Identity

The trip to Iran made me think about Iranian Identity again.

I remembered how Obama in "Audacity of Hope" quoted the declaration of independence:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government"

And how he thought that these ideas define what it means to be an American.

I also remembered how in the controversial speech that Obama gave in AIPAC he too mentioned that "Israel's identity as a Jewish state must be preserved" and I also remembered the rhetoric about Israel's Identity crises and how "the Palestinian womb" will eventually win.

From these two I really prefer the first; defining a nation and heritage based on a religion is boring! I still need to think about this more ...