An iPub Perspective Editorial
By Kevin Nichols
On a recent visit to Kayseri in central Turkey, I happened upon a fascinating building. The local municipality had remodeled and repurposed the Virgin Mary Church into a public library. As I explored the ancient building with a new purpose, I began to think of the crossroads between religion, education, and dialogue.
Recently, I visited the city of Kayseri in the central part of Turkey. In the downtown area, there was a very old—ancient even—building that took my attention. The Kayseri Municipality had converted the building, which was originally the Virgin Mary Church, into a public library. The building was jam-packed with people. There were visitors of all kinds, though most were university students, and everyone was fully focused on their studies. It was exam week, I believe, and students from all kinds of social groups were studying and working feverishly. This church-turned-library had bookshelves in various parts of the building with a wide range of books from science to history and politics.
Those who wished to borrow books could do so, and those who wished to read them at the library could do that, too. A staff member was responsible for putting books back in their original places. I wanted very much to take a look at those books. I gravitated towards the section of the library that held books on my fields of study—social sciences and religious studies. There were a few books in particular that caught my attention. Most of the books in religious studies were about Islam, because, of course, most Turkish people were Muslims. There were several editions of the Quran, Tafsir (exegetical texts of the Quran) and Hadith (the sayings of the Prophet Mohammed) texts. I did not see any holy book of another religion. Somehow, I could understand that, too. I did, however, come across books about members of other religions. Disconcertingly, most of the books opposed interfaith dialogue; among them was Interfaith Dialogue Betrayal and Why Muslims Shouldn’t Befriend Non-Muslims, etc. It made me sad. Of course there should be books from all perspectives; at the very least, there should be some that support interfaith dialogue. In Turkish literature, there are dozens of books published over decades that support the necessity of mutual understanding. But, the library held none of them. After examining the architectural beauty and some paintings, I went outside where I again admired the building.
I regarded this beautiful library built inside an ancient church. Most of the people entering the building were wearing headscarves, and I’m sure all the visitors were Muslims. On the one hand, the church has been preserved, and on the other, it was turned into a beautiful house of education. Wasn’t it a perfect example of dialogue?
However, some of the book disparaged dialogue with other religions. For almost a decade, books that promote interreligious dialogue were in trend, but recently, this subject is not looked on favorably or even talked about that much due to the political landscape of the country. Then, I came to a conclusion. Although politics and perceptions change, people are always ready to grasp the religious other in a natural way, which I call the “inevitable level of dialogue.” Even if they are not aware of it …
iPub Global Connection has multiple books on interfaith dialogue. Order one today!
Featured photo credits: Dosseman, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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