Hakan Yesilova from the Fountain Magazine will talk about Gulen movement’s service to the benefit our society with an inspiration from religious ethics and faithful value systems via secular terms on Tuesday, October 21, 2014.
Date: October 21, 2014 12:00 pm- 1:30 pm
Venue: 750 First St NE ste 1120 Washington DC 20002
Hizmet, the massive social movement inspired from renowned scholar Fethullah Gulen, celebrates over a thousand schools and countless institutions and learning centers worldwide. Even though deeply inspired from religious ethics and faithful value systems, the outcome of the activities of the Hizmet movement are deeply secular and serve to the benefit of our society. Schools and dialogue institutions that are inspired from the Hizmet Movement operate in very secular terms and engage with others to develop projects designed for the betterment of our civilization and to promote values like democracy and peaceful coexistence.
Among many of those ideas upon which Hizmet movement operates I find the “other-indicative” perspective very relevant to our contemporary age and the overall human life. Based on my personal experience with the Hizmet movement over the last two decades, my observations of their institutions across five continents, and my professional engagement with The Fountain magazine over the years, I argue that this perspective, which is deeply embedded in a theological philosophy, has produced a very successful culture of education in the Hizmet-related schools, even if it is not an officially declared methodology. The benefit of this approach is the key to the academic and social achievements these schools have obtained around the world.
Hakan Yesilova is the editor of the US-based The Fountain magazine. With an education in languages and political science, Yesilova is a professional publisher since 1995 with an experience in various editorial and marketing positions in Turkey and USA. In addition to his editorial position, he organizes international conferences on themes explored in The Fountain, such as media ethics, education, peaceful coexistence, and intercultural dialogue. He writes on civil society and human rights.