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Random Thought Thread


stevenaa

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8 minutes ago, Dr. Do Itch Big said:

I dunno what the difference is. 

Persians originally come from southern Iran, though a significant number fled to India during the Muslim conquest. Ethnically they are the descendants of the Achaemenid empire begun by Cyrus the Great.

The ethnic origins of Armenians is less clear, with some claiming they descended from the Hurrians and others from the Hittites. In any case, they occupied kingdoms in Central Asia/ Anatolia, but are ethnically, linguistically, and culturally distinct from Turkish armies which eventually swept in and conquered them. Prior to the advent of Islam, the Christian kingdom of Armenia was a frequent flashpoint between the Christian Byzantine empire and the Zoroastrian Persian empire.

Sorry, tmi?

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Between the Armenians and the Persians are the Azeris. Ethnically, they are closely related to the Turks. In the 1500s, they conquered Persia and established the Safavid dynasty. The Safavids were originally Sufi Muslims - a mystical, tolerant form of Sunni Islam. After conquering Persia, they adopted Twelver Shiism as their official religion, and forced the population to convert from Sunni to Shiite. Up until this time, Twelver Shiism was a fringe sect - nearly all Shiites were Ismaili (aka Sevens), with an addition group of Zaidis (Fivers - the religion of the Houthis fighting today in Yemen). The Safavids likely adopted Twelver Shiism to distinguish themselves from their (Sunni) Ottoman rivals. The Safavid emperor claimed to be the hidden Imam in order to get his conquered subjects to support him in battle. This twist made Twelver Shiism the largest Shiite sect in the world - today about 90% of Shiites are Twelvers.

Today the Azeris are a minority in Iran, but gained indepence from the Soviet Union and thus their own country of Azerbaijan.

Within this country, however, is a small enclave of Armenians in an area known as Nagorno-Karabakh. They fought against the Azerbaijani government in the 90s for independence and eventually won complete autonomy - the Armenians were aided by Russians and financed in no small part by...Iran. Yup, the Iranian Shiite theocrats paid Armenian Christian armies killing Shiite Muslims because they didn't want to face an Azeri independence movement within Iran.

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1 minute ago, Riggo-toni said:

Between the Armenians and the Persians are the Azeris.

About 20 years ago, hubby took me to the Japanese Hibachi place down the road for my birthday.  Your last post was the conversation...of course, started by my beloved husband once he realized there were other educated folks at the table/grill/hoorah.  :)

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In Shiism, there is the belief that Muhammad was followed by Imams, or spiritual leaders. The first of these was his son in law and cousin, Ali. The leadership of Islam was then passed down through Muhammad's descendants. There is debate, however as to how many and which of these descendants are legitimate. The Zaidis only believe in the first 5, and their theology is probably closer to Sunni doctrine than Iranian shiism. The Ismailis (seveners) who once ruled Egypt (Fatimids) and parts of Syria (the Hashashin or Assassins) believe in 7 Imams after Muhammad, and believe that the seventh (Jafar, I think) did not die, but rather was taken and hidden by God to return and rule in the last days.

Twelvers list...eleven Imams, plus one unknown. Basically the 11th died off without an heir, so they co-opted the Ismaili doctrine about the hidden Imam, and claimed that a 12th had been born, but God had hidden him from birth from the rest of the world.

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17 minutes ago, Mr. Sinister said:

 

I hate Thanksgiving games. Hatehatehatehatehatehate them

 

I'm always off that week (if not the entire week, at least Thursday and Friday), so for me it's nice eating lunch with the family and watching football and if it's a night game, I'm off the next day.  Those other games though, Sunday, Monday and Thursday night football.........can't stand them.  I usually take PTO the next day after, so I gotta burn 4 days this year lol.  

 

 

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1 hour ago, Dont Taze Me Bro said:

 

I'm always off that week (if not the entire week, at least Thursday and Friday), so for me it's nice eating lunch with the family and watching football and if it's a night game, I'm off the next day.  Those other games though, Sunday, Monday and Thursday night football.........can't stand them.  I usually take PTO the next day after, so I gotta burn 4 days this year lol.  

 

 

 

I just hate being distracted. Usually we are all talking here and there with the game In the background

 

Im like a rabid hyena during games. People trying to talk to me/approach me  are likely to lose a hand. 

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