the Mayan Calendar's prophesied apocalypse, in 2012, but instead of destruction, a new cycle began, ushering in a fresh era. But something even more interesting was predicted and happened. A new theory has emerged, an alignment of Earth, the Sun, and the Galactic center will happen in about 4 million years, on a day Mayan Calendar restarts! I say we should wait and see.
From a structural perspective, the pyramid exhibits no evidence of cracking or deformation. Nonetheless, it has been affected by historical looting and erosion. In order to maintain the structural integrity of the pyramid, engineers incorporated a water drainage system to mitigate the effects of water erosion and seepage. Another unique feature.
Chechin Itza forces us to question the nature of divinity. Did the ancient Maya require a traditional, Abrahamic God? Or did their gods take a more active role in human affairs, inspiring scientific and technological progress?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chichen_Itza
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Safavid-dynasty#:~:text=Safavid%20dynasty%2C%20(1501%E2%80%931736,factor%20in%20the%20emergence%20of
https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/4-3-the-safavid-empire#:~:text=The%20Safavids%20also%20introduced%20Shi,they%20fostered%20the%20deep%20divisions
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