All Posts in Category: OP-ED

Aristotle defines human beings as rational animals, emphasizing reason as a characteristic of human nature. Two thousand years later Descartes rejected the traditional notion of humans as “rational animals,” suggesting instead that they are nothing more than “thinking things”. Today both seem to be challenged further, especially when we consider…

“You have to live your Love or else you’ll only end in words.” Rumi Human problems and contemporary terminology The world that we live in today is full of pressing dilemmas and unsolved puzzles. Academics, intellectuals, policy-makers as well as opinion leaders struggle to define and find a permanent solution…

Fethullah Gulen’s solution to today’s problems are not only unique but also very practical. For Example; One of the major challenges the people of religion and the scholars have been facing with is the lack of unity amount them. How come people of truth and concord oppose each other in…

Mustafa Akyol, an important figure in Turkey’s intellectual fabric, wrote on the Gulen Movement and the fear mongering that’s going on around it. Akyol emphasizes on the disinformation that plagued the Turkish society for so long and how the Gulen Movement’s acts should be read in today’s context. The protocols…

My name is Lawrence Arthur Forman and I am the Faculty Advisor of the Turkish-Muslim Better Understanding Club of Old Dominion University, where I am an adjunct Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion. I am also the rabbi-emeritus of Ohef Sholom Temple in Norfolk, Virginia, where I served…

Browsing through the major news outlets, you would face with the bizarre picture of the fact that in many parts of the world, civil society suffers because of conflicts, corruption and lack of pace. It is an inevitable relativity to recognize the crucial role of education in contributing to building…

This is a question social scientists have been trying to answer earnestly for over a decade, yet no one definition or approach seems to satisfy. Even social scientists cannot agree on what to call it, and one can find various articles referring to it as the Gülen Movement, the Hizmet Movement, The Gülen…

Poverty is the lack of basic human needs, such as clean water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter due to the inability to afford them. This condition is also referred as the absolute poverty. According to the World Bank, 1.4 billion people in the developing world live on absolute…

Aristotle defines human beings as rational animals, emphasizing reason as a characteristic of human nature. Two thousand years later Descartes rejected the traditional notion of humans as “rational animals,” suggesting instead that they are nothing more than “thinking things”1. Today both seem to be challenged further, especially when we consider…

Abstract Character education has been woven into the fabric of the curriculum of Gulen- inspired schools worldwide. Through character education programs, students develop performance habits and intellectual qualities that enable them to perform at their highest potential not only while in school, but also in their personal and professional lives. This paper seeks…