A Blessed Sunday!

It used to be that Sundays, at least, offered a proper break; we would step away from life, work, and the news. In short, it was a beautiful day. Nowadays, not just Sundays, but none of our days go well. Just as you think you will spend the day resting your mind without looking at the news, your day is poisoned all over again by infuriating posts on social media platforms. One truly longs to say "Have a blessed Sunday" and mean it. The agenda, the headlines, the unfolding events move with such terrifying speed that we are utterly bewildered as to how to keep track or cope. Anyway... in this piece, I want to recall a vital slogan: "There is no such thing as a child bride; there is only pedophilia!" Whilst sending my deepest curses to the twisted minds that refuse to let us forget this reality!..

Just last week, Mavi Deniz Publishing included a section in a first-grade primary school textbook containing sentences like "Özge became a little bride." Aside from a few grassroots organisations and mindful individuals, the country remained dead silent. There is absolutely no excusing an education system that hijacks the mental health of children at such a tender age. Trying to normalise pedophilia will never clear the country's abusive foundations; history will certainly hold everyone accountable, let that be known. Indeed, I do not know what it will take to shatter the silence of a public that refuses to object to this. From the education system to healthcare, our lives are in jeopardy, and so are our children's. Parents who are desperately striving to build a brighter future for them inevitably lose hope in the face of this trajectory; the thought of sending your child to school only for them to grow up in the grip of pedophilia is horrific! While the backlash against this book grew, the nation was shaken by yet another violation. In Yogzat, almost all the men of a village assaulted a woman with learning difficulties, a report we read on social media with absolute horror. How can such atrocities happen one after another in a country? How can such severe crimes, such monstrous perpetrators, and events that bring utter shame upon a nation fail to be addressed? The reality is that where the law does not function and justice does not exist, crimes will only multiply.

We are passing through dark days. Those living in the homeland, those living in exile, we are all trapped within our separate collective and individual darkness. Naturally, this state of affairs takes a heavy toll on our mental health. Stories of madness and collective frenzy never cease; humanity is overflowing with malice and hatred! It has reached a point where we cannot even tolerate the birds in the sky; we decide the best thing is to poison and kill them—after all, why let them live when we can destroy them?!

As I read this report in utter disbelief, right beneath it I read another post about young boys taking a dog hostage and cutting off its ears, posing for photos to feed whatever twisted gratification they derive. I read it all with a sickened heart.

Let us look for a moment at the root of violence, at the human animal's historical inclination toward brutality... Without a doubt, highly intelligent human beings invented weapons of mass destruction to obliterate life; they engineered wars and turned peoples against each other. The more we fractured, the easier it became for them to play their games—for who can deny that they are terrified of our unity?

As our species advanced through the ages, death and violence only multiplied. In psychology, it is said that while positive intention coupled with knowledge yields a constructive force, negative intention combined with knowledge creates a purely destructive power. Those with malicious intent act in unison, multiplying hostility, bigotry, and hatred day by day, while those who accept their fate, sitting quietly in their corners and submitting, find solace in religion and similar concepts. Here, too, we see intentions framed however they please. To be sure, seeking refuge in something spiritual is a human need! But fear cannot avert destiny. It is vital to note at this exact juncture that the fear of death can go as far as outright denial, and unless we accept our mortality, signs of violence among humans will only escalate. After all, saying "God forbid" does not erase our transient nature.

The twentieth century witnessed the most violent era of the past two hundred years. Responding to the atrocities we witness with further violence will not pull any of us clean from this mire. Scientists state that those who escalate violence possess knowledge, and they succeed because they deploy this knowledge with pure malice; we cannot even begin to predict what else might befall societies that turn away from science and reason, refusing to read or question in this supposedly enlightened age.

Throughout history, governments have been the creators of the most lethal violence; one must ask, if a state does not protect nature, animals, and children, what on earth does it protect? On the other hand, the individuals and minorities who rose up in rebellion against these realities remained isolated because the vast majority failed to unite. Those who sow violence, bigotry, and hatred will ultimately weave their own noose.

There is no room for despair; there is no choice but to carry on planting seeds of hope and flowers of love, protecting nature, animals, and children against this system. Turn your intentions toward the good despite everything—for after all, the most dangerous species on earth is the human being, and we are all human.