I observe one big problem in the Turkish culture, which is seriously contradicting with the Western European culture. That is, to summarize, the value which we attribute to the human life and especially our own lives. It can also be regarded as a general problem for most of the Muslim world.
In the West, the life of an individual is invaluable. In Turkey, it is not. This is why we can easily forget, say, the massacres that were committed against the Turks during the First World War.
This, to turn the page of the history and embrace the former enemies, can even be considered as a virtue. However, in some instances, it turns out to be a great shortcoming.
Here are two fresh examples:
* Some PKK terrorists killed six Turkish soldiers and wounded 11 in a southeast province with a remote-controlled mine yesterday. The Turkish people didn't react, like they didn't before. No protest marches, no mourning...
* In four days, five people died in the central Anatolia after they got bitten by ticks. The total casualties exceeded 140, but we didn't see any reaction in Turkey again, like we are seeing because of the swine flu, which didn't kill any Turks yet.
I believe that this is a negative result of the phenomenon, which I call Practiced Islam. The Real Islam, which I believe in, highly appreciates the value of one's life, while introducing a concept of Destiny that the individuals have control on.
However, the Practiced Islam, which was born as a religious deviation during the rule of Umayyad, strictly emposes another version of Destiny. It says that our Destiny cannot be changed. That is how all the Muslim world had been sentenced to a deadly fatalism, which always favors the ruling class.
So, basically, this is about culture and politics, not religion. Though, as it is not easy to alter culture in other means, we can use religion, as well as secular education, to get rid of this problem. The solution is to get back to the core values of Islam, especially regarding the belief of Destiny. Some writings of Ali Shariati, the Marxist Muslim, may be the best place to start.
* In four days, five people died in the central Anatolia after they got bitten by ticks. The total casualties exceeded 140, but we didn't see any reaction in Turkey again, like we are seeing because of the swine flu, which didn't kill any Turks yet.
I believe that this is a negative result of the phenomenon, which I call Practiced Islam. The Real Islam, which I believe in, highly appreciates the value of one's life, while introducing a concept of Destiny that the individuals have control on.
However, the Practiced Islam, which was born as a religious deviation during the rule of Umayyad, strictly emposes another version of Destiny. It says that our Destiny cannot be changed. That is how all the Muslim world had been sentenced to a deadly fatalism, which always favors the ruling class.
So, basically, this is about culture and politics, not religion. Though, as it is not easy to alter culture in other means, we can use religion, as well as secular education, to get rid of this problem. The solution is to get back to the core values of Islam, especially regarding the belief of Destiny. Some writings of Ali Shariati, the Marxist Muslim, may be the best place to start.
