Skipping Turkey, Ginna, and the Armenian Genocide

Ginna Minasian Dalton, speaking, at a retreat of members of Little River UCC

Ginna Minasian Dalton is one of the people who has been one of my greatest mentors, one of my dearest friends.  We lost her 9 months ago, and all of us are poorer for having lost her.   She was the first person to ask me if I was called to ministry, which I dismissed, but she was right. She celebrated with me when I finally was willing to admit I was, she guided me, she encouraged me to go to Howard.   She taught me about doing worship for people who understand God differently than I, and she taught me, most importantly, about listening and living well.   She was gracious and beautiful.

She was also part of the Armenian diaspora.   And one of the most important things to her was raising   awareness of the 1915 Armenian Genocide.   As many as 1,800,000 Armenians were murdered or expelled in an effort to rid Turkey of them, by the Turkish.   It is the reason I do not like the use of the phrase "Young Turks," because that was the name of the group behind this.   The Armenian Genocide was the first modern genocide.   And it was something that emboldened Hitler to massacre six million during the Holocaust in Germany.  Turkey, to this day, persists in denying this holocaust, though it is well documented, and accepted by most countries and international bodies.

in 2014, when Mark and I celebrated our 25th anniversary with a Greek Isles cruise, we selected this very carefully, avoiding any itinerary even with a stop in Turkey.  And in walking through Church history, skipping Turkey has pretty significant consequences.   After all, Paul's first two journeys were through what is now Turkey.  Ephesus is in Turkey.  Istanbul/Byzantium/Constantinople is an important site in the history of the church, especially the Eastern church. The early church councils were in Turkey.   This does indeed impact my experience if I skip it in a real way.  It makes my experience less than it might have been.

But, Ginna, you are right. There is no way to love you, to understand that history, to behave justly, and to include Turkey in my itinerary.   I know my travel guru Rick Steves might encourage me to go and to listen and to try to understand the people.  I agree with him most of the time.    In this I do not. Genocide goes beyond the pale.   I cannot support a state which will deny it.

So I will not go to Turkey.   I pray that some day the Turkish Government will admit the Genocide and seek grace around it.   I hope that,  like Germany has with it's dark history, Turkey will open it up for people to see, and to understand, and that they will stop denial of this dark chapter.   When that happens, I will with joy visit Istanbul, Ephesus, and all the other sites.  For now, I'm skipping Turkey.   In part, Ginna, this is for you.   In part it is because I must behave justly.

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