My year of living biblically | A.J. Jacobs

A.J. Jacobs'tan Incil'e uygun bir sene

Çeviri: Aytul Ozbakir Gözden geçirme: Ayşe Demirel

I thought I'd tell you a little about what I like to write.

Bugun size hakkinda yazmayi sevdigim konulardan bahsedecegim.

And I like to immerse myself in my topics.

Konulara kendimi nasil kaptirdigimi,

I just like to dive right in and become sort of a human guinea pig.

baliklama dalip, nasil bir nevi denege donustugumu anlatacagim.

And I see my life as a series of experiments.

Ve kendi hayatimi nasil bir deneyler dizisi olarak gordugumu...

So, I work for Esquire magazine, and a couple of years ago,

Esquire dergisinde calisiyorum, ve birkac sene once

I wrote an article called "My Outsourced Life,"

"Baskalarina Yasattigim Hayatim" baslikli bir yazi yazdim.

where I hired a team of people in Bangalore, India,

Hayatimi benim yerime yasamalari icin

to live my life for me.

Hindistan'in Bangalore sehrinden bir grup insan tuttum.

So, they answered my emails.

Benim e-postalarimi cevapladilar.

They answered my phone.

Telefonlarima yanit verdiler.

They argued with my wife for me, and they read my son bedtime stories.

Benim yerime esimle tartisip, aksamlari ogluma uyku oncesi masallari anlattilar.

It was the best month of my life,

Hayatimin en guzel ayiydi,

because I just sat back and I read books and watched movies.

ben sadece oturup kitap okudum, film izledim.

It was a wonderful experience.

Muazzam bir tecrubeydi.

More recently, I wrote an article for Esquire called --

Yakin bir zamanda, yine Esquire icin radikal durustluk

about radical honesty.

uzerine baska bir yazi yazdim.

And this is a movement where --

Bu, Virginia'li bir psikolog tarafindan

this is started by a psychologist in Virginia,

baslatilmis akima gore

who says that you should never, ever lie,

insan, ne olursa olsun, hicbir zaman yalan soylememeli,

except maybe during poker and golf, his only exceptions.

poker ve golf istisna.

And, more than that, whatever is on your brain

Daha da onemlisi, aklinizdan ne geciyorsa

should come out of your mouth.

oldugu gibi dile getirmelisiniz.

So, I decided I would try this for a month.

Bunu da bir ay boyunca denedim.

This was the worst month of my life.

Hayatimin en kotu ayiydi.

(Laughter)

(Kahkaha)

I do not recommend this at all.

Kimseye tavsiye etmem.

To give you a sense of the experience,

Nasil bir sey oldugunu anlamaniz icin yazinin basligini soyleyeyim

the article was called, "I Think You're Fat."

"Bence Sismansin."

(Laughter)

(Kahkaha)

So, that was hard.

Hic kolay degildi.

My most recent book -- my previous book was called "The Know-It-All,"

En son kitabimin, bir onceki kitabimin adi "Her Seyi Bilen" idi,

and it was about the year I spent reading the Encyclopedia Britannica

ve A'dan Z'ye Britannica ansiklopedisini okuyup

from A to Z in my quest to learn everything in the world,

dunyadaki her seyi ogrenmeye calisarak gecirdigim seneyi anlatiyordu.

or more precisely from Aak, which is a type of East Asian music,

Daha dogrusu A-aktan, yani Dogu Asya muzik turunden

all the way to Zwyiec, which is -- well, I don't want to ruin the ending.

Zwyiec'e kadar... Onun ne oldugunu aciklarsam kitabin sonunu soylemis olurum.

(Laughter)

(Kahkaha)

It's a very exciting twist ending, like an O. Henry novel, so I won't ruin it.

Ansiklopedinin sonu surpriz, O. Henry romani gibi, o yuzden sonunu sakli tutayim.

But I love that one,

Ansiklopedi okuma isini bu kadar sevmemin

because that was an experiment about how much information

nedeni insan beyninin

one human brain could absorb.

ne kadar bilgi emebilecegi uzerine bir deney olmasiydi.

Although, listening to Kevin Kelly, you don't have to remember anything.

Gerci, Kevin Kelly'ye kulak verirseniz, hicbir sey hatirlamak zorunda degilsiniz.

You can just Google it.

Google'da ararsiniz gider.

So, I wasted some time there.

Yani zamanimi bosa harcamis oldum.

I love those experiments,

Boyle deneyleri seviyorum

but I think that the most profound

ama sanirim yasadigim en derin ve

and life-changing experiment that I've done

bende en cok iz birakan deney

is my most recent experiment, where I spent a year

en sonuncusuydu. Bir yil boyunca

trying to follow all of the rules of the Bible,

Incil'in kaidelerine gore yasamaya calistim --

"The Year of Living Biblically."

"Incil'e Uygun Bir Sene."

And I undertook this for two reasons.

Bunu iki nedenle yaptim.

The first was that I grew up with no religion at all.

Birincisi dinin olmadigi bir ortamda buyumus olmam.

As I say in my book, I'm Jewish in the same way

Kitabimda da anlattigim uzere, Olive Garden (Amerika'da Italyan-Amerikan sentezi bir restoran)

the Olive Garden is Italian.

ne kadar Italyan ise, ben de o kadar Yahudi'yim.

(Laughter)

(Kahkaha)

So, not very.

Yani pek degil.

But I've become increasingly interested in religion.

Ama zaman icerisinde dine olan ilgim artti.

I do think it's the defining issue of our time,

Bence gunumuzun en onemli konusu,

or one of the main ones.

ya da konularindan biri.

And I have a son. I want to know what to teach him.

Bunlarin disinda, bir ogul sahibiyim. Ona ne ogretmem gerektigini bilmek istiyorum.

So, I decided to dive in head first, and try to live the Bible.

O yuzden din konusuna baliklama daldim ve Incil'e harfiyen uyarak yasamaya calistim.

The second reason I undertook this is because

Ikinci nedenime gelince...

I'm concerned about the rise of fundamentalism,

Koktenciligin artisi beni endiselendiriyor,

religious fundamentalism, and people who say

ozellikle de kokten dinciligin, ve Incil'in her dedigini gercek kabul

they take the Bible literally, which is, according to some polls,

eden insanlarin varligi, ki bu insanlar bazi anketlere gore

as high as 45 or 50 percent of America.

Amerikalilar'in yuzde 45'i ila 50'sini olusturuyorlar.

So I decided, what if you really did take the Bible literally?

Ben de dusundum ki, Incil'in dediklerine harfi harfine uysam ne olur?

I decided to take it to its logical conclusion

Incil'i oldugu gibi alip, dedikleri arasinda

and take everything in the Bible literally,

secim yapmadan her soyledigini

without picking and choosing.

kabul etmeye karar verdim.

The first thing I did was I got a stack of bibles.

Ilk yaptigim is, bir suru Incil istiflemek oldu.

I had Christian bibles.

Hristiyan Incil'leri.

I had Jewish bibles.

Yahudi Incil'leri.

A friend of mine sent me something called a hip-hop bible,

Bir arkadasim bana hip-hop Incil'i diye bir sey yolladi,

where the twenty-third Psalm is rendered as, "The Lord is all that,"

23. ayet "Tanri budur" diye degistirilmis,

as opposed to what I knew it as, "The Lord is my shepherd."

dogrusu "Ve Tanri benim cobanim."

Then I went down and I read several versions,

Sonra birkac farkli Incil okudum,

and I wrote down every single law that I could find.

bulabildigim her kaideyi not aldim.

And this was a very long list -- over 700 rules.

Cok uzun liste oldu -- 700'den fazla kural.

And they range from the famous ones that I had heard of --

En bilinenlerinden basladim --

The Ten Commandments, love your neighbor, be fruitful and multiply.

"10 Emir", komsunu sev, verimli ol ve ure.

So I wanted to follow those.

Amacim butun bu kaidelere uymakti.

And actually, I take my projects very seriously,

Ve aslina bakarsaniz, bu projemi cok ciddiye aldim.

because I had twins during my year,

cunku bu sene zarfinda ikizlerim dogdu,

so I definitely take my projects seriously.

yani projeye kesinlikle cok ciddi yaklastim.

But I also wanted to follow the hundreds

Ama ayni zamanda Incil'deki gizemli ve anlasilmasi guc

of arcane and obscure laws that are in the Bible.

yuzlerce kaideye uymak istedim.

There is the law in Leviticus,

Mesela Leviticus'a gore

"You cannot shave the corners of your beard."

"Sakalinin koselerini tiraslayamazsin"

I didn't know where my corners were,

Ben sakalimin koselerinin tam olarak neresi oldugunu bilmedigim icin

so I decided to let the whole thing grow,

sakalimi uzatmaya karar verdim

and this is what I looked like by the end.

ve sonunda boyle gorunuyordum.

As you can imagine, I spent a lot of time at airport security.

Tahmin edebileceginiz uzere, zamanimin onemli bir kismini havaalani guvenligine takilarak gecirdim.

(Laughter)

(Kahkaha)

My wife wouldn't kiss me for the last two months.

Son iki ay esim beni opmeyi reddetti.

So, certainly the challenge was there.

Yani zorluk derseniz kesinlikle zordu.

The Bible says you cannot wear clothes made of mixed fibers,

Incil, karisik dokulardan yapilmis giysi giymeyi yasakliyor,

so I thought, "Sounds strange, but I'll try it."

ben de bu kurala bakip "ilginc, peki deneyeyim bakayim" diye dusundum.

You only know if you try it.

Denemeden goremezsiniz.

I got rid of all my poly-cotton T-shirts.

Butun polyester-pamuk karisimi tisortlerimi ayikladim.

The Bible says that if two men are in a fight,

Incil, eger iki erkek kavga ediyorlarsa,

and the wife of one of those men grabs the testicles of the other man,

ve bu erkeklerden birinin esi diger erkegin testislerini avuclarsa,

then her hand shall be cut off.

o zaman kadinin eli kesilmeli der.

So, I wanted to follow that rule.

Bu kurala da uymak istedim.

(Laughter)

(Kahkaha)

That one I followed by default,

Ben de, yakinlarda duran ve guclu elli karisi olan

by not getting in a fight with a man whose wife was standing nearby,

erkeklerle kavga etmeyerek

looking like she had a strong grip.

bu kurala hic caba sarfetmeden uymus oldum.

(Laughter)

(Kahkaha)

So -- oh, there's another shot of my beard.

Evet -- iste sakalimin baska bir fotografi.

I will say it was an amazing year

Itiraf etmeliyim ki cok muazzam bir seneydi

because it really was life changing, and incredibly challenging.

cunku hakikaten de hayatimi degistiren ve beni zorlayan bir tecrube oldu.

And there were two types of laws that were particularly challenging.

Beni zorlayan iki tip emir oldu.

The first was avoiding the little sins that we all commit every day.

Birincisi her gun isledigimiz gunahlardan kacinmak.

You know, I could spend a year not killing,

Yani butun bir senemi cinayet islemeden gecirebilirim.

but spending a year not gossiping, not coveting, not lying --

Ama butun bir sene dedikodu yapmamak, bir seylere imrenmemek, yalan soylememek --

you know, I live in New York, and I work as a journalist,

yani, sonucta New York'ta yasiyorum, ve meslegim de gazetecilik,

so this was 75, 80 percent of my day I had to do it.

yani gunumun yuzde 75'i, 80'i bu gunahlari isleyerek geciyor.

But it was really interesting, because I was able to make some progress,

Ama aslinda burasi cok ilginc, cunku bir ilerleme katetmeyi basardim.

because I couldn't believe how much

Davranislarimin dusuncelerimi ne kadar

my behavior changed my thoughts.

etkiledigini kesfettim.

This was one of the huge lessons of the year,

Senenin en onemli derslerinden biri bu oldu,

is that I almost pretended to be a better person,

iyi bir insanmis gibi gorunmeye calistikca,

and I became a little bit of a better person.

yavas yavas daha iyi bir insana donustum.

So I had always thought, you know, "You change your mind,

Bu zamana kadar hep, "Dusuncelerini degistirirsen,

and you change your behavior," but it's often the other way around.

davranislarini da degistirirsin" diye dusunmustum, ama aslinda tam tersiymis.

You change your behavior, and you change your mind.

Yani davranislarinizi degistirirseniz, dusunceleriniz de degisir.

So, you know, if you want to become more compassionate,

Sonucta, daha sefkatli bir insan olmak istiyorsaniz,

you visit sick people in the hospital,

hastaneye, hasta ziyaretine gidersiniz,

and you will become more compassionate.

ve sonucta daha sefkatli bir insan olursunuz.

You donate money to a cause,

Bir davaya para bagislarsaniz,

and you become emotionally involved in that cause.

o davaya inanirsiniz.

So, it really was cognitive psychology --

Biraz kavramsal psikoloji --

you know, cognitive dissonance -- that I was experiencing.

yani kavramsal uyumsuzluk -- benim yasadigim seyin tanimi.

The Bible actually talks about cognitive psychology,

Incil aslinda kavramsal psikolojiden bahsediyor,

very primitive cognitive psychology.

bayagi ilkel bir kavramsal psikoloji.

In the Proverbs, it says that if you smile, you will become happier,

Gulumsedikce daha mutlu olursun derler,

which, as we know, is actually true.

dogru aslinda.

The second type of rule that was difficult to obey

Ikinci tipteki kurallara uymak daha zor,

was the rules that will get you into a little trouble

bunlar 21. yuzyil Amerika'sinda

in twenty-first-century America.

insanin basini derde sokabilecek kurallar.

And perhaps the clearest example of this is stoning adulterers.

Herhalde en bariz ornek zina yapanlari taslamak.

(Laughter)

(Kahkaha)

But it's a big part of the Bible,

Ama bu Incil'de cok onemli bir yer kapliyor

so I figured I had to address it.

dolayisiyla bu konuda bir sey yapmam lazimdi.

So, I was able to stone one adulterer.

Sonunda, zina yapan birini taslamayi basardim.

It happened -- I was in the park, and I was dressed in my biblical clothing,

Sansa bakin -- parkta dolasiyordum ve uzerimde Incil'e uygun giysilerim vardi --

so sandals and sort of a white robe,

sandalet ve beyaz kaftan --

you know, because again, the outer affects the inner.

cunku bildiginiz uzere dis gorusunuz ic doganizi etkiler.

I wanted to see how dressing biblically affected my mind.

Ben de Incil'e gore giyinmenin zihnimi ne kadar etkiledigini gormek istedim.

And this man came up to me and he said,

Adamin biri gelip

"Why are you dressed like that?"

"Niye boyle giyindin?" diye sordu.

And I explained my project,

Ben de projemi anlattim,

and he said, "Well, I am an adulterer, are you going to stone me?"

bana verdigi cevap: "Peki, ben zina yaptim, simdi beni taslayacak misin?" oldu.

And I said, "Well, that would be great!"

Ben de "Aslinda cok iyi fikir" dedim.

(Laughter)

(Kahkaha)

And I actually took out a handful of stones from my pocket

Cebimden haftalardir yanimda tasidigim

that I had been carrying around for weeks,

bir avuc dolusu tas cikardim,

hoping for just this interaction -- and, you know, they were pebbles --

karsima boyle bir firsat cikar diye umarak -- bildiginiz cakil tasi --

but he grabbed them out of my hand.

ama adam onlari elimden kapti.

He was actually an elderly man, mid-70s, just so you know.

Aslinda yasi geckin bir adamdi, 70'lerinin ortalarinda.

But he's still an adulterer, and still quite angry.

Ama yine de zina yapmis biri ve cok da kizgin.

He grabbed them out of my hand

Taslari elimden aldi

and threw them at my face, and I felt that I could --

ve suratima atti, ve ben de dusundum ki --

eye for an eye -- I could retaliate, and throw one back at him.

dise dis, ben de karsilik verebilirim, ve taslarin birini geri attim.

So that was my experience stoning, and it did allow me

Iste bu benim taslama maceram, ve bu, daha buyuk meseleler

to talk about, in a more serious way, these big issues.

hakkinda daha ciddi konusabilmemi sagladi.

How can the Bible be so barbaric in some places,

Incil yer yer nasil bu denli barbar, ve yer yer

and yet so incredibly wise in others?

nasil bu kadar bilge olabilir?

How should we view the Bible?

Incil'i nasil yorumlamaliyiz?

Should we view it, you know, as original intent,

Anayasa mahkemesi hakimi, muhafazakar Scalia gibi,

like a sort of a Scalia version of the Bible?

Incil'deki her cumleyi Tanri'nin ne amacla yazdigini mi anlamaya calismaliyiz?

How was the Bible written?

Incil nasil yazildi?

And actually, since this is a tech crowd,

Ve aslinda -- sizler teknik insanlarsiniz --

I talk in the book about how the Bible actually reminds me

kitabimda Incil'in bana Wikipedia'yi ne kadar

of the Wikipedia, because it has all of these authors and editors

animsattigindan bahsediyorum. Yuzyillar boyunca

over hundreds of years.

butun bu yazarlar ve editorler uzerinde calismislar.

And it's sort of evolved.

Bir bakima evrim gecirmis.

It's not a book that was written and came down from on high.

Gokten yollanmis bir kitap degil.

So I thought I would end by telling you

Ben de size kulak arkasi yapasiniz diye

just a couple of the take-aways, the bigger lessons

bu bir sene icinde aldigim birkac

that I learned from my year.

dersten bahsetmek istiyorum.

The first is, thou shalt not take the Bible literally.

Birincisi - Incil'e harfi harfine inanmayacaksin.

This became very, very clear, early on.

Ilk cikarimlarindan biri bu oldu.

Because if you do, then you end up acting like a crazy person,

Cunku Incil'e harfi harfine uyarsaniz, catlak biri gibi davranmaya baslarsiniz,

and stoning adulterers, or -- here's another example.

zina yapanlari taslar, veya -- baska bir ornek --

Well, that's another. I did spend some time shepherding.

mesela senemin bir kismini cobanlik yaparak gecirdim.

(Laughter)

(Kahkaha)

It's a very relaxing vocation. I recommend it.

Aslinda cok dinlendirici bir meslek. Herkese tavsiye ederim.

But this one is -- the Bible says that you cannot touch women

Incil'e gore ayin bazi zamanlarinda

during certain times of the month, and more than that,

kadinlara dokunamazsiniz, dahasi

you cannot sit on a seat where a menstruating woman has sat.

regl olan bir kadinin oturmus oldugu koltuga oturamazsiniz.

And my wife thought this was very offensive,

Esim haliyle bunu hakaret olarak yorumladi

so she sat in every seat in our apartment,

ve evdeki her iskemleye, koltuga oturdu.

and I had to spend much of the year standing

Ben de kendi iskemlemi satin alip surekli yanimda tasimayi

until I bought my own seat and carried it around.

akil edene kadar senemin cogunu ayakta gecirdim.

So, you know, I met with creationists.

Sonra yaradilisa inananlarla karsilastim.

I went to the creationists' museum.

Yaradiliscilarin muzesine gittim.

And these are the ultimate literalists.

Bunlar, Incil'in her dedigini oldugu gibi kabul edenlerin onde gelenleri.

And it was fascinating, because they were not stupid people at all.

Cok enteresan, cunku bu insanlar hic aptal degiller.

I would wager that their IQ is exactly the same as the average evolutionist.

Hatta bahse girerim IQ'lari ortalama bir evrimcininkine denktir.

It's just that their faith is so strong

Sadece inanclari o kadar kuvvetli ki

in this literal interpretation of the Bible

Incil'i bu sekilde yorumlarken

that they distort all the data to fit their model.

her turlu veriyi ona uyacak bir sekilde carpitabiliyorlar.

And they go through these amazing mental gymnastics to accomplish this.

Ve bunu basarabilmek icin inanilmaz beyin jimnastikleri yapiyorlar.

And I will say, though, the museum is gorgeous.

Ve sunu da itiraf edeyim, muzeleri harikulade.

They really did a fantastic job.

Hakikaten muazzam bir is cikarmislar.

If you're ever in Kentucky,

Eger yolunuz Kentuck'ye duserse,

there's, you can see a movie of the flood,

muzede -- buyuk tufanla ilgili bir film izleyebilirsiniz,

and they have sprinklers in the ceiling

ve tavanda fiskiyeler var

that will sprinkle on you during the flood scenes.

tufan sahnelerinde su puskurtuyorlar.

So, whatever you think of creationism -- and I think it's crazy --

Yaradilis konusunda tutumunuz ne olursa olsun, ve ben sahsen aptalca oldugunu dusunuyorum,

they did a great job.

cok iyi bir is cikarmislar.

(Laughter)

(Kahkaha)

Another lesson is that thou shalt give thanks.

Diger bir ders, sukran duyacaksin.

And this one was a big lesson because I was praying,

Bu cok onemli bir ders. Dua etmeye basladim,

giving these prayers of thanksgiving, which was odd for an agnostic.

sukran dualari, ki bu bir agnostik icin tuhaf bir sey.

But I was saying thanks all the time, every day,

Her an, her gun sukran duydugumu dile getire getire

and I started to change my perspective.

hayata bakis acim degisti,

And I started to realize the hundreds of little things

her gun, kotu giden birkac

that go right every day, that I didn't even notice,

seye kafayi takmak yerine,

that I took for granted, as opposed to focusing

yolunda giden yuzlerce ufak seyi

on the three or four that went wrong.

fark eder oldum.

So, this is actually a key to happiness for me,

Bence mutlulugun anahtari da bu,

is to just remember when I came over here,

buraya gelirken arabamin takla atmadigini,

the car didn't flip over, and I didn't trip coming up the stairs.

merdivenlerden asagi yuvarlanmadigimi fark edip, bunun icin sukran duymak.

It's a remarkable thing.

Fevkalade bir sey.

Third, that thou shall have reverence.

Ucuncu ders, saygi duyacaksin.

This one was unexpected because I started the year

Benim icin en beklenmedik ders bu oldu. Bu projeye

as an agnostic, and by the end of the year,

agnostik olarak basladim, ve proje biterken

I became what a friend of mine calls a reverent agnostic, which I love.

arkadaslarimin degimiyle hurmetkar bir agnostige donustum, ki bu iyi bir sey.

And I'm trying to start it as a movement.

Ben bunu bir akima donusturmek istiyorum.

So, if anyone wants to join,

O yuzden aranizdan bana katilmak isteyen varsa,

the basic idea is, whether or not there is a God,

bu akimin temel fikri, Tanri olsun ya da olmasin

there's something important and beautiful about the idea of sacredness,

kutsallik fikrinin guzel ve onemli,

and that our rituals can be sacred.

ve dini ayinlerin mukaddes olabilecegi.

The Sabbath can be sacred.

Şabat kutsal olabilir.

This was one of the great things about my year, doing the Sabbath,

Bu bir yilin en guzel yanlarindan biri Şabat uygulamakti,

because I am a workaholic, so having this one day

cunku ben bir iskoligim ve calismamin yasak oldugu

where you cannot work, it really, that changed my life.

bir gun olmasi -- gercekten hayatimi degistirdi.

So, this idea of sacredness, whether or not there is a God.

Yani, Tanri olsun olmasin, bir kutsallik hissi.

Thou shall not stereotype.

Basmakalip kliselerden kacinacaksin.

This one happened because

Bu yargiya, Amerika'nin cesitli yerlerinde

I spent a lot of time with various religious communities

sayili dini topluluklarla zaman

throughout America because I wanted it to be more

gecirerek vardim, cunku bunun benim

than about my journey.

yolculugumdan daha fazla bir sey ifade etmesini istedim.

I wanted it to be about religion in America.

Amerika'da din hakkinda olmasini istedim.

So, I spent time with evangelical Christians, and Hasidic Jews, and the Amish.

Evanjelik Hristiyanlar'la, Hasidik Yahudilerle ve Amisler'le zaman gecirdim.

I'm very proud because

Kendimle gurur duyuyorum cunku

I think I'm the only person in America

herhalde Amerika'da bir Yehova Sahidi'nden daha uzun sure

to out Bible-talk a Jehovah's Witness.

Incil'den bahsedebilen tek insan benim.

(Laughter)

(Kahkaha)

After three and a half hours, he looked at his watch,

Uc bucukuncu saatte kolundaki saate bakti,

he's like, "I gotta go."

"gitmem lazim" dedi.

(Laughter)

(Kahkaha)

Oh, thank you very much.

Cok tesekkur ederim.

Thank you. Bless you, bless you.

Cok tesekkurler. Tanri sizi korusun, Tanri sizi korusun.

But it was interesting

Ama cok ilgincti

because I had some very preconceived notions about, for instance,

cunku bazi alanlarda, mesela Evanjelik Hristiyanlik'la ilgili

evangelical Christianity, and I found that

pesin hukumlerim vardi, ve ogrendim ki

it's such a wide and varied movement

Evanjeliklik cok genis ve cesitli bir hareket

that it is difficult to make generalizations about it.

ogrendim ki genelleme yapmak zor.

There's a group I met with called the Red Letter Christians,

Kirmizi Harf Hristiyanlar'i denilen bir grupla karsilastim,

and they focus on the red words in the Bible,

bunlar Incil'deki Isa'nin agzindan cikmis

which are the ones that Jesus spoke.

kirmizi kelimlere odaklaniyor

That's how they printed them in the old Bibles.

eski Incil'lerde Isa'nin sozlerini kirmizi basarlarmis.

And their argument is that Jesus never talked about homosexuality.

Iddialarina gore, Isa escinsellikle ilgili hicbir sey soylememis.

They have a pamphlet that says,

Hatta "Isa escinsellik konusunda ne demis"

"Here's what Jesus said about homosexuality,"

diye bir kitapciklari var

and you open it up, and there's nothing in it.

ve kitapcigi actiginizda, ici bos.

So, they say Jesus did talk a lot about helping the outcasts,

Isa'nin dislanmis kimselere, fakirlere yardim etmenin

helping poor people.

uzerinde durdugunu soyluyorlar.

So, this was very inspiring to me.

Bu bana cok ilham verdi.

I recommend Jim Wallis and Tony Campolo.

Onlara Jim Wallace'i ve Tony Campolo'yu oneririm.

They're very inspiring leaders, even though I disagree

Cok ilham verici liderler, her ne kadar dediklerinin

with much of what they say.

coguna katilmasam da.

Also, thou shalt not disregard the irrational.

Baska bir ders, mantiksiz seyleri goz ardi etmeyeceksin.

This one was very unexpected because, you know,

Bu cok beklenmedikti,

I grew up with the scientific worldview,

cunku ben bilimsel bir dunya gorusuyle buyudum

and I was shocked learning how much of my life

ve hayatimizin ne kadarinin mantik disi gucler

is governed by irrational forces.

tarafindan yonlendirildigini ogrendigimde cok sasirdim.

And the thing is, if they're not harmful,

Ama gercek su ki, eger zararsizlarsa

they're not to be completely dismissed.

tumuyle göz ardı etmemek gerekir.

Because I learned that -- I was thinking, I was

Cunku sunu ogrendim -- butun bu dini ayinleri yaparken

doing all these rituals, these biblical rituals,

mesela yun ile keteni ayri tutmak gibi, dindar insanlara

separating my wool and linen, and I would ask these religious people

"Neden Incil boyle bir sey emrediyor ki? Tanri niye buna aldiris eder ki?"

"Why would the Bible possibly tell us to do this? Why would God care?"

diye sordugumda bana verdikleri cevap

And they said, "We don't know,

"Bilmiyoruz, ama bize anlam

but it's just rituals that give us meaning."

veren zaten butun bu ayinler" diye yanit verdiler.

And I would say, "But that's crazy."

Ben de onlara "ama bu delilik" dedigimde

And they would say, "Well, what about you?

bana "Peki ya senin yaptigin diger seyler?

You blow out candles on top of a birthday cake.

Dogum gunu pastanin uzerindeki mumlari ufluyorsun.

If a guy from Mars came down and saw, here's one guy

Mars'tan biri gelse ve bir yanda seni, bir pastanin

blowing out the fire on top of a cake

uzerindeki atesi uflerken gorse;

versus another guy not wearing clothes of mixed fabrics,

diger yanda giysileri karisik dokulardan olmayan giymeyen birini gorse

would the Martians say, 'Well, that guy, he makes sense,

Marsli durup 'Bu adamin yaptigi mantikli,

but that guy's crazy?'"

ama bu digerininki delilik' mi diyecek?"

So no, I think that rituals are, by nature, irrational.

Ozetle, hayir, bence ayinler dogalari geregi mantik disilar.

So the key is to choose the right rituals,

Yani burada anahtar, dogru ayinleri secmek,

the ones that are not harmful -- but rituals by themselves

zararsiz olanlari -- ama ayinlerin kendilerini

are not to be dismissed.

goz ardi edemeyiz.

And finally I learned that thou shall pick and choose.

Ve son olarak ogrendim ki, secmece yapacaksin.

And this one I learned because

Bunu nasil ogrendigime gelince,

I tried to follow everything in the Bible.

once Incil'deki her seyi uygulamaya calistim.

And I failed miserably.

Feci halde basarisizliga ugradim.

Because you can't.

Cunku mumkun degil.

You have to pick and choose. And anyone who follows the Bible

Secmece yapmak zorundasiniz, ve Incil'e uymaya calisan herkes

is going to be picking and choosing.

ayni sekilde titizlikle secmek zorunda.

The key is to pick and choose the right parts.

Anahtar, Incil'in dogru taraflarini secmek.

There's the phrase called cafeteria religion,

Kafeterya dini diye bir ifade var

and the fundamentalists will use it in a denigrating way,

ve koktenciler bunu baskalarini kotulemek icin kullanirlar,

and they'll say, "Oh, it's just cafeteria religion.

"Isine gelenleri seciyorsun,

You're just picking and choosing."

senin bu yaptigin kafeterya dindarligi." derler.

But my argument is, "What's wrong with cafeterias?"

Benim dedigim de, "Kafeteryalarin nesi kotu?"

I've had some great meals at cafeterias.

Kafeteryalarda cok guzel yemekler yedigim oldu.

I've also had some meals that make me want to dry heave.

Beni öğürtecek kadar kotu yemekler de yedim.

So, it's about choosing the parts of the Bible about compassion,

Yani is, Incil'de merhametten, hosgoruden

about tolerance, about loving your neighbor,

komsunu sevmekten bahseden yerleri almak;

as opposed to the parts about homosexuality is a sin,

escinselligin gunah oldugundan, hosgorusuzlukten, siddetten

or intolerance, or violence,

bahseden yerleri -- ki onlar da Incil'de

which are very much in the Bible as well.

yer aliyorlar - gormezden gelmek.

So if we are to find any meaning in this book,

Yani eger bu kitaptan bir anlam cikarmak istiyorsak,

then we have to really engage it, and wrestle with it.

o zaman Incil'le icli disli olmamiz, onunla guresmemiz lazim.

And I thought I'd end with just a couple more.

Bir iki sey daha soyleyip bitiriyorum.

There's me reading the Bible.

Ben... Incil okurken.

That's how I hailed taxicabs.

Taksi cagirirken.

(Laughter)

(Kahkaha)

Seriously, and it worked. And yes,

Gercekten, ise yaradi -- ve evet,

that was actually a rented sheep,

gordugunuz kiralik bir koyun,

so I had to return that in the morning, but it served well for a day.

o yuzden ertesi sabah iade etmek zorundaydim, o gunluk vazifesini yerine getirdi.

So, anyway, thank you so much for letting me speak.

Hepinize beni dinlediginiz icin tesekkur ederim.