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No king but CaesarReader comment on item: Turkey's Erdoğan Gambles and Loses Submitted by Michael S (United States), May 1, 2016 at 03:52 Hi, TRN You addressed your comment ot Dr. Pipes, but it ended up in my email. Concerning Turkey being part of Europe, here's how I look at it: 1. Culturally, Turkey belongs with the Middle East, not Europe -- especially since their ruling party is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. In my mind, Europe is tied together by its common Hebrew-Christian and Graeco-Roman dual heritage. Islamic society is marginal to that world; and part of Islamic society is absolutely at odds with that world and everything it represents. 2. The Europeans themselves, to some degree, reject what I have just said. They prefer to believe that they are not rooted in anything ancient; that they somehow just "happened", like the discredited theory of "spontaneous generation". They're foolish, of course; but they are free to their folly. To them, religious and cultural roots are meaningless. When people think like that, they insensibly drift to the most base sense of identity, race; and racially, the Turks are more European than Middle Eastern. The EU is Europe's private club, so they are free to go this way if they wish. 3. Despite the EU being a private club, the powers that be have been working overtime, to include the rest of the West with them. If all these plans of mice and men come to fruition, there will be one great "European Union", as it were, from Australia to Japan to Chile to the US to the Ukraine. The Japanese play baseball. Does that make them American? You see, the lines are getting blurred. Our old anchors of identity are getting tossed out the window. Before long, we will, as our forefathers did in the First Century, identify only with Caesar; and those who do not will be persecuted. Shalom shalom. Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments". Reader comments (41) on this item
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