Question: I would like to ask the Masters to give some insights about Iran, about the socio- political and also spiritual issues.
Answer from the Ascended Master Saint Germain through Kim Michaels. This answer was given at a conference in Ukraine in 2019.
Given the time constraints we have, I do not want to give a longer discourse. But what I will say is that, not just Iran, but many of the Muslim countries, both in the Middle East and elsewhere, have the same issue. And in order to describe it in a simplified way, we can say that, when you look at the world as a whole, you see that it is very clear that all nations need to follow a similar path, not exactly the same path, but certainly a similar path. You move from a more or less dictatorial form of government into a democratic form of government. All of the Muslim countries need to do this.
Now you may say, some of them have done this, because they have elections and this and that, but there is one characteristic of a true democracy, and that is the separation of church and state. You cannot have a fully functioning democracy if there is one religion that dominates the life of and the thinking of a country. Especially if it also influences the political process, it simply cannot be done.
It is a phase that all nations need to move through where they separate religion from politics. They acquire that tolerance from people of other religions, so that the people in that nation do not feel forced to be a member of a particular religion. Or to pretend to be a practicing member of that religion because they fear reprisals, either from society or from other people. There must be religious freedom and religious tolerance, in order for all of these Muslim nations to grow to the highest stages of democracy, where they really have a functioning democracy. Because what is the essence of a functioning democracy? It is tolerance and acceptance of differences, individual differences and group differences.
What you see in some of the countries that have been democracies for a long time and have developed a higher form of democracy, is that you see greater and greater tolerance. And although there may be some limitations, because these countries do not have Christ discernment, it is definitely a phase that all democracies must move through, where they attain greater and greater tolerance among the people in the nation, and also towards those outside the nation. As an absolutely inescapable part of this, religious tolerance must become a reality. It is simply the natural development.
You can see for yourself where Iran or other Muslim countries are at on that scale. If you compare this, if you set up a scale of the evolution from dictatorships to higher levels of democracy, you can yourself evaluate where each nation is at. This, of course, does not apply just to Muslim nations. T
his is really the main block that needs to be overcome in Iran and other Muslim nations, before the countries can really start moving forward. Also, in an economic sense, because what is it that creates real economic growth that benefits the people and not the elite? It is diversity, diversification, where instead of having a monopolized economical structure, as you have in a dictatorship, as you have in a strict capitalist country, you actually create, in a democratic nation, a process, a mechanism that does not allow the concentration of wealth in the hands of a small elite. But makes sure that all people in that nation gain a reasonable standard of living.
You may look at, for example, the Scandinavian countries, where they have found ways, and I am not saying this is the only way it can be done, but they have found ways so that there are few very, very rich people. And all people in the nation have a reasonable standard of living, and the majority of the people in the nation belong to that middle class where they have a fairly affluent standard of living. This, of course, is also what needs to happen in the Muslim countries. Again, you can see how far they are from that goal.
But what I am saying is that the absolute foundation for creating this economic growth is diversification. And that can only happen in a country where there is tolerance of differences. When you have this collective consciousness that seeks to force people into a particular mold, through social pressure, or through laws and government pressure, and the police or the secret police, or the KGB, or a propaganda apparatus, or what have you, then you cannot have a functioning, diversified economy.
And quite frankly, if you do not have a diversified economy, you will have a limited economy. And the more centralized an economy becomes, there will come that point where it starts actually shrinking, because there is not the driving force behind economic growth, which is the individual initiative, where you can take an initiative, and you can reap the rewards of your own effort. It is not stolen by someone else in that structure above you.
Many other things could, of course, be said. But this is definitely the main block that prevents the Muslim countries, and it is, of course, the Muslim religion that is the big block here, and the whole mindset created by the Muslim religion. You know yourself that dynamic between Shia and Sunni, but also the Sharia law and the fundamentalists. And this entire mindset that has been created, which is a mindset of intolerance, that cannot come from God, it cannot come from the spiritual realm. This is what to make calls on, this is what to focus on. Because until this block begins to lose its grip on the people, these nations simply cannot move forward. You can do all kinds of other things, you can come up with all kinds of theories and say, this needs to happen in the economy, this needs to happen in the educational system, this needs to happen here, this needs to happen there.
We have the concept in America of the 300-pound gorilla in the room, where there is a group of people sitting there talking and behind them is this big gorilla, but nobody is talking about the gorilla. And the 300-pound gorilla in the Muslim world is the Muslim religion. And nobody wants to talk about how it influences society, and how it holds back growth in those societies. And until that happens, until a critical mass of people are willing to talk about this openly and recognize what the problem is, these societies will not move forward. They will not, they cannot move forward until this issue is addressed.
Copyright © 2019 Kim Michaels