About the author
Hani Montan was born in Iraq in 1939 and is an Australian citizen since 1973. He is married and has two daughters and one granddaughter.
In 1966 Montan earned a Master of Science degree in civil and industrial engineering.
He has travelled extensively, studying and working in Iraq, Russia, Algeria, and Australia. To keep abreast of social, managerial, and technical developments, he has studied many subjects, including project management, public relations, environmental protection, political and social sciences, psychology, human relations, business administration, and philosophy.
Montan worked at Sydney Water as a project engineer and group leader and owned and managed a retail business. It's his engineering instinct, however, that embodies the power of observation and gives him the capacity to come to logical conclusions and offer simplified solutions to many problems. Furthermore, the experience he has gained from working with and managing people over many years and his long-standing interest in politics and social studies have given him the motivation to write about many different subjects that might be useful to many readers.
His latest book is Summary Articles: Political Science in Today's World (2020). His other books Imperialism and Terrorism: Dissertation (2018), Thorny Opinion (2008), Dads Gags (2009), Israel vs. America vs. the World (2011), Death by Choice versus Religious Dogma (2012), Psyche and Personality (2013), Voice of Reason: In 7 Essays (2015), and Axis of Evil: Imperialism - Religion - Nationalism (2016-updated 2018)—are available from Amazon.com and other retailers in both paperback and eBook formats. Besides his humorous book, Dads Gags, these are nonfiction books that deal with society, politics, religion, euthanasia, psychology, international relations, and other issues, such as climate change, the deficiency of school education, and family relationships.
In his previous book Imperialism and Terrorism: Dissertation (2018), he advocates for moderation in human and international relations—an advocacy that is based on "give and take" and "live and let live" principles rather than the prevailing "winner-takes-all" approach. The security and the future of the following generations are threatened from the current conflicted world, especially from the rise of various far-right movements and religious fanatics. The world is also threatened from protectionism, nationalism, xenophobia, excessive greed, and ideological extremism. All of us need to confront these threats before it is too late.
In his book Summary Articles: Political Science in Today's World (2020), he takes a major step in simplifying political science for the general reader to see the world in reality rather than the way it represented by the distorted perspective of propaganda of the powerful and the vested interests. It is distorted by some politicians who are motivated by love for power or desire to serve their dogmatic ideologies or to represent powerful lobby groups rather than serving the majority and the country.
Electing such politicians is our fault and it should always be remembered that other than the negative and the opportunistic politicians who are in it for themselves or for serving vested interests, there are some others who are in politics for the right reasons and who are committed to do the right thing. And those are the real patriots who should be applauded and embraced.
The book is also a summary of many other authors' and academics' knowledge of political, psychological, and international relations that is relative to the world we live-in. It is a summary of their studies, experiences, observations, and conclusions. The book covers key topics of political science that include politics and political systems, socioeconomics, psychology, human relationships, international relations, terrorism, as well as the built-in subjects of political economy, social science, history, and philosophy.
Montan grew up in a Christian Orthodox family that had limited devotion to religion. The antireligious tone of his books has its roots in his becoming an atheist at the age of fourteen and his becoming involved in politics at the age of fifteen. A firm believer in a secular system of government, he objects to religious leaders who impose dogmas in their attempt to control the political and social agendas in our civilized society. In secular democracy, religious beliefs should be the privilege of the believer, not an issue in the political domain. And a true secular system of government is where religious-leaning politicians leave religion at the door of Parliament or Congress. Imposing dogmas on others destroys the concept of secular democracy.
He observes that the commercialization of religion has been essential for its growth and survival. And religious leaders have understood for centuries that money is power, and power means control. Control still means everything mentally, socially, and politically, and contemporary religious leaders now attempt to tangle religion and politics in order to use religion for lobbying purposes. The silent majority understand that allowing the interdependence of religion and politics is a backward step that can lead to religious dominance over a country and the lives of its citizens. The silent majority also understand that backward-looking religious leaders have the desire to take their countries back into the distant past, and the fundamentalist ones are capable of doing so.
He also observes that believing in myths as absolute facts prevents the mind from analysing and accepting logic. Religion, therefore, doesn't lend itself to reasoning and open mindedness. It is in conflict with humankind's inquiring mind, which is constantly searching for answers and will not be satisfied with today's conclusions but strives for better ones tomorrow. Humans are motivated by curiosity to discover and to apply their discoveries to improve their lives and their chances of survival.
His blogs on many subjects are found on the Open Forum website, www.openforum.com.au, and his articles on the subject of dying with dignity can be found on www.dwdnsw.org.au.