It is difficult to deal with taboos in life, and it’s somewhat challenging to criticise them because when you try to do this, the slightest mistake can end up changing the topic completely. No matter where you are in the world, religion is one of those taboos that never changes.
It’s not about believing in God—these controversies arise more from the kinds of worship surrounding faith. And of course, there are a lot of people who use religion for their own ends. Matt Hawkins’ and Rahsan Ekedal’s graphic novel “The Tithe,” published by Image Comics, discusses how people’s religious beliefs are exploited and how religious scholars and politicians manipulate people’s faith to get what they want.
The first four issues are about the adventures of an American hacker who steals from televangelists and the FBI agents tracking her. Religious leaders using TV to spread Christianity to a wider public has been a subject of debate in the US for a long time. A lot of people donate what little money they have to these mega-churches, and the religious leaders who collect the donations live very comfortable lives. Some of these mega-churches have even become powerful political forces due to the number of followers they have; however, the leaders’ opulent lifestyles are also a target of criticism.
The Tithe tells the story of Samantha Copeland, who goes under the nickname “Samaritan” and works to unmask and rob these so-called preachers who use religion to take poor people’s money. James Miller and Dwayne Campbell are the two FBI agents pursuing her, and within the first four issues, they partner up with her and she ends up using her computer skills to help the American government.
The series’ fifth issue opens with a highly provocative statement. It begins with the 51st verse of the Al-Ma’ida chapter of the Quran, which states: “O Believers, take not Jews and Christians as friends: They are friends of each other. Those of you who make them his friends is one of them. God does not guide an unjust people.” The story then continues with Syria-born Adnan, who lost his parents in the civil war and was adopted by an American family. Adnan blows up St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
This is a shocking opening for those who aren’t very interested in religion. On top of that, the Al-Ma’ida chapter of the Quran is one that is frequently cited by anti-Muslim writers to support their claims. The graphic novel deals with the frauds carried out in the name of religion and ends up focusing on a politician who uses religion deceptively in order to get elected President of the United States.
It’s been years since I read The Tithe, but I was surprised when I saw this same Quran chapter in the news. The words appeared on a poster on a bus stop owned by the Konya Municipality. As tensions are running high all over the country right now, this poster was highly inflammatory.
Naturally, because this is a quote from the Quran, no one reacted to the poster as racist or hateful words. However, for those who aren’t familiar with the Quran, it’s pretty confusing that it would contain such a statement.
Years ago I experienced similar confusion, so I asked a theologian about this chapter at an AKP-sponsored event we were both attending. I learned that there was a lot of debate when the Quran was being made into a book, and that it was unknown exactly which verses came before and after this one. This debate is ongoing, and in fact, each verse needs to be evaluated within the context from which it arose.
I later learned from Turan Dursun’s book This Is Religion (Din Bu) that although we don’t hear much about the debates surrounding the order of the verses, there are similar discussions about the 50th and 51st verses of the Al-Ahzab chapter.
Within the context of Turkish history, no one wants to even think about how dangerous this poster in Konya could be, or the terrible things that can happen if people understand this verse simply as it’s written. Fortunately, after some objections, the posters were quickly taken down.
After all, Turkey is the place where there were pogroms carried out against the Greek minority on 6–7 October 1955 in Istanbul.
The memories of the Zirve Publishing House massacre are still fresh, when three Christian missionaries were tortured and murdered in April 2007.
In October 2007, there was also the murder of Hrant Dink, carried out by a 17-year old self-proclaimed nationalist. It’s never been fully clear who actually instigated this murder, but last week, officials again banned a meeting of the Hrant Dink Foundation in Istanbul.
No matter how much Turkey claims to have embraced and protected minorities throughout its history, it has always shied away from confronting a lot of problems with minorities. And this isn’t limited to just facing the past. For example, the Kurdish issue, which state officials claim is non-existent, is becoming increasingly serious.
Especially in the large cities in the West of Turkey, people are getting attacked and killed just for speaking Kurdish. In some of these murder cases, the perpetrators are receiving lighter sentences, with state officials saying these killings were not ethnically motivated, but instead the result of mutual fighting.
Since reading The Tithe, I’m now better able to perceive that religion is frequently a taboo that people can use effectively to their own ends. After all, a certain amount of knowledge is needed to even discuss religion. Also, if you know religion very well, you might be excommunicated like Martin Luther was.
In countries where freedom of speech and democracy are not fully established and where the rule of law is still a matter of debate, it should be pointed out that religion is often used as a dangerous seed that is planted when major social changes are about to take place.
There is one thing sticking in my mind, though. Since a verse from the Quran cannot be thrown away, or destroyed, or even recycled, what did the Konya Municipality do with the posters?
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