If those who take bribes repent, they'll get off scot-free!

On Thursday, the Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) General Directorate of Religious Services published its Friday sermon. It was read in all mosques on Friday. The sermon included a call for repentance for those who violate public rights and those who take bribes.

So what happens when someone who takes a bribe repents? The Turkish Penal Code stipulates a prison sentence of 4 to 12 years for those who commit this crime. 

According to the Diyanet, they should repent!

Almost every move the Diyanet has made recently has drawn major backlash. Let's look at what was said in this Friday sermon, which sounds strange to our ears.

The Friday sermon reads exactly as follows: "If we have dirtied our tongues with evils such as backbiting, gossip, and insults; if we have darkened our hearts with vices such as arrogance, pride, and envy; if we have consumed forbidden things such as alcohol, gambling, interest, and violations of individual and public rights; if we have gained unfair profit through sins such as bribery, hoarding, and black-marketeering, let us repent without wasting any time."

Can the violation of individual or public rights be forgiven by repenting? Are bribery, hoarding, black-marketeering, and unfair gain solved with a single repentance? Are you the Directorate of Religious Affairs or a religious sect?

If the Directorate of Religious Affairs says this, how are we going to stop thieves and scoundrels in a country where sects forgive sins in exchange for penance? 

Recall that after the death of Menzil Community sheikh Abdülbaki Erol, it was announced that previous repentances and dhikrs were canceled and that all of them needed to be renewed. 

Later, it was rumored that new donations were collected for these new repentances. 

Now I ask, for example, let's imagine a mayor who violates public and individual rights and, on top of that, takes bribes. Which party this mayor belongs to has absolutely nothing to do with our topic. According to the Diyanet's Friday sermon, will he be forgiven in the sight of God if he repents? Will he also be forgiven before the law by saying, "God has already forgiven me because I repented"?

Things have completely gone off the rails. And you get angry when people say, "This is how they are turning people away from religion and faith." 

This resembles the confession of sins in the Christian tradition that we have been criticizing for centuries. For instance, there is the Indulgence system, which is not used today but was once a source of income for churches and clergy... Sins are forgiven, but only if you make a donation!

The logic of the Indulgence system is exactly as follows: when a sinner confesses their sins through grace, shows remorse, and agrees to pay a penance for restitution, the Church declares that the sinner's sins have been forgiven by God. Traditionally, after the penance deemed appropriate by the Church is paid, an indulgence is granted to the sinner by the Church... That is the basis of confession... 

Repenting is one thing, of course, but repenting for the bribery, violation of individual rights, and violation of public rights mentioned in the Diyanet's sermon is not enough. Let the person who drinks alcohol repent, I don't care, but I don't care about the repentance of someone who takes bribes. Find them and punish them; then if they want to repent, that is between them and God, but I do not accept it! And the law does not accept it either. 

Now let's look at the history of Christianity again. Especially from the 7th century onwards, the conditions for indulgences gradually took on a more legal dimension, and a standard penance was stipulated for every different type of sin. In other words, a price list was created. 

In the late Middle Ages and throughout the Renaissance, the indulgence turned into a 'certificate of forgiveness sold by the Pope.' It is not practiced in churches today. But it is practiced in our sects. I don't know if ours give out certificates, but it is definitely a nice racket. At the very least, it's easier than selling the bridge.

Now, after this sermon by the Diyanet, if some immoral public officials decide to rig tenders, take bribes, and violate public and individual rights, thinking "Oh, it turns out this works if you repent," and then fill their pockets saying "One time won't hurt," and then repent, whose sin will it be on?

Or, if a Minister of Finance is appointed tomorrow to close the budget deficit and they come up with a brilliant project saying, "Since we can't collect taxes out of thin air, let's sell repentance certificates to these sinners and fix the economy," what will the Diyanet's fatwa be?

Do you understand why Mustafa Kemal Atatürk established a secular republic that separates religious and state affairs? So that priests—pardon me, religious figures—who sell repentance certificates are not given any leverage... Yet the Directorate of Religious Affairs, founded by that same Atatürk, is offering urgent repentance advice to thieves, hoarders, bribe-takers, and those who violate public and individual rights.

What can we say? "Good heavens!"