Guten Tag, meine Turkische Freunden!

I'm glad to see that Benedict XVI is not backing down from his assertion that we need to move away from violence in religious expression in the face of violent expression of relious beliefs. If you're inclined to think that his visit to Turkey will only stir the pot, then you're missing the point: What better place is there to continue a diologue that has the potential to do some real good? Now it's Istanbul, but it once was Constantinople. Why did Constantinople get the works? It's nobody's business but the Turks - and maybe soon, France's, Germany's and the rest of the EU's business. This is significant because Turkey, while not a Muslim state, is a culturally Muslim nation that has a long history of living in the East and the West, and benefiting greatly from that duality.

While the Pope seeks to give a shout out to Turkey's Christian minority, he also wants to strengthen the bonds between peaceful relious people in the world. Turkey is a good backdrop for cementing a building block toward that goal, particularly between Christians and Muslims (we kinda need that right about now). Having been the seat of the Islamic Caliphate and then that of Christianity in the East, Istanbul is a very special place on this earth. The Hagia Sofia in Istanbul was a Christian church, then a mosque and is now a museum. Its Christian adornment, long hidden by plaster placed by Muslims, has been painstakingly uncovered by the Turkish government. Ironically, the effort to obscure those paintings has preserved them. It's a monument to both struggle and peace. Much like the rest of Turkey.

Mustafa Kemal (aka Ataturk, who I like to believe is called that because, after forming the state was patted on the back and told "Ata Turk!"), while being one tough SOB, formed a democratic nation out of the remnants of the Ottoman Empire. The lynchpin of that democracy: a fiercely secular government. It's military, while not a controlling force, is the guarantor of the secular government, and is very ready to exercise its options, though it has rarely done so militarily; it only needs to strategically offer its opinion. They have a professional army that produces some of this worlds most capable technocrats, adept at administration and internal politicing. Does this secularism in government diminish or constrain the religious life of the Turkish people? No. There is tremendous freedom for Muslims to worship openly, often, occasionally or seldom. Is Turkey particularly hospitable to Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians or what have you? Eh. It is primarily Muslim. At least you don't hear much about non-adherant Turks being offended by the star and crescent on their flag. Either they aren't offended, or nobody really cares that they're offended. They're fighting their own battle against the psuedo Muslim extremists. The Pope knows that, and is not there in spite of the wishes of the Turkish government.

I lived in Turkey for two years as a wee lad. I saw firsthand how present the connections to the West and Christianity are. I walked in the sandstone caves in Goreme where Christians hid out from Muslims. I saw the Roman ruins at Ephesus. I watched men slaughter sheep in the street during Ramadan. When I saw that, I thought about how ancient the whole religious experience is for them, and about how amazing it is that a Catholic kid from the States can have the opportunity to witness that. Being the kid of an Air Force officer who was involved in security matters, I got a bit of insight into the very close cooperation between the U.S. and Turkey. I visited the offices through which all of the U.S. military aid to Turkey flowed (JUSMAT). The chief of police in Ankara took us on a personal tour of the houses of government (I rang the bell in the parliament chamber). Turkey was also where I first saw people passionately exercise their political freedom in the streets during an election; I watched hundreds of people cram the streets with signs while shouting support for their candidates. I had mostly European and American friends, but I also played with Turkish Muslim and even a Turkish Christian kid. My point is that we weren't all trying to kill each other over there. Sure, there were some reminders of problems (we celebrated mass in a room with tape on the windows; in case of a bomb blast, the window would tend to stay in big pieces on the tape, rather than becoming deadly shards) and there were a few dicy moments (the night that we moved out of temporary housing when first arrived, a car bomb went off in front of the hotel; the bedroom my brother and I would have been in was covered with deadly shards). But for the most part, I remember things being pretty cordial and pleasant from day to day. Even at a very young age, I walked about fairly freely in my little few city blocks in Ankara.

Going to Turkey, and not backing down from a message that fundamentally is about love, is a wise and courageous thing for the Pope to do. The message is simple and should not be unstated, simply because attempts have been made to twist its meaning. Let the nay sayers in the West who don't like him anyway have their nay say, but when they call the guy in the funny robe a criminal who only seeks to enrich his powerful organization that is all about banking and keeping people from getting piercings and sleeping with each other, blah, blah, blah - they aren't helping anybody. It's about time we had some serious efforts at winning hearts and minds. I don't need to ask how many battalions the Pope has; I only need to know that he's trying to spread the love.