Yes, Religion Can Still Be A Force For Good In The World
Date posted: June 18, 2014
Antonia Blumberg, Yasmine Hafiz
Bringing people together over a meal to celebrate diversityFounded by a group of Turkish-American businessmen and educators to honor the vision of their spiritual leader, Muslim scholar Fethullah Gulen, the Niagara Foundation organizes conferences, lectures, retreats and more to promote interfaith dialogue and awareness. One of the Foundation’s programs is called Abraham’s Tent and brings community members together across religions and cultures to share a meal and build multicultural friendships.
Nigeria is an important and relevant place for this conference because it is where volunteers of the Hizmet Movement inspired by Fethullah Gülen’s ideas have established 16 schools, a university and a hospital.
Fethullah Gulen on Israel and Jews
In an interview with the Atlantic magazine in August 2013, Gulen stated that “I had a chance to get to know practitioners of non-Muslim faiths better, and I felt a need to revise my expressions from earlier periods. “I realized and then stated that the critiques and condemnations that are found in the Quran or prophetic tradition are not targeted against people who belong to a religious group,” but “can be found in any person.”
Turkish Cultural Center co-hosts Iftar with Westchester Reform Temple
Interfaith Gathering Breaks the Fast of Ramadan at Westchester Reform Temple, which was co-hosted by the Turkish Cultural Center. Mehmet Ozhabes, president of the Turkish Cultural Council welcomed everyone saying it is tradition to raise the tent and open the flap wide to receive guests. “The tent,” Ozhabes said, “is a place of peace and […]
GYV gathers politicians, diplomats at iftar dinner in Turkish capital
“Ramadan is a time of compassion and mercy. In these blessed days, when patience and tolerance prevail, we once more remember love, peace, modesty, cooperation and living for others,” Gülen’s message said.
The era of dialogue will never be over
I saw, once again, what it means to be “stuck in time.” Breivik looks only to the past and disregards the potential for the human will to create change. He claims, in opposition to Gülen, that the time for dialogue is over. “We gave peace a chance. The time for armed resistance has come,” he declares.
Corruption, Stigmatization, and Innocence
Unfortunately, the Hizmet Movement as one of the leading civilian movements contributing to intercultural dialogue and peace in the world has been labeled as one of the players to destabilize Turkey by the pro-government press too.
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