A New Holiday Hit In Muslim Turkey: Here Comes Santa

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ^ | Wednesday, December 24, 2003 | HUGH POPE

[presidio9]

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Santa Claus is coming to town -- in an unlikely country.

Many cities across Turkey, home to 70 million Muslims, are erecting sparkling displays of lights on their main boulevards. Decorated trees glitter everywhere. Statues of the jolly old man grace the entrances of major stores. Most know Santa by the local moniker, Noel Baba, or literally, Father Christmas.

[Lawgvr1955]

Living in a Muslim country must be like moving in with your aunt and finding out she is the Church Lady.

[stuartcr]

Sounds good to me.

[Leroy S. Mort]

One small step. Next, the Easter Bunny.

[RoseofTexas]

AHHHHHHHHHHH, the wisdom of God at work! One soul at a time!!

[Wright is right!]

Perhaps our friend a_turk can swing by and give us a heads-up on this. But I did notice whilst in Turkey that the average Turkish citizen knows a great deal more about Christianity than the average Christian knows about Islam. Many Muslims have also read The Bible cover to cover, and can quote passages and events from it. Plus, there actually IS a tiny (2%) Christian minority living in Turkey. Just as there are some Palestinian Christians in Israel.

One of our tour guides, himself a Muslim, said that it is not uncommon at all for Turkish Muslims to have also read The Bible - for it is helpful for its historical context and its insight offered theologically. I would imagine that the percentage of Christians who have also read the Koran cover to cover would be quite miniscule.

Michael

[Leroy S. Mort]

Plus, there actually IS a tiny (2%) Christian minority living in Turkey

That's point 2 % (.2%) I think....based on This info.

[sinclair]

“"...It's for the colors, the children, the presents," says her father. "We don't think of it as religious at all."“

Pretty much the way it is with most people here too.

[xp38]

I have tried reading the Koran but found it boring and repetitive and eventually gave up. Some parts of the Bible such as the numberings and begats are similar but are easily skippable. With the Koran its not so easy or maybe I had a bad translation...who knows. Regardless I didn't find it inspiring literature and in some parts it seemed juvenile. From what I understand you are supposed to read it in the original arabic and translations are supposedly forbidden. I'm not about to learn arabic however.

[The Chid]

I have a Baba Noel Doll that I bought in Adana back in 1988 when I was stationed at Incirlik AB. It goes on the top of the mantle every year.

[B Knotts]

In a religious monthly magazine distributed to all 80,000 state-run mosques in the country, senior cleric Fikret Karaman railed not only against Santa but also on the decorating of fir trees, eating turkeys and drinking alcoholic beverages.

Huh?

Are Muslims forbidden to eat turkey? Never heard that one before.

[Destro]

Turks not allowed to eat Turkeys?

[Shermy]

Turks Revere an Ancestor: Ol' St. Nick

[autoresponder]

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Jungle Jim

[MeekOneGOP]

lookin' for robert blake.....

[JoeFromSidney]

Four years ago I was walking down the street in Istanbul and here came Santa, in full red outfit with beard. I'm still kicking myself because I had left my camera at my apartment. I did keep an article from the TURKISH DAILY NEWS showing a picture of a kid with Santa at one of the department stores.

[a_Turk]

The Old Testament has passages speaking out against the decorating of trees and drinking alcohol, but I can't think of any scripture which commands against turkeys and Santa.

The "senior cleric" must be sensitive to foreign culture being adopted by us Turks, but he ought to have realized by now that it is in our nature to do so as we have done that for thousands of years. Adoption of foreign culture is precisely why we are Muslims, for example..

[a_Turk]

>> But teh scum Turks

Oh yeah? Merry Christmas to you too..