Hagia Sophia to be turned back into a mosque

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Absolutely appalling. If it should be anything it should be a Church simply b/c that’s what it was built as. But there are so few Orthodox left in Turkey now that it’s best it stays as a museum. Atatürk had the right idea there. The Roman Empire is gone, the Ottoman Empire is gone…leave the past alone! I am no fan of Erdoğan…he’s been in power for far too long and is slowly morphing into a dictator of sorts.

Emperor St. Justinian pray for us!
 
Angel_Gabriel said:
I am no fan of Erdoğan…he’s been in power for far too long and is slowly morphing into a dictator of sorts.
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Indeed. He seems to have abandoned Westernization and trying to join the EU in favor of some sort of Sunni revivalism, perhaps as a better counter to the Shi’ite extemism of the Iranians.
 
Yes, I can see Turkey going down the same path that Iran did.
 
Angel_Gabriel said:
Yes, I can see Turkey going down the same path that Iran did.
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To extremism. It is a major tourist attraction. So in order for Christians to view, they will have to now go into a Mosque.
 
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Exactly. I have wanted to visit Istanbul for a while now and to visit Hagia Sophia specifically. Now? Well…let’s just say that I’m concerned to even go into the country itself 😦 (And I’m a Turkish culture lover!)
 
I think it would have stayed as a museum.

There are more than a few ancient icons on the walls there. I really hope something is done to preserve them.
 
Really I’m not sure what all the fuss is about, granted it was originally built as a church, but unfortunately was then a mosque for 500 years before being converted to a museum in 1934. Isn’t it a bit late after 500 years of being a mosque to start complaining now that it’s going to be a mosque again.
 
Yes it may seem a little late to complain about it being converted to a mosque but we Catholics and Orthodox are a patient people. The Hagia Sophia was a beautiful image (both inside and out) of the reverence and awe God’s people have for The Almighty.
 
Tambo said:
Really I’m not sure what all the fuss is about, granted it was originally built as a church, but unfortunately was then a mosque for 500 years before being converted to a museum in 1934.
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I didn’t even know that it had been converted into a museum. I know of it from ancient and medieval history, and knew it had been converted into a mosque after the fall of Constantinople, and until now assumed it had stayed that way.
 
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It’s a sign that Turkey is moving away from cultural openness toward extremism.
 
Am I the only one who prefers it to be a Mosque? In a secularized world, I like that museums are reverting to Religious buildings again, even if it’s an Islamic temple.

Besides, they wouldn’t have given us the building even if it was still a museum, unless we converted all the population in Istambul to Christianity, which seems to be the objective still.
 
I have no problem with it being any of the three. Pragmatically it makes sense for it to be a mosque, because there are a lot of Muslims and not a lot of Christians. However individuals practicing Islam, and the incorporation of Islamic rules into the penal and civil codes are two very different things, which is where this may be leading. It’s very important both geographically and culturally that Turkey remain open to the West.
 
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Turkey has been quite notable for its commitment to secularism within the Islamic world. Time will tell if that balance will shift to a theocracy, to be welcomed by 99.8% of the population that is Muslim.
 
It’s mainly the rural areas of Turkey that are gaining in extremism. The big metro areas of Istanbul, Izmir and Ankara are very secular. But, as stated before, Orthodox presence in Turkey is minuscule. There’s concern over who will be the next Ecumenical Patriarch b/c of the restrictions that the Turkish govt has on the office. There’s no practical way for the EP to take over Hagia Sophia and all the maintenance that it would require, therefore it should stay as a museum so that people of all faiths can see it’s history. It wasn’t built to be a mosque…in fact the Ottomans altered the interior a bit so that it would face Mecca as opposed to the just facing East.
 
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I also find annoying that people equate Muslim religious policies = extremism, but when we try to propose the Social Doctrine of the Church, we are just being good Catholics.

There is a difference between not agreeing with the beliefs of another religion, and calling any try it has of political relevance extremism.

And no, we are not talking about ISIS, we are talking about repurposing a building and rural people.
 
I have been called an extremist for my pro-life views. I will proudly wear that badge if it means I stand up for what I believe in, with no compromises or exceptions.

And yes, I think that Catholic social doctrine, and being good Catholics, involves a healthy dose of extremism. Although from a Catholic point of view, the positions are extremely in the center and balanced, a more accurate term would be “radical”.

We often speak of radical grace and radical love. I have undergone radical conversion, more than once, in my journey with God. And “radical” is another epithet that might be applied to Islam, or terrorists, or theocracies. But “radical” and “extremist” are only negative in the hands of rhetoricians who seek to denigrate the other side.
 
Anesti33 said:
“radical” and “extremist” are only negative in the hands of rhetoricians who seek to denigrate the other side.
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My point is: that is the sense in which the terms are being used in this thread.
 
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