I’ve always found his drawings and paintings full of inspiration. He had a knack for making things seem transparent. It was when Rockwell painted the “The Four Freedoms” series, which depicted President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s principles for universal rights, that the concept of freedom began to be really understood. The paintings were published in 1943 by The Saturday Evening Post.You may not be familiar with what the four freedoms are: “Freedom to Worship,” “Freedom of Speech,” “Freedom from Want” and “Freedom from Fear.”
You can ask anyone who has known only freedom why it is so important to them. They may say because slavery is horrible or that they love their freedom and find it satisfying. Most would add that they would without any hesitation give their life to defend it.
Freedom: to dress as you like, to say what you want, to believe and do as you please!
A comment was sent in by a Turkish man after he read “Women merging on the front lines.” A reader commented on the online version of my article, saying: “I had a girl friend from Finland a few years ago. ... One day she asked me ‘Do all of the women in Turkey wear headscarves?’ She also asked if she comes to Turkey will she have to wear the same clothes, too. As you say, many foreigners have the wrong perception of Turkey.” From: Halis A.
A Today Zaman reader had this to say about my piece dated Oct. 26, “He said she said: what brings happiness”:
“Charlotte, in the interest of fairness, please give us the titles of those three books which you and your correspondent say have presented a false view of Turks -- so that we can read and judge for ourselves. As for the quality of the education provided by religious schools, this is a thorny issue. If the education is truly comparable to that provided by secular schools, then it appears that discrimination is being practiced here -- but, and it’s a big ‘but,’ if the education received there has been altered, watered-down, and influenced by introducing a religious (in this case, Islamic) slant to subjects such as science, including evolution, and the social sciences, such as history and politics, equity studies, and so on, then the differential treatment of the students is justified.” From: Jen J.
Jen! Here are the three titles the other Today’s Zaman reader felt project a wrong image about Turkey:
“Power, Faith and Fantasy America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present,” by Michael Oren.
“Destination America: The People and Cultures that Created a Nation,” by Chuck Wills.
“The War of the World: Twentieth Century Conflict and the Descent of the West,” by Niall Fergusson.
Yüksel O. sent her comment after reading my piece “Let’s be friends.” She implied she has not found it easy to make friends with Americans in the States and blames some of this on the media. Yüksel believes books such as the three titles listed above unfairly portray Turkey and the Turks.
It’s not unusual to read a headline in a Western newspaper that says something like this one in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Europeans Criticize Turkey Over Threats to Media Freedoms.” Other times it may be challenging Turkey’s position on human rights. It seems Turkey has not been able to convince others that there is nothing to hide.
Transparency comes through being able to express yourself and being open. This past week, the European Union told Turkey that the nation needed to speed up reforms to boost its chances of joining the bloc and made a special appeal to protect the freedom of expression of Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk.
Visitors are surprised when they cannot get on YouTube or are warned not to discuss certain subjects to avoid any problems or offending others. In the 20th century, censorship is not something Westerners are familiar with. I remember traveling in the Soviet Union and having to smuggle in my TIME magazines. On occasion, they were found and confiscated. If there is transparency, there is no need to examine books, plays, films, television and radio programs, news reports or other forms of communication to see if there are alternative or suppressed ideas that have been found objectionable or offensive.
Transparency in our personal life, at the workplace or in social media and in politics is important.
Note: Charlotte McPherson is the author of “Culture Smart: Turkey, 2005.” Please keep your questions and observations coming: I want to ensure this column is a help to you, Today’s Zaman’s readers. Email: c.mcpherson@todayszaman.com
