Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) program Religion and Ethics NewsWeekly featured a story on the Gülen movement on Friday, quoting well-respected American observers, as well as the movement’s members and admirers.
The 10-minute-long story by PBS correspondent Luck Severson gave information on the movement, which is a group of volunteers engaged in interfaith and intercultural dialogue inspired by the ideas of Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish Islamic scholar well known for his teachings promoting mutual understanding and tolerance between cultures.
What does Gulen say? He says: “Work hard and earn money, but be honest. Allah will reward your hard work and honesty. But do not squander that reward. Turn it into an investment and help others.” It sounds a lot like the Protestant work ethic. This is the underlying vision of capitalism. The Gulen Movement looks a lot like the Ottoman-era Ahi movement. It is a kind of a solidarity group that provides people with jobs, education, and reintegration into society.
German view of Hizmet Movement (1)
I remember the late, right-minded orientalist Annemarie Schimmel’s words saying, “The most attacked and least understood religion in the West is Islam.” Today, we come across a similar statement in a recently published scholarly report too. I’m referring to the report titled, “Überdehnt sich die Bewegung von Fethullah Gülen?” by Stiftung für Wissenschaftund Politik (SWP), which put the Hizmet Movement under a scholarly microscope.
The tragedy in Soma will also be felt in politics
Mr Erdogan has launched what he admits is “a witch hunt”, demoting and reshuffling hundreds of Gulenists within the bureaucracy.
An Interview with Fethullah Gülen
What caused Erdogan’s to turn against me? Two factors stand out. …. Secondly, there is the issue of Hizmet schools. We operate hundreds of them in Turkey and in some 170 countries around the world, more than 1.400 schools. Erdogan wanted to control our network as a tool to further his aim of dominating the entire Islamic world, as caliph.
Peacebuilders Conference – Call for Papers:
The Atlantic Institute, GA, is organizing a conference in partnership with the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel. The conference’s main focus is non-violent peacebuilding, it is titled “Fostering Dialogues in Education, Ethics, and Non Violent Peacebuilding: Global Social and Religious Movements Today.”
Ex-AK Party deputy Özdalga: Gov’t wants to make judiciary subordinate to executive power
“The issue is not only about corruption, it is also about the independence of the judiciary and the separation of powers, things at the heart of the democratic regime. There is no democracy without these,” says Haluk Özdalga, who was a member of the ruling party since 2007 until his recent resignation.
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