War, Global Peace and Fethullah Gülen
US President Bush, in his annual address of "State of the Union" in the joint session of the Congress the previous day, stated that he will present new evidences about Iraq's armament to UN Council of Security on February 5th.
We can henceforth say that February 5th may be an important day for the possibility of war. Though even American people are against war and anti-war demonstrations are being wide-spread in all over the world, we are being dragged into a war with a possibility of 99 %.
In such a situation, I will try to write not about war but about how we can obtain a permanent and global peace. Because, saying "no to war" doesn't bring the peace. Moreover, if the peace we want is the "Global Peace" and you want it to be permanent, your horizons should be wide, your self-contemplation should be deep and your efforts should be of a scale that can embrace the whole mankind. What will prevent the war is without doubt an international democratic system that emphasizes the man and the humane values, that provides the superiority of the law and that makes the dialogue and tolerance a new way of life. In Turkey, there is somebody who makes every effort for this in a way exhausting himself, but who unfortunately is treated as a common criminal by some circles who can't read the age: Fethullah Gülen. In these days when we are at the threshold of a war, I will try to remind how in the name of global peace he has formed breakwaters, how he has built bridges for 15 years within the country and abroad. Because, the war will come to an end one day and after all the pains that one has gone through, everybody wiil discuss what exactly should be done for a global peace.
Gülen raced up the agenda of Turkey with this sentence he used in the first publicity meeting of the Journalists and Writers Foundation in 1994 as the honorary chairman of the foundation: "There is no return from democracy in both Turkey and the world." These words pronounced by a Muslim thought pioneer echoed not only within the country but also in the international public opinion following closely the issues of "democracy and Islam". Later on, those who worked on the efforts of dialogue and activities of education suggested by Gülen openly expressed the importance of this process of renewal that came out of the Islam world for the first time:
"The Gülen trend is a democratic thought which tries to establish solid institutions of education and a strong civil society and which defends human rights and openness to political participation. It is very important that Gülen is trying to renew his Muslim identity by peaceable means without any reference to violence. Most importantly, this trend is far from fundamentalism, because there is no expulsion, reaction or anger in Gülen trend." (Prof. Dr. Scott Appleby, Director of University of Notre Dame Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies)
The existence of more than 300 schools opened in more than 50 countries with Gülen's suggestions has been considered as the most worthwhile attempt of "active piety" in the name of global peace. Because the education was important in terms of global peace, but what should this education be like? Sociologists who made researches about these schools within the country and abroad have made evaluations that broaden even our horizons: "I visited many of these schools in Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. They give a healthy education. The instruction in these schools will have long-term social effects." The primary and most important aspect is the stimulation of the competitive edge in these schools. The competetive edge is stimulated by making the students study in preparation for worldwide competitions of "olympiad" and sending them there as contestants, and the students are often back with medals.
"These schools provide an education of high quality. The basic target is to give students a good education without imposing them any ideology. The main idea of Gülen's followers is that moral values can be channelized to students not via lessons or inculcation but via behaviors by just setting examples in everyday relationships."
"At the same time, these schools are leading local efforts in the name of global unification. Because the language of instruction is English and computer education is given to the students. And this enables students to carry on their education abroad." (Elisabeth Ozdalga, Instructor in METU)
Yes, while one is talking about the war, this article is an illuminating firework for a permanent peace that promises serenity to the whole mankind. I wish people who strive for the global peace such as Fethullah Gülen were backed at least with minimum sense of loyalty and I also wish that these efforts were supported more in the name of humanity...
ZAMAN
- Created on .