Source Against Source

Dr. Seyed Mehdi Hosseini, PhD in Political Science

Analytical studies of essential and fateful phenomena have always been among the top priorities of research. Among such phenomena are the digital transformation and the profound influence of technology, particularly in the realm of information, as well as the return to spiritual and religious perspectives.

It is evident that today, from across the seas and within the desert of collective digital existence, a group of so-called “godless sinners” hurl poisonous, painful, and destructive words against the faith and beliefs of devout peoples.

In the pre-digital era, especially in political struggles, words too were used as weapons and narcotic poisons; but since both sides possessed comparable means, the wound to the soul and spirit of either party was never as deep or destructive as it has now become.

Nearly forty years ago, Alvin Toffler, in his book The Third Wave, referred to a service provided by the Telecomputing Corporation of America, known simply as “the Source.” Likewise, Raymond Aron, in The End of the Century Years, used the metaphor of the “Cold Giant” to describe Western politicians devoid of moral principles — beings unmoved by anything, whose goals differ as radically as their regimes.

No cold giant has ever bowed to human rights or moral law; and thus, in this critical moment of history, that Source seems to have become a predestined agent, compelled to mark the great nation of Iran with its seal — hoping vainly to leave its imprint upon the people’s behavior, culture, and social fabric.

The use of such venomous language — more scorching than a dragon’s breath — against the righteous servant of God, whom General Qassem Soleimani once described as:

“His oppression is greater than his righteousness,”
that is, the most noble religious and political leader —
“The sage of Islam, Shiism, Iran, and the political world of Islam today,”
especially following the twelve-day Zionist regime’s war against the great nation of Iran, represents the cruel digitalist assault: through toxic words and unfair targeting, it fires upon a man sanctified by divine virtue.

The reason behind this relentless onslaught demands political analysis.

It is evident that instant access to vast data, private messaging, and emotionally charged visual content allows the sender of the message to shape the receiver’s thoughts and motivations according to his own will.

And thus — our sin is that Ali stands alone!

As the spokesman of the Iranian conscience, Hafez of Shiraz, said:

My pain is from the Beloved — and so is my cure,
My heart I gave to Him — and my life as well.
Friends, I whisper words in secret;
They shall be spoken by hands, too.
When the fortune of union nights expires,
The days of separation shall pass as well.
Both worlds are but the light of His face —
I told you so, both manifest and hidden.
Trust not the world’s affairs —
For the turning sky is fickle still.

Alas and sorrow — that the so-called “political think-tanks” remain silent observers of this assault on such a divine source of inspiration for faith and struggle, unwilling to break their fast of silence.

The social consequence of this silence is profound: governance loses authority; parents can no longer parent as before; and even teachers and professors lose their persuasive voice.

The toxic rhetoric of the Cold Giant, sharper than the sword’s blade, wounds the souls of millions devoted to that pure lineage.

According to the deep analysis of Manuel Castells in Rupture: The Crisis of Liberal Democracy, it is customary, in uncertain times, for analysts to invoke Antonio Gramsci, who said:

“The old order is dying, and the new cannot yet be born; in this interregnum, a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.”

The concern over the Cold Giant’s venomous words is crucial, for they create a rift between religious authority and social function that cannot be bridged by any rhetoric or counsel. In all the history of political thought in Islam and Iran, no instrument has ever threatened faith and moral principles as gravely as Western media now do.

It is self-evident that developing Iranian-Islamic culture in cyberspace is among Iran’s strategic goals in ICT development. Yet, the impact of technology upon information, the creation of arbitrary content, and the assault on the foundational sources of Islamic thought are shaking the very social institutions and transforming culture itself.

That Source, gradually, lets the serpents of doubt creep into the minds and motivations of the new generation — spreading skepticism toward religious teachings, spiritual inspiration, and even belief in the divine presence and providence in creation.

Through its unmatched power to shape perception and provoke conflict between ancient traditions and modern innovations, technology breeds a strange forgetfulness, thrusting the political, economic, and cultural spheres to the brink of crisis.

In conclusion —
That godless assembly has drawn its sword against faith, sharia, and jurisprudence.
In the midst of the most unjust political conspiracies, the lack of awareness among educators and scholars regarding the nature of digital transformation compels researchers in political and social thought to recall the Italian thinker who wrote from his prison cell:

“The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum, a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.” (Shafak, Wisdom in the Age of Division, p. 27)

The sudden spread of this massive social illness, emanating from the “Telecomputing Service of America,” demands urgent remedy — for any delay in understanding the web’s deceptive mechanism may cast the noble Iranian society into a frightening age of uncertainty, where every prediction proves false.