To the Editor,

There are 70 to 75 schools in the United States established and operated by the Turkish government with about as many operating in South America. Their purpose is to teach the Muslim religion, the Turkish language, and the Turkish/Muslim way of thought, which could include hatred of Christianity, Greeks, and Western civilization.

In pondering this matter, one cannot escape the damaging consequences to Orthodox Christianity and Hellenism that the Turkish school program propagates.

Currently, several million dollars are awarded to Greek-American students to enter and complete university courses. This is a highly commendable effort and is in keeping with the Hellenic vision of learning, education, and scholarships. But each scholarship benefits just one student. Thatis a noble endeavor, but what if we could develop a fund which could establish university chairs or professorships  whereby hundreds or thousands of students could learn the tradition, history, and accomplishments of the Greeks of antiquity to the present?

A chair once established can be utilized in perpetuity, and be essential for non-Orthodox seminaries and Bible colleges where Orthodox Christianity can be taught and explained.

Our faith does not need to take a back seat to any religion and can be shown as being first and foremost; a position it rightly deserves.

Nick Karakas

St. Louis, MO