TwitterFightClub 2015, the best yet
[ by Charles Cameron — March Madness for those whose sport is what William Blake called “Mental Fight” ]
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Let's get serious about #TFC15. No, seriously… so to speak. #DailyDM pic.twitter.com/7gtm4Mdz4P
— Doctrine Man (@Doctrine_Man) March 24, 2015
If you’re unsure what TwitterFightClub is, it’s “an annual March Madness style tournament for national security and foreign policy tweeters”, overseen by the remarkable Caitlin Fitz Gerald, creator of Clausewitz for Kids. Hayes Brown has a fuller explanation.
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Okay, let’s get real. As Kelsey Atherton noted:
at it's very best, #TFC15 is a window into depths of knowledge shared by others you hadn't noticed before. Go see @draperha for an example
— Kelsey D. Atherton (@AthertonKD) March 23, 2015
That caught my attention, so I went to hannah draper‘s twitter feed and got a rapid education on religious freedom in Turkey, in staccato 140-character bursts:
When it comes to the Orthodox communities of Turkey (as there are a few), religious freedom is the right to train and their own clergy. It’s the right to provide religious education as they see fit for their communities, and it’s the right to equal protections before the law. For the Greek Orthodox community, one of the biggest concerns is Halki Seminary, a theological school in Ist that’s been closed for decades. For the Syriac Orthodox community, it’s finding enough space in Istanbul for their community of tens of thousands to worship. For the Armenian Apostolic community, it’s property restitution to address expropriated properties in decades past. For the Jewish community in Turkey, it’s protecting the safety and history of their centuries-long presence in Anatolia and Istanbul.
Deep breath.
For the Baha’i community, it’s legal recognition of their faith and protection of their holy sites, especially in Edirne. For the Jehovah’s Witnesses, it’s the right to conscientious objection and to perform civil instead of compulsory military service. For Alevis, it’s the right for their houses of worship, cem evleri, to be recognized as such. For Protestants, it’s the right to open and operate houses of worship. And lest you think we only care about minorities, religious freedom for Sunnis in Turkey – by far the largest religious group – matters too. For Sunnis, it’s the right to wear the headscarf or not, as each individual sees fit. It’s the right to worship as they deem appropriate. For atheists, it’s the right NOT to worship and not to face discrimination for that choice.
You can read more about what works and what needs more work in Turkey in the International Religious Freedom report. I wrote two or three of those during my time in Turkey. Writing annual reports like this are the basics of a political officer’s work.
If that wasn’t enough, these two tweets alone would have won my vote:
I went to more seders, vespers, iftars, and liturgies than you can shake a stick at – and I loved it.
— hannah draper (@draperha) March 23, 2015
The worst/best weekend was when I had Eastern and Western Easter, plus Passover, in one weekend. All spring festivals with lots of food…
— hannah draper (@draperha) March 23, 2015
Ms Draper went on to tweet extensively about Ambassador Chris Stevens and Benghazi — keen insight with the personal touch:
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