Religious Pluralism in Turkey's Attempt to Become a Secular State
Religious Pluralism in Turkey: an Overview
In 1923, a modern nation-state was forged by the reforms of Mustafa Kemal in the form of the Turkish republic. The Kemalist state sought to remove religion from the public realm by totally separating religion and politics. It was expected that the modernization process would lead to a decline in religious fervor. However, the process has actually moved Muslims into a more public sphere. Today, fundamentalists and secularists are at odds regarding the future of the Turkish state. A fundamental question has evolved out of this struggle: is it possible to impose a secular state in the midst of strong religious pluralism? This is simply a tangent of the age old question is it possible to maintain a rigid separation of religion and politics? Some believe that Turkey has set a model for the Middle Eastern world that should be followed, while others believe that the state needs to address the growing dichotomy that has arisen.1
Islamists v. Secularists
Islamists view Islam as a revitalized politico-religious vision and seek to advance its values, ideal, and institutions.2 While some promote a more moderate view, many Islamic Militants use their ideology to encourage political violence. On the other hand, secularists put a great deal of emphasis on the separation of religion and politics. Secular conservatives defend the status-quo, while secular reformists challenge the status-quo through legal means.3 Despite their differences, all secularists in Turkey are becoming increasingly sensitive and aware of the problems of maintaining and developing a secular state within the framework of a Muslim region.
The logic of the secularist sensitivity stems from Kemalist ideology. It is extremely important to take into account the history of secularism. That history is well summarized by Hakan M. Yavuz, in his recent article ?The case of Turkey (on secularism & religion)?:
?The history of the contestation between religion and secularism is the story of the struggle between a state-imposed modernization run by a circumscribed Kemalist political elite and a popular resistance that has often assumed a religious cast.? The Kemalists outlawed Islamic identity claims, as well as Kurdish ethnic claims.? Instead of being viewed as a strength, the Ottoman-Islamic tradition of pluralism, tolerance, and cultural diversity was viewed as a debilitating weakness.
Wright, L. T., & Heaton, S. (2006). Fair Trade marketing: an exploration through qualitative research. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 14(4), 411-426. doi:10.1080/09652540600948019
For more than a century, the concept of secularism and its boundaries has been widely disputed by secularists and non-secularists alike. English dictionaries define secularism as simply the separation of church and state, or, the separation of religion and politics. Michael Walzer, a true secularist, believes that this separation is an essential democratic value and ultimately fosters toleration of a plurality of religions (Walzer, p. 620). Wæver, an opponent of secularism, defines secularism as “a doctrine for how society ought to be designed”– that religion and politics ought to be divided in order to ensure religious liberty, as well as religious-free politics. However, he does not deem that such a principle exists (Wæver, p. 210). Based on these different viewpoints, I have established a unique concept of secularism: the principle that religion and politics be kept apart, that the state remains neutral in regard to religion, and that liberty, equality, and fraternity be upheld in an attempt to successfully promote religious toleration and pluralism.
17Kili, Dr. Suna. ?Islam and Secularism in Contemporary Turkey.? Voice of Ataturk: Ataturk Society of America. Web. Dec. 10 2013.
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Moore, Kathleen M. “Muslims in the United States: Pluralism under Exceptional Circumstances.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 612, Religious Pluralism and Civil Society (July 2007). 116-132.
The continuous military defeats of the Arab countries against Israel (1948, 1967, and 1973) have caused a heavy burden in the psychology of the Arab Muslims. These defeats confirmed the loss of Muslim power. This led to abandoning the idea of secularism and going back towards the commitment to Islam to regain the former ...
The Islamic revival trend of the late 20th century forged the intellection that the ‘resurrected’ Muslim nations were akin to Islamic states. The region considered to make up the Muslim world indisputably comprises nations that maintain majority Muslim populations. The extent to which these nations may be labeled Islamic, however, is dubious. As the omnipresent uniformity ascribed to Muslim nations has intensified with heightened media attention, the variance among systems of governance in these countries has continued to be overlooked. The Islamic presence in these countries, in fact, ranges vastly, from Islamic social groups that strive to revive social morality and eradicate Western culture to established political systems that endeavor to enforce Islamic law.
Now-a-day, biometric authentication system or simply biometric system, offers a reliable and user-friendly solution to the problem of identity management by establishing the identity of an individual based on “who the person is”, rather than the knowledge-based i.e. “what the person knows" or token-based i.e. “what the person carries” (Jain et al., 1999). The word biometrics is derived from the Greek words bios (meaning life) and metron (meaning measurement); biometric identifiers are measurements from living human body (Maltoni et al., 2003). Biometric system refers to automatically identify or verify an individual's identity based on his physiological characteristics (e.g. fingerprints, face, iris and hand geometry) and behavioral characteristics (e.g. gait, voice and signature) (Figure 2.1). Ancillary characteristics (also known as soft biometric) such as gender, ethnicity, age, eye color, skin color, scars and tatoos also provide some information about the identity of a person. However, soft biometric traits do not provide sufficient evidence to precisely determine the identity (Jain et al., 2004a). Biometric traits provide a unique and permanent binding between an individual and his identity. This “binding" cannot be easily lost, forgotten, shared or forged and free from making false repudiation claims. Biometrics offers several advantages over conventional security measures. These include
It is easy to think of biometrics as the future science technology are always happened in some fictions, associated with solar car and clones together. In fact, it has long history that people understood the basic principle and application of the biometric. Thousands of years ago, the people of the Nile basin used the biometric in everyday transactions (such as scarring, skin tone, eye color, height, etc.) for identification. Of course, they had no any automatic electronic identification system, or computer network, but the principle is similar.
A religion’s “rules” must stay between the devout people only as taboos; implication of sect in the legislative system and governance not only threatens the wellbeing of country’s own citizens, but it also prevents any kind of brain drain into the country which is an essential source of progression for any community. Therefore, governments should only be serving for the well being of the citizens, peace and democracy among the country; the youth should embrace the values United Nations strictly recognizes and be aware that it is best when the religion is separated from governance. Secularism must be recognized which is a case only possible if there is a massive change in the governments of these religious countries; massive changes comes with the actions of citizens. All citizens must be informed about the inconveniences caused by religious laws more frequently for a change in government since the censorship in media is extremely common in these countries. Hence, the youth should be more focused on bearing the messages objectively among the country. That transformation of the ideology of the youth can most efficiently be achieved by them having conversations and strong friendships with other teenagers of more democratic countries which recognizes
Generic fundamentalism is a worldwide religious disposition that wants to recover and institutionalize parts of the past that have been obscured by modernistic ideas. The secular state is the enemy because it’s more concerned with democratic reforms, education, and economic progress than spirituality. Generic fundamentalism is based on religious texts that are above criticism and adheres to social patterns that are rooted in them, including clearly defined roles for men and women, parents and children, and clergy and lay people. It also does not ascribe to the separation of church and state, and holds that religious “truths” are absolute and apply to everyone (Wacker, 2000).
Around the turn of the millennium Ireland had a small housing stock, with the figure being the smallest in Europe. With income growing and the population increasing the EMU allowed Irish financial lenders to offer mortgages to customers ...
The Shahadah, or testimony, is the first of the five pillars of Islam. In order to officially convert to Islam, it is required to recite the Shahadah three times, “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God.” This has been a practice within the Islamic faith for hundreds of years. Yet, even within the Islamic faith there are differing versions. Those who practice Shia Islam add, “and Ali is the friend of God” to the end of the Shahadah. This, among many other practices, is an example of the religious plurality that exists within the Islamic world. The Islamic world is home to a large and diversified religious community that, on the surface, seems homogenous in its religious practices. But many religious schools of jurisprudence, schools of theology, and other religious movements exist under the umbrella of Islam, these schools bring religious diversity to Islam that seek to meet the diverse needs and wants of the religious marketplace of the Islamic world. Though the United States is often used as the example to describe religious pluralism, there are many instances in the Islamic world that can even rival the plurality of the American religious market. The Muslim Brotherhood is a prime example of an Islamic organization that has become deeply entrenched in society. Through the extensive use of social services and extreme religious power, the Muslim Brotherhood has been able to enjoy a large membership base, devoted to their cause, and dedicated to its principles. Every year, many Muslims will embrace Sufi Islamic practices into their lives. The Islamic world is not an exception to the religious economies model and is, in fact, a very religiously diverse region of the world.
Islamic nation. As examples given earlier about modernization which includes nations such as Turkey and on the other side of the spectrum the practice of Islamic Shariah. As a final note, my main objective from this book review is to see Islam from the eye of Muslims and Non-Muslims alike.