Let's Talk about God, Baby

One of the first questions people seem to ask me when I tell them about Istanbul is how the religious scene looks here. Do people hit the deck when the call to prayer happens? The flag is a crescent and star, Turkey a theocracy? Istanbul is the city were Islam meets Christianity, so it's about time I shared my observations.

Islam
In my neighborhood about one in four women I see walking on the street wear headscarves and I am yet to see a burka. Head over to to the district along the old city wall and the picture is almost reversed. The call to prayer can be heard from just about anywhere in the city proper five times a day, but I haven't seen anyone drop to the street in prayer. I assume people who pray do so in their homes or at the mosques. Apo leaves the cafe on Fridays in the middle of the day to go to the mosque for prayers.
But the city isn't divided, there isn't a social wall between devout and secular, people talk and laugh and walk together. Islam seems very foreign to many Americans, but as the major religion here it's not the first topic of conversation for people. In America I didn't know if my neighbors were Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist, Mormon, Jehovah's Witnesses or whatever. It's normal enough not to be an override conversation. I had an excellent example of this just the other day, on my walk home there is a flower lady and I sometimes stop and buy a small bouquet. She wore a headscarf, but as the weather warmed up she stopped. Has she rejected Allah and the Prophet? Probably not, it's just a bit warm. Many women here see wearing a headscarf as entirely optional.
There was a strange moment for me when a local described to me in hushed tones some amazing dish she was planning to prepare that involved pork. She spoke of it like a forbidden pleasure, as if ham dinner was bacchic revelry. Perhaps having a type of meat socially tabooed makes it more desirable and people think it tastes better. Maybe some people who move here miss pork but I'm glad I don't accidently get it in restaurants. I'm not Muslim, I just think pork is about as dirty as meat can get.

Christianity
Istanbul, or Constantinople rather, was the center of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and there are still Byzantine churches here in full swing. While many of the churches were converted to mosques, the religion was not stomped out of history. I see a few students wearing crucifixes, but whether it's done out of piety or because they listen to black sabbath is something I have bothered to ask. I have seen a few large Catholic churches as well, and they seem to fill their pews. The church I went to is also visited by many non-Christians who light candles and ask Mary for good fortune in the lottery. While nothing I have seen can be described as religious tension or discrimination, there is a bit of assuming that happens. When the topic of religion came up with people they instantly assumed I was a protestant of some type, being from America.

Judaism
I haven't seen anything that I took to be a Synagogue, and I have not seen anyone looking to be orthodox. Maybe I just haven't gone to the right neighborhoods, Istanbul is incredibly varied and will take years to explore.


By and large, religion is not a driving social force Istanbul. Football, music, and flashy consumption all take precedence in people's minds. Social responsibilities are separate from spiritual obligations, etc. Turkey is secular.