It was about some news from Iran.
As this news arrived so shortly after British sailors and marines had some trouble with the Iranians, it was the perfect way to show how the Iranian governing powers operate.
The news item was about Islamic dress.
Those who wield power in Iran have decreed that all Iranians must wear Islamic dress.
This means that shirts and ties are now illegal for men.
Another aspect of the same news item dealt with the way Iranian police have to check on barbers to ensure that men are given Islamic haircuts.
I don't suppose that many people in the western world would think much of this news. It would be treated as another instance of the way easterners produce wierd laws that could never apply in the west.
I thought that the news was a good laugh because I am an atheist.
I thought of a sort of proverb to suit this news:
"You can't make a daisy into a dandelion just by painting its petals yellow."
It is impossible to make someone believe in a religion by force. The use of force will make people respect the force and begin to lose any respect that they had for the religion if they had any.
The other side of the coin is the attitude of those who apply the force.
They obviously do not believe in the religion because they know that the religion is just a convenient banner to wave when they dictate the rules that their fellows must live by. They have gained the power to enforce the rules they invent while hiding behind the banner of religion.
I chuckled because the publication of these dress rules shows that these people are too stupid to realise that it is impossible change what people believe by force. Brainwashing can work but it is hard work for those who apply it, and it takes a long time to become effective.
With these factors in mind, it is clear that those in power in Iran live a lie. They rule with lies. They are so used to using lies that they find it hard to discriminate between lies and the truth. The way that they lie was clearly shown with the captured British sailors and marines. They used force to make the captives say what they wanted them to say until it became clear that nobody in the rest of the world believed the lies. They were too stupid to realise that anything said by the captives was valueless to their cause while the captives were denied contact with British diplomats.
The news item about the imposition of Islamic dress was to me a very clear indication that those in power in Iran are not bright intellectually and are worried that their power may be declining. Nobody with any sense would think that painting the petals of a daisy yellow would make it into a dandelion. Those in power in Iran are too stupid to realise that the mere publication of these laws advertises their lies and stupidity. The recent demonstrations in Turkey show that a very large number of Turks are desperate not to have an Iranian style government. I think that the Iranians in power in Iran still have the power to suppress similar demonstrations now but they are worried that they may not be able to in the future.
Theocrats fear democracy. One could be forgiven for thinking that the theocrats in Iran are doing their best to use proxy fighters to undermine the establishment of democracy in neighbouring Iraq.
As a secondary thought, I think that all Iraqi Imams and Mullahs from both the Sunni and Shiite communities should be coopted to act as companions, guides and interpreters in mixed pairs for all patrols carried out by the supporters of the elected Iraqi government until the insurgents desist in their efforts to undermine democracy.