| Popis: |
Religious identity has always been a contentious issue in Turkish politics. A commonly shared Sunni Muslim identity has been an essential component of Turkish nationalism ever since the early Republican era. The dominant political discourse therefore commonly denies the existence of atheism and non-religion and emphasises the Muslim nature of the Turkish nation. Being Turkish supposedly equals being Muslim. Being atheist, on the contrary, means to represent the Turkish nation’s virulent adversary spawned by Western imperialism. Turkey’s ideological fixation on Islam has obscured the fact that a significant number of people have left Islam in recent years; many of them in reaction to the present government’s political abuse of religion and an increased sense of disillusionment with religious values. This chapter provides insight into the awakening of organised atheism in Turkey and investigates the recent debate on ‘religious fatigue’ among conservative youths. With the help of individual stories of becoming atheist, this chapter also seeks to provide possible answers to why Turkey’s ‘Islamic adventure’ is falling apart. |
