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December 2, 2015. A mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, following a devastating attack in Paris, France. Anti-Muslim rhetoric mushrooms, but how can I, one person, respond?

December 6, 2015. A hastily arranged interfaith service at Temple Beth Or, Washington Township, New Jersey, is attended by an overflow crowd of almost 400 people. The clergy, representing 18 congregations of the three Abrahamic faiths, walk to their seats as the Woodie Guthrie song, “This Land Is Your Land” is sung. The service gets underway with a call to prayer by a member of the Elzahara Islamic Center of Midland Park, New Jersey, and continues with additional prayers from each of the clergy. One priest from a Catholic Church in Ridgewood, New Jersey, ascends to the podium and asks everyone to take 15 minutes, introduce themselves to someone they don’t know, and “Pass the Peace.” This 15-minute interval turns into a seminal moment for me as “the other” that surrounds me becomes “the individual” – the mother, the student, the neighbor, each concerned about the same issues as I am.

This evening had a profound impact on me, and I still think of it often. It spurred me to approach my Jewish synagogue community and invite them to engage in an outreach program with representatives of the Muslim community. I had no illusions that this would solve the world’s problems, but I hoped it might be a spark to lift a veil in my tiny little corner of New Jersey. And thus began an ongoing journey to take the hand of our Muslim neighbors and turn the unknown and the different into the familiar and the friendly.

Over the ensuing years we have gathered together for various programs. We started with a Friendship Circle to introduce ourselves to one another, watched a documentary movie, BESA – The Promise, and subsequently The Turkish Passport, and discussed what we saw and heard. We invited our Muslim friends to participate in some of our synagogue services, some interfaith and some not. During one Sunday morning Minyan service, two central Jewish life cycle events took place – a baby naming for a newborn girl, and a 13-year-old leading the service one week before his Bar Mitzvah. Questions were casually asked and answered over our bagel breakfast (accompanied by both rugalach and baklava!). This turned into a tour of our sanctuary, led by our Rabbi and accompanied by a number of congregants. The Rabbi took the Torah scroll from the ark so it could be seen up close by everyone. She opened it and chanted that week’s Torah portion, which just happened to be about Hagar and Ishmael! The Rabbi along with our members explained the meaning of the various symbols around the sanctuary – how our prayer books are in both Hebrew and English, what the threads and knots (tzizit) of our prayer shawls represent, why only some of our memorial board lights were lit, etc. The otherness melted away as we engaged one another in vibrant conversation and dialogue.

One of the most moving interactions we experienced was when one of our members, a child survivor of Auschwitz and a longtime Hebrew school teacher, told her emotional story to a Muslim teen group, which left everyone with tears in their eyes. This included a question and answer session that touched everyone who participated. Our membership was invited to an Iftar dinner that year, during which we came to understand the purpose and meaning of the daytime fasting. We were recently invited to visit a local mosque, which was the first time any of us had stepped inside one. We had so many questions, and they were answered beautifully and passionately. We all sat, shoeless, in a circle, and those of us who are Jewish nodded our heads as the number of parallels between our faith practices became apparent. During Ramadan this year, our synagogue hosted an Iftar dinner. Kosher food was graciously brought into our kitchen, and three very dedicated Muslim volunteers spent several hours preparing traditional recipes for our dinner as we chatted and enjoyed each other’s company.

One by one by one, foundational connections have been made between our Jewish congregants and our Muslims friends. We have learned so much about one another: we have talked about our families, showed each other pictures of our children’s weddings, shared our families’ immigration experiences, exchanged phone numbers, and promised to see each other again soon.

The world is a complicated place, and there are no easy answers to the issues that confront us. But we each have the power to step outside our comfort zone, and just decide to take that first leap of faith. The opportunities to engage with one another in a meaningful way are all around us, and the rewards far outweigh the effort. Not only do we reap the benefits ourselves, but we have the potential opportunity to “pay it forward” by sharing our stories of these meaningful and memorable interactions, and maybe, just maybe, inspiring someone else to do the same!

As Jews, one of our overriding objectives is to participate in what is called “Tikkun Olam – Repairing the World.” This implies that while the world is inherently good, there is always room for us to improve it, and I would like to believe that I have contributed, in whatever small way, towards that end. In a world that undoubtedly is in need of a great deal of repair, please join in by taking that first small step alongside me and let us walk together.

In a world of relativities, however, 100 is not immune to varying perceptions. For the young, it is as far as the horizon; for the old, it is as if just around the corner. Maybe it’s not the most pleasing age to aspire to. Some years feel like a century by themselves, especially when so many events are compressed into them. 100, for an institution, is a signpost that proves a level of maturity, establishment, and depth of foundation. But 100 is also a promise for the future.

Here comes the 100th issue of The Fountain (hence you now know why so many words on the number 100!). For a daily newspaper or a weekly magazine, the 100th issue is not the biggest target to strive for. But for a periodical like The Fountain – which publishes serious content on various disciplines while trying to maintain a perspective and level of discourse about issues that pertain to all fellow human citizens, the brothers and sisters of a global home – 100 is not an insignificant number to reach. For over two decades, The Fountain has always chosen to stay above the fray of day-to-day events, temporary politics, or issues that are irrelevant to others. We have been selective in what we publish and tried to ensure content of universal appeal yet with an awareness of differences and respect for local diversities in color, language, culture, and faith.

In this 100th issue, we invite our dedicated readers to write on their takes on The Fountain. Write in 100 words on what The Fountain stands for in your life. What do you understand of its message? How do you think it is different than another publication? Write your life philosophy based on where you stand vis-à-vis The Fountain’s message. Do your best to reach or limit your writing to 100 words, but your reflection does not have to be the exact number. There will be surprise gifts and recognition for participants. Follow our website and social media announcements regarding the deadline and how to submit your work.

In this issue, we continue with Dr. Beecher’s second part on nation and the construction of self identity, the first part of which received positive feedback in the previous issue. His work is complemented by Dr. Kavi’s research on identity and its relationship with religion and culture. Dr. Aydin’s article on memetics is an additional contribution to this issue laying down some perspective on questions such as “How does the mind work? How do humans learn and develop? How does culture form and transfer to future generations?” The lead article sweeps over these issues with a more profoundly human twist on human life, which we are obliged to travel” for the sake of finding ourselves and realizing our true essence. As The Fountain hits 100, it’s a good time to reflect on where we all are in that journey.

Destruction is easy. Those who want to destroy something should first know how to construct something. Otherwise, the shortcomings that emerge after destruction will be impossible to solve. Some issues are not open to destruction unless a clear alternative has been set forth. I think one of the most significant missions of the prophets was to set the balance pertaining to this issue. They exposed all the fallacies in society, and exclaimed bravely, “this is incorrect.” They did so convincingly, looking people in the eye. They immediately offered alternative “corrections,” and prevented any sort of chaos or shortcomings. That is, they handled every matter on both positive and negative fronts and did not allow any kind of mental or sensual abyss to emerge. Without plans and projects of “construction” that have been built upon a firm foundation, any sort of destruction or demolition will be reckless.

As a matter of fact, simply due to the lack of this approach, sometimes individuals, sometimes families, sometimes states – in a direct proportion to the dimension of the mischief committed – are destined to collapse. The Ottomans primarily come to our minds, if we want to examine the issue from a state or national perspective. Sometimes, sultans were dethroned with thoughts of replacing them with better ones. But these absences created a power gap, they couldn’t find better rulers, and the people yearned for the old sultans. Because of this, the Ottomans were severely weakened, creating a power vacuum in the region.

It’s with deep regret that we must acknowledge this sort of historical mistake is still being committed. Without alternative, precise plans and projects in place, states or governments are being erased. That is, opposition consists only of loaded slogans and criticism. If they were asked how things really should have been, they would not know. A state or government may surely make mistakes. It should be open to criticism. But that criticism should never amount to, “let’s destroy it and then figure out an alternative.” Such a thought would weaken the state and could even cause the total loss of national credibility.

Believers should have no affiliation with those pursuing incorrect actions. To prevent a serious dissolution of national will, and against the dangers presented, they should always do what is expected of them. To those who chase them and torment them, believers should merely utter, “everyone acts according to his own character” (Qur’an 17:84). On this issue, balance is very important.

In conclusion, everything should be done in accordance with the proper rules. And while endeavoring to construct, the utmost care should be taken to avoid total destruction. Shortcomings should be avoided by heeding historical lessons. And the nation and state should not be recklessly sacrificed.

M&B: Your area of study is social ethics. In what way your approach to environmental problems is different than an ecologist, environmental scientist, or a purely religious scholar?

Dr. Hadsell: As social ethicists, when we look at the question of the environment we look at other questions in the human social world. So for example questions of peace and conflict, questions of population, questions of rich and poor within countries, questions of rich nations and poor nations, north and south, east and west so forth. In every case the goal is also to get the science right, to get the data right. So if you’re looking at issues of north and south for example what is the north what is the south what are the relationships we’re talking about are those political relationships? Are those economic relationships? How are political relationships related to economic relationships and culture and language and history and so forth? And when we therefore turn our attention to the environment we’re doing the same thing. We’re asking “whose environment?” According to whom what aspects of the environment. We also look at how are the environmental questions are being raised today. We look at issues of global warming and our use of natural resources accelerated use of natural resources and so forth. The social ethicist will say how these environmental issues are related to other issues that we know something about? That is how are they related to political issues, to economic issues to historical cultural interactions and so forth?

While some environmentalists takes the environmental issue as an object in itself and see it from their own perspective, a social ethicist will say as we look at the environment how is that question embedded in all of these other questions? They want to know the data about the environment the scientific data about the use of the consumption of natural resources and the acceleration of global warming and who is using the most resources? They want to know all of those things but they drive that discussion also from the philosophical religious side of things and ask from a religious perspective from a Christian perspective from a Muslim perspective let’s say, what is the human responsibility here? What does scripture tell us about the proper relationship between humans on the one hand nature on the other and God on the other? What is this relationship between these 3 things?

M&B: It seems like many different factors must be taken in to considerations.

Social ethics is really a composition of a number of things including sociology, political science studies of the social world, sometimes cultural anthropology as well as the more philosophical and religious area of ethics. And if you put those all together you have what is really called social ethics. People often work out of traditions, for example one can be an ethicist who’s interested in the social world and political issues in the social world out of a Muslim perspective or out of a Christian perspective or out of a Hindu perspective and so forth. There are also a humanist perspective so there are various approaches and they can be grounded religiously or not. That is religious people using scripture and faith but also then drawing upon as I said political science, history, sociology, cultural anthropology. When you put that together then it really is what in the United States we call the discipline of social ethics.

M&B: What are the challenges in working in such a diverse multicultural setting?

Multicultural settings are challenging be cause the history of human relationship with the environment varies with the cultures and religions. Different cultures approach nature in different ways and have a history with nature that is specific and different from other cultures.

In the United States and in our school Hartford Seminary we have a lot of cultures interacting as well as religions interacting. So you get a wide spectrum of perspectives and a wide spectrum of experiences and each perspective and each experience may assume that its own perspective is the normative one because of course it comes out of their own experience. It’s very important to think and to discuss these questions of the human relationship with nature across cultures and across religions to check the tendency for each perspective to blow its own perspective up and to call it common sense and to assume that its common to everyone.

M&B: Not only there are various religious and cultural settings but also geography seems to be an important factor when we approach to environmental problems.

In the United States for several decades there was an assumption that the environment is an issue that is of concern to white rich people. And that the rest of the American population or maybe the rest of the global population outside of north America and Europe for example don’t have the luxury of thinking about environmental issues. Of course that’s not true. The environmental issues such as global warming are going to affect most directly the very people who, once thought, shouldn’t care about the environment because they have other things to worry about like getting food on the table and so forth.

So these issues are complex and I think in recent years the environmental movement has become more able to think across cultures and across specific social classes for example and nations to think about the environment in more subtle ways. In the United States one of the things we’ve started talking about already 10 years ago is for example the issue of environmental racism. That is African Americans in the United States and inner cities of the United States may think of the environment as being something that people in the suburbs who are worried about who want to protect their trees or their streams or you know the kind of natural environment that they have and the reason that they’ve moved out into the suburbs in the first place. Whereas there are many environmental issues going on right in the inner cities which is often the place where the dirtiest processing plants are located. Many environmental issues are very close to home to a variety of cultures and a variety of income groups. The environment is far too important for global humanity to leave it up to one group as an issue for that particular group. It has to be an issue that is on the agenda for all of us from our own perspectives because we all get hit with these environmental issues. They’re moral issues for all of us and we need to have that conversation across these groups.

M&B: You said that the environmental problems hits the communities who depends on nature first. On the other hand the ones who are doing the pollution actually do not depend on nature so much. Do you think this adds another layer of responsibility or accountability to the problem?

I think it’s very true that the people around the world who are already vulnerable often already poor and often already living very close to nature. I think about people in the Pacific Islands for example. They are the people who are most immediately affected by changes in the environment as we see with the studies about the rising sea level in relationship to global warming. Many the people who will be most immediately affected are people who live as fishermen for example in villages who can’t protect themselves and can’t protect their villages and their livelihoods from the effects of global warming.

So yes, it’s very much the case that the people who are already vulnerable are the people who are poor and don’t have a lot of political participation or representation. The people who don’t have a lot of control over their lives are the people who will be most immediately affected by global warming. The people who live in big cities and lives removed from nature in the sense that they don’t know where their food comes from it’s shipped in from wherever all around the globe. They live in heated buildings and air conditioned buildings and they drive cars and so forth. They may not understand the complexity of the environmental issues and they may think themselves to be less vulnerable to questions like global warming.

I think one of the challenges of social ethics pertaining to the environment is to get the people in the cities who feel separate from nature and from the processes of nature to understand the direct although sometimes hidden links they have with the natural world and how their lifestyle and their consumption of resources effects the natural world and how the depletion of nature will in turn affect them and their lifestyles and even in big cities.

M&B: In what way religious traditions or ethical approaches could motivate them to take a new look at the nature?

I think that the sense of the sacred is a very important concept for the environmental movement. I think that as religious people the worldview of religious people is that everything that is given by God is endowed with a kind of sacred quality. So that all of the resources given by God should be approached with a sense of respect and honor the same kind of sense of respect and honor that we give towards sort of classically sacred moments or objects. It’s very much the case that many people in the environmental movement even if they are secular people, they have an experience with nature, an intuition of something bigger, grander and outside of human control and domination.

Many people, even if they’re secular, they sense in nature a kind of sacredness and it brings them that sense that they have even if they can’t talk about it in religious terms or don’t choose to talk about it in religious terms. I’ve met a number of people for whom direct experience with nature has brought them back into religious exploration in religious traditions because they’ve sensed a presence of the sacred in nature. And it takes them into an exploration in their own traditions or new traditions for them. It’s very clear that nature and the sacred are in many ways connected.

Unfortunately there is also a sense in which the leveling of the human perception and imagination in an extremely secular spirit so that the only measure is the human. To think that there are no measurements, no dimensions outside of the human is an impoverishment of human imagination and leads to a disregard for the intrinsic value of nature. Nature is not simply a reflection of what it does for me or how I can use it but that the things of nature are intrinsically in and of themselves valuable.

M&B: Do you think interfaith dialog is an important step to solve environmental problems?

I do think that when we think about religious plurality there are varieties of ways to structure conversations across different religious groups. And some people really want to spend their time talking about religious doctrine. That’s what they like to do and they really want to spend their time talking about religious doctrine and I think that’s a wonderful occupation, its time very well spent, and those people ought to spend their time doing that.

There’s other people who want to work together inter religiously not so much on the issues directly of religious doctrine, but on other issues. They want to problem solve together and they want to attack together across religions questions that are facing all of us. And it is for those kinds of people that the environmental issues are good possibilities for bringing people together across religious traditions to work together on environmental challenges. That is how Hindus or Buddhists or Christians or Muslims or Jews, each formed by and carrying with them their religious values can come to a common table and think together about environmental challenges and work together on those environmental challenges.

And I think that’s a very interesting way to work and it is a way that in some ways will go farther than either political conversations – specifically political conversations – or specifically doctrinal conversations; this is a different way of working together and I think it can be very positive.

Every day, millions of people log on to online environments, seeking a second life in virtual worlds. It is noticeable that the average user is 26 years old, and spends 22 hours per week in his/her alternative lives [1]. After such dedicated players spend this much time in these worlds, not much is left for their offline activities. They literally live “in” these virtual worlds. What leads them to prefer a virtual life over a real one? Is something missing from the daily life? Why are people not happy or satisfied with what they have? Are they asking for more or looking for something they don’t have?

In Second Life, users can create a new character for themselves, a lifestyle, an environment or anything else they might imagine. Second Life, with about 17 million users, has its own economy and currency (Linden). Residents are able to buy and sell amongst themselves directly using Linden, which is also exchangeable for US dollars. Second Life’s GDP (2007) is estimated between $500 million and $600 million [2], which is larger than the GDP of 19 countries in the world. In October, 2008 users spent approximately $30 million. Although Second Life does not have a government, many countries have embassies in Second Life. The online world even has an in-world newspaper.

Many forms of sports activities have also appeared in Second Life. Residents can watch or participate in football, soccer, boxing, wrestling, and auto racing. Virtual art centers and museums allow artists to create and exhibit their works in a way which might not be possible in real life because of physical constraints or high costs. Streaming vocal and instrumental music or inworld instruments allow performances of live music. Live theater is also available in Second Life. The British act Redzone toured for their new album on Second Life (2007).

There are several studies [3] discussing how these online worlds could be used for educational purposes. There are regions in the virtual world of Second Life for educational purposes, and a variety of topics are covered. Virtual worlds are favored because they are thought to provide more engaging experiences than traditional online learning. Virtual worlds can provide an interactive imitation of real life classroom environments. 80 percent of British universities have teaching and learning activities in Second Life. More than 300 universities around the world are taking advantage of the platform to provide educational services at lower costs.

Good and evil exist in Second Life, so religion is also finding its way into this world. Many religious organizations have opened churches, cathedrals and meeting places in Second Life. People are more willing to explore and discuss spiritual things in a virtual world [4]. Second Life also has a place to perform the Hajj ritual, providing a virtual experience before making the actual pilgrimage in person. However, some residents find the idea of virtual worship odd. They prefer spending their time flying, shopping, or engaging in other activities.

Are all these activities making users happier or just helping them to forget their real life? The more users spend time in these worlds, the more they became addicted to their new lifestyle, becoming alienated from the events and responsibilities of real life.

Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish scholar, addresses this question in one of his latest articles [5] as follows: “In spite of the dizzying developments brought by science, the new opportunities offered by technology, and so many means promising us welfare and happiness, the people of our time do not seem very happy. On the contrary, they are overcome by unease and depression more than ever. Although it should not be expected to be any other way, mere worldly opportunities, which are not supported by personal relationships to faith or knowledge of God, are not deepened or given meaning, and obviously do not mean much.”

Despite the large number of educational and social features available in virtual worlds, the main motivation that leads players to games like Second Life seems to be a lack of satisfaction with their real lives. People are either not happy with their work, lifestyle or social environment, or they are seeking a second chance in life, a fresh start. These worlds approximate real life ever more closely with each new technological development. It remains to be seen how virtual worlds will affect real human relationships. One day people may not realize the difference between real and virtual worlds. Is Second Life simply taking over real life?

Gulen makes a similar connection between technological developments and the afterlife: “Even though it would not be correct to speculate today on the days to come, people who predict the future claim that the world will become so attractive for the people of physicality and carnal pleasures that it will make them forget Paradise. With a feeling and passion that gives priority to immediate pleasures and delights, they will say like Omar Khayyam, ‘The past and future are all but tales; enjoy yourself now, do not spoil your life.’ Thus, they will see life as only eating, drinking, and resting, constantly making their choices in favor of worldly ease and comfort.” The belief that on a particular day all humans will be held accountable before God for their actions in this life helps to support and protect the social dynamics of society. Success in the afterlife depends on remembering that one day we will be held responsible for every single deed of our earthly life.

Social dynamics and problems related to online gaming have been discussed widely in academic arenas. The large amount of time, money and resources spent on these games, as well as the associated social and behavioral problems, and loss of productivity are only some of the issues that come to mind. Scholarly articles on ethical issues of life in virtual worlds [6] have increased lately, and many topics are broached, including matters of privacy, monitoring and eavesdropping, the fear of exploitation, identity theft, the ethical impact of aesthetic decisions, values and ethics that are manifested in the social processes and their relevance to activities, professional ethics, standards of integrity, given identity issues and practices, malevolence and altruism, legal and ethical doctrines of confidential and privileged information, ethics for students and instructors, ethical development stages and issues, vandalism, harassment and crime.

Are we living our lives to the fullest? Everyone has the opportunity to choose how they live in this world. If this time is not well spent, that is, acting as if there is no responsibility or judgment for every action, what would be the difference between people living in this world as if it is a game, and those playing their lives away in these online worlds? The Holy Qur’an says: “This life of the world is but a pastime and a game, but the home of the Hereafter, that is Life if they but knew” [7]. Some people prefer their online lives to real life, and unfortunately many others are not aware that their actions evince their preference for the real life over the afterlife.

The movie Matrix has a similar story. The Matrix is a virtual world for people whose bodies are connected to the Machines, which use the bioelectricity and thermal energy of humans as their energy supply. Humans live out their lives in this virtual reality that resembles the 21st century without knowing that they are in a simulation. In the movie, a group of free humans attempts to rescue (unplug) others from the Matrix. The main challenge here is to make others believe that there is another life which is more real or important than the one they are living. In fact, as human beings we are all confronted with the same challenge. Either we gain an understanding of the meaning of our existence in the world and live accordingly, or we are enslaved by worldly ease and comfort, immediate pleasures and delights.

I would like to end with a point the Gulen made on happiness: “It seems that until human beings come to realize their essence, it will not be possible for them to put their affairs in order or to attain the happiness they long for. And this is particularly so if they are trying to suppress their spiritual appetite through luxury, comfort, and seeking to satisfy their physical pleasures because they are unable to realize their real problems.”

Acknowledgment: This article has been produced at MERGEOUS [8], an online article and project development service for authors and publishers dedicated to the advancement of technologies in the merging realm of science and religion.

Halil I. Demir is postdoctoral scholar in the area of Informatics, and lives in Iowa.

References

[1] Yee, N. “The demographics, motivations, and derived experiences of users of massively-multiuser online graphical environments.” Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments 15:309–329.

[2] Wikipedia, Linden Dolar, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linden_dollar

[3] Delwiche, A. (2006). “Massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) in the new media classroom.” Educational Technology & Society, 9 (3), 160-172.

[4] Anselmo, D., 08/01/2007, “A ‘Second’ Way to Save Souls” (churchsolutionsmag.com).

[5] Gulen, M. Fethullah, “Days of Depression and Our Atlas of Hope,” The Fountain Magazine, Issue 67, 2009.

[6] Emerging Ethical Issues of Life in Virtual Worlds, Information Age Publishing, Charlotte, NC, June 15, 2009.

[7] The Holy Quran (29:64).

[8] Mergeous, http://www.mergeous.com

The lead article in this edition describes how a believer is expected to respond in difficult times. Storms are temporal and breezes are eternal in Gulen’s worldview, so thus believers “are neither shaken by the noise and clamor that is being intentionally made around” them, nor do they “panic in the face of the dust that envelopes us.” And for him, believers should trust in God, equip themselves with wisdom, and try to live up to their beliefs, God’s good pleasure, and distinct cultural values.

What would you do if terrorists installed a bomb somewhere in your city and they do not tell you how to defuse it? This is what is called “the ticking time-bomb scenario” and some people believe that under such circumstances torture is legitimate, if as a result the terrorist is forced to speak. Drawing on this scenario, Ayse Meva Nur provides an interesting discussion in this issue and she touches on human rights conventions and what Islam says about torture.

The intense rivalry between the magicians in the movie The Prestige was fatal. For Veli Keskin, the rivalry in the world stage between various power centers is as tragic as that which existed between the magicians; however, the global one has cost millions of lives. Keskin’s analogy has produced an eye-opening essay in which we find both the magicians on the stage in theatre and those on the political scene using similar techniques in shaping the perceptions of their audience.

Imagine you find a gift in your mail box one morning. It is a beautiful shirt perfectly suited to your taste. But who sent you this shirt? How did he or she know what your preferences were? Was the sender a man or a woman? With limited information it is not possible to discover the relationship between the sender and the receiver. But one can easily infer that the sender is someone who loves the receiver and wants to please the receiver. The former perspective, which is positivist, is not sufficient for explaining many things in our lives; but with qualitative inference we can reach some conclusions. Huseyin Coskun gives this and many other examples and explains how “qualitative inference allows one to address the non-physical or metaphysical aspects of the physical phenomena by freeing all of our cognitive faculties.”

The events of November 2008 will definitely remain in the memory not only because of the American elections, but also for the hopes that arose almost simultaneously from a successful international conference at Georgetown University-Islam in the Age of Global Challenges: Alternative Perspectives of the Gulen Movement. Participants from different parts of the world discussed for two full days how to deal with problems from poverty and education to gender issues, problems that are posing ever greater and more global threats to humanity. With schools and cultural centers over 110 countries as well as relief and charity organizations with a global outreach, the Gulen movement offers an interesting field of research for social scientists. I would like to draw readers’ attention to an essay in this issue by Farid al-Ansari of Morocco, who presents an insightful portrayal of this movement with which the author reveals he has deep resonance himself.

We are also proud to present in this issue an exclusive interview with Professor Ahmed Zewail. Conducted by Dr. Nuh Gedik, this wisdom-filled interview gives analytical insight into the decline of Muslims from the pinnacle of human civilization which they achieved and maintained for long centuries.

For The Fountain, this past November was also exceptional for something that happened for the first time: a women writers workshop. In order to encourage more female writers to activate their potential or blow the dust off their writing skills, a writing workshop exclusive to women was organized jointly by The Fountain and volunteers in Pittsburgh. Eighteen authors from different states participated. They brainstormed on various issues, ranging from how to be an effective writer to the aspects in which The Fountain is different from other periodicals. Former contributors shared their writing experience with beginners, while previous issues were comprehensively evaluated and analyzed. We are very grateful to the organizers, and we hope this volunteer spirit, without which The Fountain would not have become what it is, will continue to generate quality material for our readers across the globe.