As the fight against terrorism continues, people in many parts of the world are making efforts to defang this enemy in their own ways. Among them are three women in Turkey to whom I talked recently. As a result of 9/11, they are thinking deeply about loving their neighbors.
In my conversations with these women almost a year after the terrorist attacks in the United States, one main theme kept surfacing: the universal need to love one another and to teach people to love. Alertness on the part of governments and more equality in economic distribution certainly have their place in making the world more secure and stable. But, as you can see from the comments these women offer below, they feel that world peace requires a change in thinking and learning to love.
As do many other people living in Turkey, these women care about the world, their country, and their neighbors. They yearn for peace in the region. They have not lost sight of the opportunities for peace that teaching love for others can bring. The three women I interviewed all live in Ankara, which is also my city. Below are excerpts from their comments.
