Oct 9, 2015 3 min read

St. Augustine famously said, “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.” Having escaped my insular corner of the planet for an all-too-short trip to Turkey, Israel and a few Greek islands, this quote is indeed an understatement.

We all know people who live out their lives in homogeneous communities and believe they have all the answers to the problems facing humanity. It is my experience that the more limited an individual’s view of the world, the more embedded is the belief that his solutions are the only solutions to political, social and economic problems.

Istanbul in modern Turkey is a sight to behold. Fourteen million people in a swirling melting pot covering 3,000 years of Greek, Byzantine and Ottoman history. The city spans both the European and Asian continents. It makes the cultural diversity of New York City or Toronto seem superficial.

Istanbul is a city of 3,000 mosques where the call to prayer can be heard from every corner. The political structure remains democratic and secular. Istanbul is one of the fastest-growing metropolitan economies in the world. The Turks are proud of their heritage and hope to be the first majority-Muslim country admitted to the European Union.

There are 19 Turkish-American community centers within the United States. Their stated purpose is to “represent a broad spectrum of Turkish American society, promote secular democracy and respect toward diverse lifestyles.”

To not understand or care that countries like Turkey, China, Russia, India or Brazil are as much a part of the fabric of humanity as we are, is to miss what it means to be human.

Our last day in Istanbul was a holiday. We saw large crowds jam into the inner city, weddings in the parks, young children with ice cream, and thousands of people practicing their faith.

Just like us.

Mark Twain concludes in “The Innocents Abroad” that “travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.” This is true now more than ever. Those of us without the means or good health to travel can utilize other methods to learn more about different cultures and beliefs, and to embrace them when they appear in our communities.

Politicians pushing “English only” legislation, arguing that only Christian values are worthy of being assimilated into American culture, or insisting that an American Muslim could never be president should be compelled to spend a week in Istanbul. It would be a humbling and heartwarming experience.

Gary Stout is a Washington attorney.