Following the 1979 Iranian revolution, Iranian society shifted and became secular. In the reading, Kazemipur focuses on this shift to secularism in Iranian society, specifically on the decline of religious practices and rituals among Iranian youth. To support this, the author makes three key arguments. 

By comparing surveys taken before and after the 1979 revolution,, the author collected data on religious gatherings and overall participation. The data collected shows a decline in practices such as group prayers and Friday mosque participation. The data collected specifically shows Iranian participation in group prayers dropped from 59% before the revolution in 1974 to 20% after in 2000. Kazemipur states, “ Table 6.4 shows that in 1974, 59% of the sample participated in collective prayers ‘always’ or ‘most of the time.’ In 2000, this proportion has dropped to 20%(Kazempipur 122)

Kazemipur argues in the reading that the younger Iranian generation has undergone a generational shift. Kazemipur states, “ Table 6.6 shows that in 1974 a larger proportion of the younger age groups believed that people were becoming more religious… in 2000, however, this trend was completely the reverse(Kazemipur 125)”. By growing up under the Islamic Republic post-revolution, they have lived in a country where religion is institutionalized. This has led to the Iranian youth focusing less on religious identity by shifting their focus to individual identity and secularism. This would explain the the younger ages becoming more religious before the revolution and shifting to becoming less religiously ambitious after the revolution under the Islamic state. 

Kazemipur's last major argument focuses on the global changes, with the rapid development of the internet, satellite, and communication technology. Unlike the older generation, Iranian youth have access to social media, the internet, and widely available communication devices, which are exposed to other countries' cultures, people, ideas, religions, and lives. These ideas and people that the Iranian youth observe live lives contrary to their own in a state-imposed religious culture. This is argued by Kazemipur when he states, “On the other hand, cheaper international travel and better communication technology during the 1980s and 1990s exposed many younger people to other cultures and ways of life(Kazemipur 132)

Kazemipur argues that the Iranian youth have become less religious by focusing on some large shifts in Iranian society. First was the shift to secularism after the 1979 revolution, followed by the generational shift the youth has undergone living in the new Islamic republic, and finally with the major advancements in communications allowing Iranian youth to have access to how the rest of the world lives their lives, influencing them even more.

-Mathew Montiel