We invite our readers, followers, viewers, and all supporters to express their views on Medyascope. If your article complies with our editorial principles and is approved by our Editorial Board, it will be published on our website with your signature. We want a Turkey where people speak, discuss, and express different ideas. The article titled “What would you do if your house was on fire?” was penned by our reader İbrahim Özdemir.
Turkey is once again shaken by forest fires.
As thousands of hectares of forests turn to ash, trees, birds, bees, hedgehogs, squirrels, and many more are perishing. Our citizens attempting to extinguish the fires are losing their lives.
The sky is covered with smoke, and our lungs are burning.
Pain upon pain! Sorrow upon sorrow! Psychologists call this eco-grief.
Are we, in front of our screens, getting used to these images?
This is where we must ask: What would you do if your house was on fire?
My American environmental philosopher colleague Kathleen Dean Moore explains this question as follows:
“When your house is engulfed in flames, you don’t debate whether the fire is natural or man-made. You grab a bucket of water and do what you can. Because there are people inside that house.”
Today, Turkey’s forests, mountains, and rivers are all our home.
That home is currently burning.
Who is responsible for the fire?
Some talk about climate change, others about sabotage. But our attitude towards the fire is as important as its cause. As Moore points out, this is not just a scientific issue; it is also a moral issue.
Indeed, we did not inherit this world; we received it as a trust.
But what have we done?
We built roads, poured concrete, cut down trees, burned fossil fuels, polluted water and soil…
Then we stepped aside, calling it a “natural disaster.”
However, this is not a natural disaster; it is the result of human negligence.
The real question to ask here is: “Do we want to leave our children a world with clean and healthy air, water, and soil, or will we bequeath them only a fire map?”
What would you do if your house was on fire? We need a moral awakening
In Kathleen Dean Moore’s words: “We think we don’t want to make sacrifices. But in reality, we are constantly making sacrifices. We give up permanent values for temporary comforts. We sacrifice our children’s future.”
Therefore, the issue is not just “extinguishing fires.” The real issue is changing the lifestyle that causes fires.
• Developing individual and societal awareness against the climate crisis,
• Reviewing our consumption habits,
• Supporting sustainable agriculture, transportation, and energy policies,
• Viewing nature not merely as a “resource to be used,” but as a “trust to be protected”…
These are all moral actions. We do not need anyone’s command to do them. It is enough to listen to our conscience.
These are all moral actions. We do not need anyone’s command to do them. It is enough to listen to our conscience.
The article titled “What would you do if your house was on fire?” was penned by our reader İbrahim Özdemir.
Turkey is once again shaken by forest fires.
As thousands of hectares of forests turn to ash, trees, birds, bees, hedgehogs, squirrels, and many more are perishing. Our citizens attempting to extinguish the fires are losing their lives.
The sky is covered with smoke, and our lungs are burning.
Pain upon pain! Sorrow upon sorrow! Psychologists call this eco-grief.
Are we, in front of our screens, getting used to these images?
This is where we must ask: What would you do if your house was on fire?
My American environmental philosopher colleague Kathleen Dean Moore explains this question as follows:
“When your house is engulfed in flames, you don’t debate whether the fire is natural or man-made. You grab a bucket of water and do what you can. Because there are people inside that house.”
Today, Turkey’s forests, mountains, and rivers are all our home.
That home is currently burning.
Who is responsible for the fire?
Some talk about climate change, others about sabotage. But our attitude towards the fire is as important as its cause. As Moore points out, this is not just a scientific issue; it is also a moral issue.
Indeed, we did not inherit this world; we received it as a trust.
But what have we done?
We built roads, poured concrete, cut down trees, burned fossil fuels, polluted water and soil…
Then we stepped aside, calling it a “natural disaster.”
However, this is not a natural disaster; it is the result of human negligence.
The real question to ask here is: “Do we want to leave our children a world with clean and healthy air, water, and soil, or will we bequeath them only a fire map?”
What would you do if your house was on fire? We need a moral awakening
In Kathleen Dean Moore’s words: “We think we don’t want to make sacrifices. But in reality, we are constantly making sacrifices. We give up permanent values for temporary comforts. We sacrifice our children’s future.”
Therefore, the issue is not just “extinguishing fires.” The real issue is changing the lifestyle that causes fires.
• Developing individual and societal awareness against the climate crisis,
• Reviewing our consumption habits,
• Supporting sustainable agriculture, transportation, and energy policies,
• Viewing nature not merely as a “resource to be used,” but as a “trust to be protected”…
These are all moral actions. We do not need anyone’s command to do them. It is enough to listen to our conscience.
These are all moral actions. We do not need anyone’s command to do them. It is enough to listen to our conscience.
We have a responsibility towards our children
“How do we show our love to our children?”
By buying the right shoes for a football tournament?
Or by striving to leave them a forest where they can breathe, clean rivers, lakes, seas where they can swim and fish, and a tree for shade in their future?
As Moore said: “To love someone is to have a sacred obligation to protect them.”
Today, as Turkey burns, these words should resonate even more.
This is a responsibility that falls not only on firefighters, municipalities, and the state — but on all of us.
Because this home belongs to all of us.
If something stirred in your heart while reading this article, know that it’s not too late.
Make a decision:
What can I change today?
To what can I say “no” to say “yes” to the world?
Because our lives are not just about what happens to us; they are shaped by the decisions we make, the choices we take, and the actions we refuse to do.
And remember: Trees are silent, but they scream when they burn.
I witnessed this. The death cries of the trees and thousands of living beings within them echoed in my ears for days; they stole my sleep.
It is our moral duty to hear them.