"Clean theology is good for every religious community"

[rug]

Felix Koerner

At the start of the millennium, the Jesuit priest Felix Koerner conducted research in Ankara and engaged with theologians who were streets ahead of their Arab colleagues when it came to libertarian and progressive thought. But the role of religion on the Bosphorus has changed dramatically since then. In an interview with Carolin Kubo, Koerner talks about the interdependence of religion and the state in Turkey and why interfaith dialogue is at a more advanced stage in Germany

Author: Carolin Kubo
Date: 17.08.2016

You carried out research in Ankara between 2002 and 2008, devoting yourself to interfaith work with theologians and philosophers. At the time, the rising figure of Recep Tayyip Erdogan was being feted as a visionary and a saviour. What has become of "your" Turkey?

Felix Koerner: I arrived in a country that was on the brink of a new beginning. You could almost see how Turkey was blossoming, in three dimensions: with more wealth, more trust and also more plurality. People were beginning to enjoy their differences; while one woman might wear a headscarf, another would not and both ways were fine. But it didn′t last. Now, the old polarisation models familiar to us from the 20th century are being rolled out yet again.

Back in early 2015 you warned of the fact that Erdogan was exploiting religion, among other things, to achieve his political ends. And now? Has "the Moor" finished with religion, or is there more to it?

Koerner: I would say the latter. Erdogan's exploitation of religion doesn't follow the tram principle, jumping off as soon as he′s reached his destination. That′s how he exploited democracy. He only needed it to take power. But with religion, it′s different. Despite the way things may look from the outside, Erdogan is a committed Muslim and believes he is serving the realisation of Islam. But he also is using the religion of the majority of the population to cement support: "Finally one of us, who will sweep away this despicable laicism that we never wanted in the first place."

https://en.qantara.de/content/interview-with-the-theologian-and-islam-scholar-felix-koerner-clean-theology-is-good-for

[Jim__]

1. A couple of thoughts on the interview.

Koerner: Plenty of things are happening in Ankara at the moment without any great fanfare. Some theology lecturers there are teaching with a healthy portion of intellectual vigour and self-criticism, they also invite Christian interlocutors for debates with themselves and their students – I try and get there once a year; but you don't have go along with a label such as "modern" or "hermeneutical" or "historically critical", or even just "Ankara School". Conducting clean theology at university: that's good for every religious community!

Dialog between people with different viewpoints always seems to be a good way to go. It's hard to hate someone when you consistently hold civil conversations with them.

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Koerner: That religion can guide us through our entire life, the way we cope with strokes of fate, but also our ideas for the political organisation of the world. As one acquaintance said to me recently: the refugees are making us better people.

Unfortunately, I don't believe that the refugees are making Americans better people.