"While Iran's leaders saber-rattle and quote the Quran, the country's multitudes of young adults are embracing New Age self-help, as exemplified by the best-selling books and sold-out seminars of motivational guru Alireza Azmandian, according to a June Wall Street Journal dispatch from Tehran. Though young adults in Turkey and Egypt have stepped up their religious fervor, that is not so in Iran. Said a 25-year-old aerospace engineer: 'Religion doesn't offer me answers anymore,' but '(Azmandian's) seminar changed my life.' The Oprah Winfrey-touted book 'The Secret' is in its 10th printing in Farsi; yoga and meditation are big; and advertising abounds on the virtues of feng shui and financial management." [Wall Street Journal, 6-30-08]
I guess I prefer The Secret to saber-rattling, although I'm not quite sure why... :)
©2008 by Carol L. Skolnick; all rights reserved.
