Kensington Heights

If anyone has the new Constantines album (Titled above) let me know. That's what's really on my mind these days in Istanbul.

One cheeseburger with a side of religious zeal, please.

I just enjoyed a cheeseburger and fries out on a patio wearing nothing more than standard teachers gear. The whole thing cost me 3 bucks. To say I'm excited about what summer might bring here is an understatement.

But that would also imply that everything's all cricket here. It ain't. In fact, I would imagine that things could get (As per usual) pretty tense around here in a few months.

I wasn't worried by any means about moving to a nation which the predominant religion of choice is Islam. In fact, everyone I spoke to about İstanbul told me how "Fiercely secular" it is. Stumbling down any big street while being blinded by neon golden arches had me agreeing with these people.

Though lately I've been a bit confused by all this secular nonsense. Dictionary.com tells me that secularism means "the view that public education and other matters of civil policy should be conducted without the introduction of a religious element." Which is all well and good. I believe in the separation of church and state. Or better yet, I'm glad I don't have any doctrines or ideas constantly imposed on me by those in authority. (Or, I'm glad I didn't)

But I realized that in University, on any given day, anyone with any point of view would try to impose their views of the world upon you. It was easy enough for us (Those shitheads in the back of a big lecture hall) to rag on them when we got home. I mean, they were putting themselves out there.

And what about the people that still believed in something, but didn't try to force their beliefs on us? Well, we took no qualms with them. And we still don't. Being the maniac Hip fan that I am requires me to wear a Hip shirt once a week for reasons I can't explain. I would argue that it's part of my faith.

Recently a big debate has swallowed Turkey whole. Apparently women are not allowed to wear headscarfs to Universities. They've taken to wearing big wigs. (Over already big hair) Naturally, I couldn't believe this shit. I shouldn't be so simple as to equate secularism with leftist thinking, but really. Back in '23, Mr. Atatürk moved for a western, progressive state, creating a new language just for Turks and getting rid of that dusty old Islamist language. Most forward thinkers I've met here praise Atatürk for "Saving" Turkey. They claim Turkey would have ended up like Iran had it not been for him.

What the shit. These are the same forward thinkers who work in the Universities and support the ban of headscarfs. What could be less progressive than telling women what they can and can't wear?

The arguement is that headscarfs carry certain political implications with them. Fair game. But forcing women to take off their headscarfs only angers them, and angers those who are serious about Islam. It backs them into a corner. And how would you feel about being backed itno a corner? You probably wouldn't want to strap some dynamite to yerself, but I reckon you'd be mighty pissed off too.

I think my point is that while Turkey seems eager to get all westernized with their fried chicken and CNN, they're not ready to deal with the fact that with the fried chicken and CNN comes fried mozzerella sticks and the BBC. (Which is to imply that all forms of religion are, well, fried. And I think I'll support my own notion for the time being.)

With western modernization comes choice. And with choice hopefully comes acceptance. You know what pisses me off about Turkey? Everyone's afraid. They tell me, "Don't bring yer ıpod out in public. Bad men will take it." Or "Don't talk shit about Turkey. The earth will fall out from under you."

I understand that you're scared of the religious implications a woman wearing a headscarf can bring. But the only reason to get scared is if you give everyone else a reason to be scared, or fear you, or whatever. These Turks want to separate the church and the state like their western allies....I can't imagine anyone in any school trying to tell a woman to stop wearing a cross around her neck. Shit, I'm sure Al still wears his Leafs jersey around Ottawa with pride, and with very little fear.

These Turks who are rocking this debate are admittedly walking on a tightrope. But no one ever makes it to the end of those things anyway. Make a goddamn decision. Leap, for fuck sakes. Don't be a fence sitter, but don't isolate the people you're claiming to be working for as well.

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(Naturally I'll admit that I'm terribly unqualified to be making such statements. But it's my blog, baby.)