Turkey
From RationalWiki
Turkey is either a European country in the Middle East, or a Middle Eastern country in Europe, or a large bird that tastes yummy when stuffed and slowly roasted.
Turkey is a modern democracy in a region that is usually home to despotic theocracies kingdoms or one-party states. There is a high level of support for its secular constitution. Luckily, being non-American and non-Christian, they don't have to worry about Thanksgiving and Christmas catering arrangements
In Turkey (the country) turkey (the bird) is known as "hindi" in order to avoid confusion.
Perhaps this oasis of democracy will infect other Middle Eastern, largely Muslim, countries once the United States is finished blowing up everything in sight. However, it seems that due to the identification of secularism with military coups, stratocracy and elitism (the so-called "deep state theory"), Turkey is one of few completely secular countries where Fundies actually have a shot at power.
Areas in what is now Turkey are almost as central as Jerusalem to Christianity. Several early Christians set up shop in Anatolia. Constantinople (now Istanbul) was the capital of the Byzantine Empire and center of the Christian world, up to when the Crusaders sacked it in the Fourth Crusade. Several major cathedrals are located there, such as the Hagia Sophia, which got converted into a mosque and later into a museum. Despite being so important to Christianity, Greek Orthodox was the main denomination there, so the west just kind of ignored it. Today the Church is probably in crisis there, as its archbishop (Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew) only has a small office compound, which is under constant threat from Muslim extremists.
For those who eschew the consumption of meat, Tofurkey® is a viable option.
Benjamin Franklin famously proposed that Turkey be the United States' National Bird.Do You Believe That?
Although Internet censorship was not generally considered a concern in Turkey, it became widespread after a new law was passed in May 2008. In one incident, Richard Dawkins' website was blocked after a complaint by Harun Yahya, a pseudoscience promoter who campaigns for the Islamic version of creationism. Harun Yahya claimed Dawkins' site contained "insulting" remarks about his works.[1]
