A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY
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| Volume 7 Number 36 - Tuesday, September 6th, 2005 |
A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY |
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The Orthodox Christian Laity
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The Orthodox Christian News Service |
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Turkey can run, but should not be allowed to hide on the issue of reopening the theological school on Chalki, the famed seminary of the Ecumenical Patriarchate until 1971, when the Turks shut it down. Unfortunately, an otherwise enlightening article printed in last weekends Financial Times, that great European paper now circulating in the United States, and reprinted in this issue, appears to be doing just that, providing excuses for the Turks not to act. Almost right after the closing of the school, successive Turkish governments have insisted that they would be in favor of reopening it, if not for the "political cost" involved. The same is true of the current government under Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which has repeatedly promised even to President Bush, according to some sources to reopen it, but to no avail. The heart of the argument presented by the Turks is this: "We can not grant rights to minority religions that we are not willing to grant to the majority faith."
This pseudo dilemma trips on its own logic:
Ataturk decreed that Turkey be a secular state.
It therefore controls its religious leaders so
as to avoid the fanaticism seen in other Muslim
countries (probably a smart thing, but still a
questionable practice). What, however, does that
have to do with a small minority whose leaders
bear responsibility for millions of Christians
all over the world? |
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