May 22, 2016, Brooklyn, NY — Turkish Cultural Center in Brooklyn organized an interfaith discussion, titled “Combating Extremism Cancer” with the partnership of St. Athanasius Church, and Fountain Magazine in Brooklyn. The guest speaker of the event was Hakan Yesilova, Chief Editor of Fountain Magazine.
Mr. Yesilova discussed how to create spaces for practicing faiths. According to him, religion (or faith) has been a “reality of the human condition”, whether that belief is taken as divine truth or a product of our minds. He also explained the history of violence, and asked critical questions to better understand the complex relationship between faith and violence.
The program was created in response to the lead article published by The Fountain Magazine in November 2015 that denounced terrorism and to correct false associations of violence with religion. In recent years, communities across the United States and around the World have been suffering from extremist views, fueled by inflammatory and hateful resorting to violence in the society.
