Mere scientific progress ‘insufficient for nation’s salvation’

TEHRAN, Jan. 03 (MNA) – Leader of the Islamic Revolution has recommended elites and academia to embrace spiritual values and ideals of the Revolution to provide enduring happiness to the nation. Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei received and addressed a group of students and academic staff of Sharif University of Technology on Monday. The meeting hosted some of the best students, the winners of scientific honors and medals in Olympiads. Leader of the Islamic Revolution described the meeting with elites as a window which opened to a garden fostering the fragrant herbs of the nation; “the nation invests much hope in the realization of the ideals of the Revolution in the hands of the elites; you are among the best and most talented cohort of the nation and should grasp this opportunity to work to flourish your talents for the nation’s good,” he recommended. “However, mere scientific success would still not be sufficient for a nation to attain salvation; and an element of spirituality would be lacking from the equation; coupled with a commitment to ideals of the system, this talents would produce invaluable outcomes and to distinguish the country’s position among the nations of the region.” Leader believed the west had failed in finding spiritual relief in the absence of a key component which they had been downplaying in preference of a materialistic lifestyle; “the west now faces with the collapse of the family values, ethics, and other mental disorders affecting individuals, to which many western thinkers, including those in the US, would admit as being the most severe manifestations of the general avoidance of spirituality and the ensuing and widening gap,” he told the meeting. “An outcome of this moral laxity is the freedom of carrying guns in the US which had been a disaster for the US society; now the Establishment in the US would tacitly approve the gun lobbies and share their lucrative business interests,” Ayatollah Khamenei added. “A key component of our progress is a strong resolve to attain Revolutionary ideals which are also endorsed by the religion of Islam, and a general commitment to these ideals; this should be a guiding principle for all authorities and bodies responsible for economic, cultural, and political affairs of the country,” he demanded. Leader also touched the issue of women and women elites in the universities, calling authorities to facilitate female scholarships and scientific research; “women should also attain highest scientific positions along with their roles as mothers, wives, and the fosterers of the next generation of the country; with Resistance Economy, it is a well-devised and has a successful record in different economies; it will definitely save the economy from shocks and adverse effects of global volatile conditions; in line with Resistance Economy, country’s ample natural resources provides the young generation of scientists good odds of success in deriving the country forward,” he concluded.