Fantasies and Necessities

Lead Article

When we first began dreaming of revival, things could have been much different. If we had taken a more controlled approach to both matter and spirit, carrying both side by side, our mental, spiritual, and physical actions could have been more balanced.

01 September 2024 | Fethullah Gulen | Issue 161 (Sep - Oct 2024)

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In our conception of civilization and culture, the human being and humane values have always been priorities.
Science was innocent, technology sinless; we, especially the semi-educated intellectuals, were the ones who developed and shaped science and technology as we wished.
When we first began dreaming of revival, things could have been much different. If we had taken a more controlled approach to both matter and spirit, carrying both side by side, our mental, spiritual, and physical actions could have been more balanced.

For years, we have ignored our true needs, chasing after some fantasies as if they were necessities of life. Sometimes unable to discern what our real needs were, and other times mistaking some of our luxuries for needs, we tied our lives entirely to such luxuries and lived in contradictions. What we pursued at times not only failed to meet our true needs but increased them; so much so that, just like a person whose lungs are parched from thirst drinks seawater in an attempt to quench their thirst, only to become more dehydrated, we too become dependent on fantasies that do not address our ...