The Journal Religious Dialogue and Cooperation is published by the Centrе for Intercultural Studies and Research at the Faculty of Philosophy at the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, which is conceived as an international scientific journal for all areas of religion. The journal publishes original scientific papers (statements from original empirical research on religion) and reviewed scientific papers (systematic reviews, analyses, processes, and interpretations of research findings and theoretical knowledge from a particular area of religion).
Center for Intercultural Studies and Research, Faculty of Philosophy, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje
CURRENT SITUATIONS IN THE CHRISTIAN CONTEXT FROM THE ASPECT OF THE GENDER PERSPECTIVE
This study aims to analyze three key dimensions: the historical-cultural approach, theological interpretations, sociological analyses, and narratives, with a particular emphasis on the Old Testament and gender asymmetry in the creation myth, as well as the Apostle Paul’s teachings on women. The historical-cultural approach seeks to investigate the historical foundations of gender roles within Christianity and the various interpretations that have shaped societal attitudes and norms concerning gender. Additionally, this research will examine the manifestations of gender within Christian communities, particularly the status of women in the Christian tradition and the role of Christianity in shaping and reinforcing gender stereotypes. This involves an exploration of gender dynamics across different Christian denominations, highlighting both progressive and conservative perspectives. Furthermore, this study will address women’s activism and the role of feminist theology, commonly referred to as Christian feminism, within Christian communities. It will examine contemporary challenges faced by women in their efforts to resist patriarchal traditions and explore potential avenues for transforming patriarchal structures within religious institutions. Ultimately, this research aims to assess the broader impact of the Christian tradition on modern society and its influence on religious and cultural frameworks from a gendered perspective.
CHRISTIANITY OF FUNDAMENTALISM AND SECULARISM: ARE THERE HINTS OF SOCIAL TEACHING WITHIN THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH?
The scientific paper before us will question the role, scope and importance of Orthodox Christianity in social issues, especially in the case of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC). The topic of the scientific work is focused on questioning the connections between the specifically Orthodox experience of religion and its place in contemporary (Serbian) society. Therefore, the views of church dignitaries of the Serbian Orthodox Church regarding the role of the Orthodox faith in social issues were selected as the subject of research. Through his research, the author has set himself the goal of predicting the possibilities of establishing and building the social teaching of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The increasingly active role of religious communities and churches in contemporary society: from culture, through politics and economy to the natural environment points to the legitimate social significance of the basic assumptions of this scientific paper. The questioning of theoretical assumptions, religious conceptions and spiritual-political phenomena: fundamentalism, integralism and secularism on the example of an isolated case study in the ideas and value positions of dignitaries and theologians of the Serbian Orthodox Church leads to an indisputable innovative contribution and scientific justification of the research. After all, the SOC has always been the foundation of the national rallying of the Serbian ethnos, and the main lever of national identity, so the overall justification of the topic is greater. In the paper, the author started from the initial assumption that the current opinion in the Serbian Orthodox Church is not favorable towards the establishment of the social teaching of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The research was based on numerous methods in social sciences, such as: observation, case study, content analysis, comparative approach...
RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE AS A KEY TO INTERETHNIC COOPERATION IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country characterized by the interconnectedness of ethnic and religious affiliation, the country is home to three main ethnic groups (Serbs, Croats and Bosnians) who are members of three different religions (Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Islam). The history of Bosnia and Herzegovina is accompanied by deep religious and ethnic divisions and aspirations. The cause of conflict and intolerance in the country is often because of the different interest between all three religious parties. The intention of the authors of this paper is to draw attention to the importance of religious dialogue in interethnic relations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as the main key for spreading a culture of peace, mutual tolerance and understanding.
SERGE RAYNAUD DE LA FERRIÈRE’S DOCTRINE READJUSTMENT: THE UGB AND THEOCRACY
Serge Raynaud de la Ferrière (1916-1962) left his native France to the Americas. He knew the predominance of America for the New Age of Aquarius that was about to begin. In 1948 he founded the Great Universal Brotherhood (UGB) in Caracas, Venezuela, a worldwide and cultural institution to re-educate humanity. After traveling the five continents, he returned to Europe in 1953. Right after he re-established communication with his disciples in America, he noted that his work and literature was being deformed. He even said that he couldn’t recognize his own foundation! Consequently, he began readjusting his work and wrote most part of his extensive literature. In this period, Ferriz, his fourth and last emblematic disciple appeared. He translated under his supervision some of his most important texts, and among other tasks he asked him to write his books’ prologue, exegesis and be his Literature’s Coordinator. In the context of the New Age, R. de la Ferrière discusses theocracy and mentioned some precursor signs for its advent. These are briefly discussed in this essay. They were misinterpreted by his other emblematic disciples – contrary to his idea of a government of wise people. They believed in absolute authority and autocratic government that in various instances they applied it in the UGB. Ferriz asserts that this was probably the seed that caused their failure to follow R. de la Ferrière’s Readjustment and created an ideological and doctrinaire difference between their beliefs and R. de la Ferrière’s thought. In 1990, to safeguard the original UGB and R. de la Ferrière’s thought, Ferriz left in Exodus the deformed UGB and created a new one.
NAVIGATING FAITH IN A SECULAR STATE: ISLAMIC LAW AND MUSLIM PRACTICES IN MACEDONIA
This study explores the multifaceted implementation of Islamic law among the Muslim community in North Macedonia, a secular country. It examines how Muslims navigate and practice various aspects of Sharia in their daily lives, despite the secular framework of the state. The research focuses on key religious practices such as religious marriage (Nikah), the giving of obligatory charity (Zakat), and the observance of fasting during Ramadan. It investigates the challenges and adaptations faced by the Muslim community in maintaining their religious obligations while complying with secular laws. This study provides insights into the dynamic interaction between Islamic law and secularism, highlighting the resilience and creativity of Muslims in preserving their religious identity. The findings contribute to a broader understanding of religious coexistence and the practical realities of implementing religious laws in a secular context.
CHRISTIANITY AND SECULARIZATION FOLLOWING THE IDEAS OF ŽELJKO MARDEŠIĆ
Following the interpretation of the famous Croatian sociologist Željko Mardešić (Jakov Jukić), this paper analyzes secularization in the context of contemporary sociology of religion. Considering various social, cultural, and religious changes, the presented secularization process is the origin of the sudden and unexpected flourishing of various forms of new religiosity and the alarming appearance of relics of the past, i.e., the increasingly present fundamentalism and integralism in major religions. According to Željko Mardešić, the secularization process consists of three levels and includes society, the Church, and – most deeply – the individual person. The individual finds themselves in a strange gap. On the one hand, secularization swallows up and annuls the sacred, while, on the other hand, the individual produces the sacred, which is not a substitute for traditional religion, but something completely new and opposed. Željko Mardešić sees the future of Christianity following in the footsteps of the Second Vatican Council, which seeks the effort of sincere questioning its state on the part of Christianity; to choose either political religiosity or authentic religiosity with no political security. It is important to note that Christianity, deprived of its many worldly roles, in the new secularization context is encouraged to focus on ritual celebration and spiritual immersion to creatively transform society and cultural life. In this context, there emerges an increasingly acceptable interpretation according to which, using Željko Mardešić’s words, secularization is seen as a happy event for historical Christianity, because it draws Christianity a little closer to the original evangelical truth and a more authentic living of the goodness of its members. This event manifests in rejecting the collectivist and ideological vision of Christianity and advocates accepting the light of goodness rather than one’s own group, supporting freedom and the free human in a group defined by the community of people who believe in the person and teachings of Jesus Christ.
A METASYSTEMIC PERSPECTIVE OF CHRISTIAN PSYCHOTHERAPY IN DEFINING LEADERSHIP AND ITS CRITERIA
The purpose of this paper is a description of the concept of leadership as a key component in the Christian church community, as well as the criteria of a healthy leadership style not only in its internal framework, but in the overall social context. This paper is a qualitative-descriptive study with research on leadership, styles and personality of the leader according to Christian theology, and applying a metasystemic perspective within wider domains of society. We define criteria for healthy leadership in correlation with social deviations of the same, observed and described in the framework of Christian psychotherapy and application of the Transactional Analytical methodology in the analysis of the focused phenomena. Leadership in the Christian Church has an antinomian character and a pastoral dimension. The personality of the church leader is formed according to the criteria of the degrees of spiritual development. The presented model of church leadership with qualities of antinomy has its applicability in the social system of secular leadership, where the function of leadership paradoxically merges into a duty of service against its deviant social phenomena of identification (nation, party, state).
PRIDE AND PUNISHMENT: THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND PRIDE PARADES IN SERBIA (2012-2024)
A process of desecularization, sacralizing the nation, and retraditionalizing gender roles has been ongoing in post-Yugoslav Serbia since the late 80s, but has gained new steam since 2012, when a new government of a coalition similar to the 1990s politics was formed, albeit this time with the ostensible aim of joining the EU. Against the backdrop of these processes, Serbian identity has been constructed in a particularly masculine way. And although the use of homophobia to Other the ‘Enemy within’ is not new in Serbian nationalism, a notable shift has been observed as Serbia has been pushed to accept LGBT bodies as part of its Europeanisation process, which is now further complicated by the war in Ukraine. The pride parades, which Serbia has had to endure due to its European integration process, and the tactical decision to appoint a lesbian prime minister, have contributed to the impossibility to openly rely on stereotypical homophobic means of othering. As such, the focus of the ‘enemy’ within shifted from the homosexual to other ‘Others’: Albanians, migrants traversing the Balkan route, non-maternal women, and most recently, ‘gender ideology’ in biology textbooks and gender-sensitive language. Tracing the debates in the Serbian media, especially with regard to the discursive chasm between LGBT communities/feminisms and the Serbian Orthodox Church, but also with changes in the dominant media discourse, this paper contends that nationalist othering in Serbia is consistently reshaped in order to accommodate the changing political climates. It demonstrates the moving boundaries in the construction of the nation, which constantly fluctuating representations of identities stereotypically associated with LGBT communities, masculinities and femininities, ‘Serbhood’, and Orthodoxy.
Авторско право(c) 2025 Danica Igrutinović
COMMUNICATION WITH SUPERNATURAL PROTECTORS AND HELPERS IN ESTONIA IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Estonia has been repeatedly called the least religious country in Europe or even the whole world. The Estonian mainstream media and politics mainly resonate with the identification of Estonians as a rational high-tech and science-oriented nation. Although the number of people who believe in biblical God and/or feel affiliated to any canonical religion is indeed low according to representative polls, there are numerous other forms for communicating with the numinous (e.g., in the form of protective angels, spirit animals, nature spirits, spirits of dead relatives, or pets who give spiritual guidance) observable in the Estonian society. Based on personal experience narratives from the recent decade, this article will give an overview of supernatural helpers and protectors with whom people in Estonia communicate. Answers will be sought to the following questions: Who are these beings? From which traditions do they stem? Which ways of communicating with them are practiced? What are the differences compared to older layers of religion? This paper will demonstrate a recent heterogenous pluralism, presented in the co-existence and fluctuation of – partly situational – beliefs in various supernatural figures, and try to locate these findings in the current (post)secularization debates. The author concludes that such contemporary models of religious beliefs and practices are not necessarily replacing the traditional ones but rather recycle already existing religious ideas in somewhat modified configurations that are adjusted to the contemporary needs. Despite the rather polarized view of religion and science in the mainstream media and political discourse, the empirical material shows that such vernacular beliefs and practices may build symbioses with scientific conceptions of the world.
There is almost no other common evolution of two phenomena that builds its uniqueness and specificity on overlapping and separating at the same time, like the relationship between politics and religion. The axis around which both phenomena exist is the man, or in more recent times from the aspect of their political awareness - the citizen. The specificity of the coexistence of politics and religion, among other things, is based on the complexity of individual phenomena, on their place and role in social processes. What politics and religion have in common is that their identity is based on the concrete complemented by the abstract. In other words, their scope of action moves beyond the limits of the rational and empirically verified. The key to explaining this challenge is that both phenomena have belief as spiritus movens in their essence. One of the characteristics of the historical evolution and mutual influence of politics and religion is the process of refining, i.e. building one’s own identity. In the beginning it was more difficult to make the demarcation between them to establish the special specificity and identity, today modern societies establish the distinction to the point of absolute incompatibility. Even the personification of the two phenomena was in the beginning in the same persons, i.e. in one person it had the legitimacy to communicate with God at the same time and rule the people. In the past, one person usually claimed the right to the secular and the sacred, today those roles are clearly differentiated in different persons. Taken at the national level, Macedonia throughout history has built its own specificity when it comes to the relationship between politics and religion. Its specificity is based on the historical fact that glorifies our country as the country through which Christianity was spread on European soil, and is one of the routes for the spread of Islam in Europe. Today’s contemporary reality characterizes it as a multiethnic and multiconfessional country.
ROMAN CATHOLICS AND MUSLIMS IN GREECE: INTERRELIGIOUS AND INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE IN A BALKAN COUNTRY
This paper is intended to analyse Islamic presence in Modern Greece especially under the perspective of interreligious dialogue between Muslim refugees and Christian majority of Greek population. In this context, many initiatives held by Roman Catholics in Greece, especially Jesuits, Franciscans, local Caritas, Sisters of Mother Theresa, are devoted to Muslim refugees and people of different migratory background. Humanitarian activity promoted by Roman Catholics favours an interactive process with immigrants but also a fight for justice with the result of establishing an interfaith dialogue with Greek Orthodox Christians. The meeting with refugees is aimed not only to give them the possibility of making an income, but also to restore the dignity of migrant people. So, for example, the Jesuit Refugee Center (JRS) and the Jesuit Welcome Center (JWC) are meant to answer the urgent needs of people from Central Asia (Pakistan, Afghanistan), Northern and Sahel Africa (Morocco, Egypt, Somalia, Nigeria) and other countries with Muslim majority. On the other hand, these initiatives favour a regular daily routine through work and/or learning. This goal inspired the “Pedro Arrupe Center”, a social justice and educational project, aimed to help young refugees or children of families with migratory background to better pursue their school integration process.
Авторско право(c) 2025 Costanza Salvatore
Implementation of the Ohrid framework agreement: Trends in tolerance among the youth in the Republic of North Macedonia
The Republic of North Macedonia is a multicultural country composed of various ethnic and religious groups. Macedonia was the only ex-Yugoslav state to gain its independence without a violent clash within the country or against other post-Yugoslav republics. However, in 2001 the two major ethnic groups, the Macedonians and Albanians fought against each other in an armed conflict, which resulted in the signing of the Ohrid Framework Agreement and promoted minority rights in the republic. Almost two decades after the conflict, ethnic tensions have been limited to sporadic hostilities usually prompted by sporting events and political rallies. Today, promoting tolerance among ethnic groups is one of the key issues in the political agenda of the main political parties, both Macedonian and Albanian. This paper will examine tolerance in the Republic of North Macedonia by analyzing the implementation of the Framework Agreement in the area of education, languages and minority rights. Moreover, the paper will present a research on trends in tolerance among youth from urban areas in North Macedonia conducted during the autumn of 2019.
Авторско право(c) 2020 Irena Avirovic Bundalevska
The human awareness of social appertaining has deep biological and social roots. The alienated individual, on his own, is of no significance and is not a human in the real sense of the word, unless he becomes a member of any group, reaches a social position and his own place within the system of relationships. In contrast to the political parties, which are a relatively new phenomenon, the religiosity represents a universal social phenomenon. Hardly any civilization of significance does not have a certain religious component incorporated within itself or has not been based on it. Evaluating the claims of the secularization story, we face several unresolved questions: 1. Is the suppression of religion limited to the area of Europe and is the narrative of secularization at the same time an attempt to present the European experience to the rest of the world. 2. Are religious beliefs being comprehensively suppressed and people becoming less religious, or are we dealing with new forms of religiosity, where new models of religious beliefs and practices are emerging that replace the old/traditional ones? 3. Has the religiosity of people not decreased and what has been achieved with the process of secularization. Is this a change in the social role of religion? Secularism is not the suppression of religion but an aspect of the weakening of religious authority.
Авторско право(c) 2025 Religious dialogue and cooperation
THE RISE OF THE BAHA’I FAITH COMMUNITY IN TUNISIA
The Bahá’í faith derives from Babì movement and takes its first steps in Persia during the first half of the 19th century. Bahà’u’llàh reveals to be the new Manifestation of God in 1863. Thanks to his successors, the Bahá’í faith transcended its geographical boundaries, initially Persian and Arab, by embracing Western Countries and adapting its characteristics to those cultural contexts. Commencing from my doctoral project, the contribution aims to focus on the presence of the Bahá’í religious minority in Tunisia, which arrived in the 1920s of the 20th century. The Country, in addition to the Bahá’í one, welcomes the Shiite Muslim minority, as well as various Christians, which can be categorized as indigenous (converted Tunisians), European, Sub-Saharan, and the Jew minority. The presence of the Bahá’í community, as reported by the Association of Religious Data Archives (ARDA), is estimated to be around 2,000 believers, however, it appears to engage in a fluid coexistence with other religions and navigate a cold conflict within a predominantly Sunni Muslim context. The oral testimonies range from examples of “peaceful coexistence” to “fear of openly declaring oneself”. Moreover, they reveal that the number of believers ranges between 200 and 250, as many believers do not officially declare their affiliation.Prior to the Revolution in 2011, nobody dared to openly acknowledge their affiliation with the Bahá’í faith; subsequently, thanks to a newfound spirit that has animated religious, national, and ethnic minorities (including Berber and Black communities) – Bahá’í adherents have reported an increased sense of freedom of expression. However, instances of believers experiencing apprehension regarding potential acts of violence and discrimination persist.
INTERRELIGIOUS COUNCIL IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA - INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE AND MEDIA-MEDIATED REALITY
In BiH, in 1997, a year after the constitution of the state on the basis of the Dayton Agreement and the end of the civil war, the Interreligious Council was formed on the initiative of religious leaders and it was the first one under that name in the world. The path to reconciliation among people and development of a stable society in BiH should lead through interreligious dialogue, and the Interreligious Council strives to achieve that goal, in areas where the influence of churches and religious communities is inviolable. The area of indisputable influence of the Interreligious Council should be sacred objects within which specific communication takes place between religious leaders and believers. In that space, thoughts and views were expressed by members of the Islamic Community in BiH, imam Amir Mahić and theologian Muharem Štulanović. After the prayers in the mosques, imams called the Serbian Orthodox Church a sect, its first enlightener, Saint Sava, the originator of fascism, with derogatory terms about the Serbian people. The public was informed about the events in the mosques in Kozarac and Bihać through the media, with different narratives, while the Interreligious Council failed to represent the proclaimed goals and ideas of interreligious dialogue. After more than two and a half decades of existence, there is no representative of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the Interreligious Council in BiH, because Metropolitan Bishop of Dabar-Bosna Hrizostom resigned from the Council, and the interreligious dialogue died down. The statements and analyzes presented in this paper are based on data obtained from research conducted through in-depth interviews with members of the Interreligious Council in BiH, analysis of the content of texts published in the media about the aforementioned cases in January 2023, and comparative analysis, with the aim of elucidating the possibility of reviving interreligious dialogue, mutual understanding and the role of the media in those processes.
Авторско право(c) 2024 Dejana Radovanović Šarenac
REVIEW OF THE STATUS AND POSITION OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
The main intention of the author of the work is to indicate the position and status of members of the Jewish community in post-Dayton Bosnia and Herzegovina. Of course, looking at the newly created situation is impossible without an insight into the historical conditions and circumstances in which Jews lived and worked in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which will determine their existence even in the modern age. In order to obtain relevant information, we conducted an interview with connoisseurs of circumstances and historical facts related to the Jewish community in BiH, in order to obtain adequate answers to some of the questions that include the determination of cultural conflicts by religious differences in BiH from the point of view of the Jewish people; the position and status of members of the Jewish community in post-Deit Bosnia and Herzegovina; the quality and extent of social inclusion of members of the Jewish community in the socio-political life of Bosnia and Herzegovina; and the quality of relations and connections between members of the Jewish community and representatives of other religious groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina? We believe that with this information, we will draw attention to the current position of members of the Jewish community in our society, and demystify the decline in its numbers in our society.
Авторско право(c) 2024 Biljana Milošević Šošo
THE “HOUSE OF GOD”: THE ROLE OF RELIGION AND LITURGY IN THE TRANSFORMATION OF SACRED BUILDINGS
The paper wishes to analyse the religious buildings, with special attention to the Christian ones, considering their transformation due to liturgical and religious reasons. The aim of the research relates to the needs of restoration and conservation of the buildings. The restoration and conservation work compels the understanding of all the historical construction phases of the building itself, and the reasons for them, in order to plan a good project, able to respect their real “authenticity”, according to the Nara charter, established by ICOMOS (International Council of Monuments and Sites) in 1994. The Nara document is inspired by the Venice Charter, approved in 1964 and adopted by ICOMOS in 1965, where, in chapter 3, is stated that: “The intention in conserving and restoring monuments is to safeguard them no less as works of art than as historical evidence.” Restoration refers to the conservation of the historical evidence plus the historical meaning of the building. The traces, even if hidden, of the past, related to different conceiving of the building, must be transferred to the future and made available and comprehensible for everyone. The valorisation of the building, as it is defined by the Italian law of 2004 is a tool for the dissemination of culture, because the culture must be accessible to everyone. The religion and the places devoted to sharing spiritual values, in any geographical and political position and at any time, focusing on intercultural dialogue in a peaceful environment, must be accepted and the work of restoration must be connected with the transformation in order to ensure the respect of the cultural values of religious places. Starting from the re-transformation of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, from Museum to Mosque and the reception of the transformation from the history and history of art international environment, the paper has the intention to offer an overview, through different examples related to diverse times and places, of the role of the religion and liturgy in the transformation of the house of god and the connection with the cultural environment considering that the transformation has a strong connection with the restoration activities both on the decorative elements and spatial dimension of the religious buildings and their environment.
religious and Cultural Heritage Valorisation
AUTHORITIES IN RELIGIOUS CONFLICTS AND CONTROVERSIES: FROM PROBLEMS TO SOLUTIONS
Religious conflicts take place in various ways. This article discusses the role of religions in low-intensity conflicts occurring in people’s daily lives, relationships, and situations. New skills are needed to navigate the mosaic of disputes, rights, and obligations. In addition to ordinary citizens, these skills are needed by professionals in different fields who come across issues and people associated with religions. The article examines the role of the public authorities in encountering issues, problems and conflicts related to religions. While the authorities must safeguard the rights of people belonging to religious movements, they also have to solve problems arising from religions. In the article, the authorities’ activities are explored within the framework of religious literacy. The article discusses the basic principles of religious literacy and the ways in which they are manifested in the context of the authorities’ work. Religious literacy refers interpreting the role of religion in different phenomena, institutions, actors, and interactions in society. Understanding, contextualization and a critical attitude are key components of religious literacy, which could be seen as a professional competence that supports authorities and other employees in their work.
Four major ‘ideal type’ models may be distinguished in cultural relations in society: Monocultural (monopoly of one culture), Multicultural (living apart together, in mutual tolerance), Secular (rule of law, equality, culturally neutral) and Intercultural (different cultures connected in equivalence). Cultural diversity will become more prominent in the wake of increasing globalisation and migration – which makes the challenge of connecting cultures more urgent than ever. This essay reports on a content analysis of the proceedings of two European conferences on religious dialogue and cooperation (2019, 2022) in Struga, North-Macedonia. These suggest that today cultures are being disconnected rather than connected. Where several major cultures co-exist they struggle for cultural priority; where one dominant culture exists it defends itself against intrusion by other cultures. At the same time there is a persistent pull towards the secular model. This stands in the way of coming closer to the intercultural model. Movement in the direction of an intercultural model appears to remain restricted to statements of political and religious correctness or incidental grass roots initiatives. This essay will offer a survey of policies that have had a positive and negative effect on connecting cultures, leading to explore the transition to an intercultural society. The critical variables in that process will be identified and analysed, leading to proposals for proactive policies to strengthen the connecting process.
THE SACRED, SACRILEGE, AND SYMBOLIC BOUNDATIES IN POSTSECULAR, POSTSOCIALIST SERBIA
This paper will strive to address the novel manifestations and roles that sacrilege plays in the postsecular world, and especially how it figuresin the symbolic battles waged in Serbia after October 5, 2000 over which current has the indisputable right to form its postsocialist collective identity – ethnic, ethical, ideological, religious.The focus will be on concrete incidents in Serbian public space involving accusations of blasphemy and the ensuing debates, which have arguably helpedestablish and maintain the symbolic boundaries in a society. The sample includes cases which are mentioned in news portals available online and this corpus of empirical material consisting of media content will be contextualized and subjected to discourse analysis. Of special interest will be the ways in which both accusations of blasphemy and defenses against these accusations can serve to draw lines around respective collective identities in symbolic divisions usually closely corresponding with geopolitical ones. The sociocultural problems that will hopefully be further illuminated are the modalities of the secular status of the state, freedom of religion and freedom of speech, collective identities (most pertinently ethnic nationalism, especially when combined with Eastern Orthodoxy in a postsocialist country), geopolitical influences, and postsecular hybrids (especially establishing which are permissible in a community, and which are perceived as impure mixing and as such sacrilegious).
symbolic boundaries, religion and identity (ethnicity/gender/sexuality)
Авторско право(c) 2024 Danica Igrutinović
THE ART OF CONNECTING CULTURES: HOW MUSIC CAN NURTURE MUTUAL RESPECT
How can we proactively rehearse a collective sense of humanity, and let go of the focus on our cultural differences as an obstacle? The dissimilarity of people has become a popular reason for social exclusion, regularly leading up to hate speech, dehumanization and destruction. This essay demonstrates how community music programs can create a sense of intercultural community, both between musicians as throughout all participants including teachers, family and the audience. Firstly, the relevance of collective music making is discussed along with the ideas of Richard Sennett on music and mutual respect, and of Alicja Gescinska on feeling at home in music. This creates an interdisciplinary framework of political and philosophical theories, which is expanded by psychological research. To maintain respect between people from different cultural and religious backgrounds is not something that tends to be stimulated in the individualistic belief systems of Western commercialisation and competitive education systems. Where do our children and future generations practice teamwork, intercultural communication and a curiosity for cultures that reach beyond their own belief systems? Arts in general, and music in particular, can and should offer fertile grounds for these learnings through working together, active listening and practices in collective resonation. To illustrate these arguments, examples such as the El Sistema Europe Youth Orchestra (SEYO) and Musicians Without Borders will be discussed to show the serious potential of music in the nurturing of mutual respect in an intercultural society. In order to enable such powerful projects, it is essential that governmental institutions, policymakers and academicians support the sustainability and growth of community music programs, to make them widely accessible in areas which could benefit from proactive, creative practices in intercultural and religious dialogue.
Nowadays, social media dominates the practice of communication, sending words, images, and videos at the speed of light (Seitel, 2011). Users of social networks have the opportunity to write, speak, publish, meet other users, and provide a virtual place for meeting, socializing, and interacting. Social media gives users the flexibility to configure their user settings, customize their profiles to look specific, organize their friends or followers, manage what information they want to see or don’t want to see, even give feedback information about what they do, etc. Globalization has made it possible to perceive the world as a whole, to strengthen the sense of belonging, and not to be excluded from the events that take place somewhere on the other side of the world. This paper aims to analyze the relationship between religion and social media, and the subject of research is addressed through the promotion of religion on social media and specifically refers to the situation in the Republic of North Macedonia. The main research question is: How is religion presented on social media? The analysis focuses on the official religious institutions in Macedonia, and through which channels they promote their interests? The primary data source is used using content analysis.
Авторско право(c) 2024 Ivanna Hadjievska
RELIGION IN RELATION TO GLOBALIZATION PROCESSES
Rational the relationship of globalization with social institutions, focusing on the term of globalization of modernity, religion and religious phenomena are of unavoidable interest. Interest in religious phenomena is on the rise, and globalization as such is multifaceted. Never before have there been so many nonreligious people in human history, as well as never before in human history has there been so much religious population on the planet. Globalization and religion are linked through the following aspects: religious diversity is on the rise, the difference at the level of organization is increasing, as well as that the subjective religiosity is being strengthened. The mentioned aspects are theoretically based on the globalization of modernity, which implies the aspects of the diffusion of processes, as well as the dynamics, which are typically modern in nature and extend to the world level even in their influence. As the most typical modern processes and dynamics are: speed, widespread and continuous process of transformation of society, structural difference, detraditionalization, and individualization. Undoubtedly, the enumerated processes of modern globalization have their impact on religion. The aim of this article is to theoretically elaborate the indicated aspects through a review of the relevant literature. The theoretical framework will be used as a concept or further empirical research on the connection between religion and globalization.
WESTERN BALKANS THROUGH THE PRISM OF STEREOTYPES, PREJUDICE, AND RELIGION: LESSONS FROM NORTH MACEDONIA, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, AND KOSOVO
Multiple-holistic analysis conducted in the Western Balkans has shown that context(s) in the Western Balkans are overflowed with stereotypes, prejudice, and religious intolerance. These three phenomena were included in extensive multiple-holistic case study by conducting interviews and open-ended surveys among peace activists, journalists, politicians, as well as members of the civil society, in the countries of North Macedonia, Bosnia and Hercegovina, and Kosovo. The research findings draw a picture of a still deeply prejudiced and divided societies. People categorize each other according to their religion and ethnicity. The group they identified themselves with represents the reference for what is good or bad. Stereotypes and prejudice are deeply rooted in and transmitted in early childhood experiences, in most cases as a result of family trauma as a consequence of an earlier conflict. Also, ethnic prejudice are deeply rooted in state systems. Religion in these contexts plays a crucial but subtle role in designing unstable and divided contexts. It keeps to its own communities and values through exclusion of the others instead of using its power for unifying and tolerance purposes. The presence of deeply rooted stereotypes and prejudice create uncertain societies and uncertainty among people. The conflict contexts in the Western Balkans require a serious and sustainable strategy for building relationships among people regardless of their ethnicity and religious affiliation in the long term.
DIVINE REVELATION AS THE SOURCE OF DIALOGUE AMONG RELIGIOUS FORMS
Divine Revelation is rarely considered in its all-embracing importance. We find more often particularistic interpretations defined by certain traditions, confessions, and theoretical schools rooted in a certain historical period. Such approaches are valuable contributions as they offer a possible way to understand the world in a more-than-trivial fashion. Philosophical and theological developments based on particularistic traditions are also helpful because they show the power of genuine inspiration. Nevertheless, the problem of divine revelation cannot be confined to a particular tradition. The concept of revelation suggests that revelation as a basic concept rises above historical, cultural, and denominational forms and elevates human persons to a sphere where divine reality discloses an overarching design. In today’s world, where various traditions, religious forms, and denominations are becoming interconnected, it is essential to understand divine revelation in a way that is not distorted by various particularisms. In a few published works, I have repeatedly pointed out the essential feature of divine revelation as unrestricted newness. In the following text, I will argue that this newness comes to the fore as soon as we perceive revelation properly. Focusing on newness, we can reconsider particular narratives of divine revelation from the perspective of their renewing power leading to a global community of human beings. To achieve this, I emphasize the importance of spiritual practice, such as revelatory meditation, through which people of various backgrounds can think through their understandings of divine revelation. By doing so, we can open the possibility of finding a common theoretical praxis to mend the world.
STREET VIOLENCE AND ITS EFFECTS IN SOCIAL SPACE
The issue of violent manifestations in different social environments such as street, school or family constitutes a priority and a fundamental field, both for scientific research and for the intervention of competent institutions and personnel, in the context of contemporary societies, including the Romanian social space. Streets are a space for manifestations of violence that propagate in different registers. Deviant behaviour among students and, at the same time, among other categories of participants in educational and instructive activities significantly affects the school institution. In contrast to other social spaces, the school requires an immediate, appropriate, and particularly professional response.
Авторско право(c) 2023 Gabriela Lăzăreanu Carmen
CHRISTIAN DIALOGUE AND COOPERATION FOLLOWING ŽELJKO MARDEŠIĆ’S IDEAS
Following the idea of the famous Croatian sociologist Željko Mardešić (Jakov Jukić), this paper analyzes Mardešić’s vision of Christian dialogue and cooperation in the context of contemporary sociology of religion. The presented vision of dialogue and cooperation in relation to various social, cultural, and religious changes calls for expanding the space for dialogue and cooperation. According to Mardešić, dialogue and cooperation presuppose the existence of opposite ideas and not necessarily identity; otherwise, they would be reduced to mere confirmation. Thus, dialogue and cooperation observed separately contain an entire program and are key to the realization of Christianity in the future. Željko Mardešić sees the future of Christianity along the lines of the Second Vatican Council, which remains the “compass” for the Catholic Church, on four council levels: establishing a dialogue with divided Christians, major world religions, non-believers, and the modern world. Importantly, dialogue and cooperation in the Church represent an unavoidable prerequisite to establishing four effective dialogues with the world. In this context, the authenticity of Christian dialogue and cooperation, according to Željko Mardešić, can be summed up in a few demanding words: kindness, forgiveness, mercy, service, peace, and the joy of hope. A person – not seen as an object but a subject of experience – is certainly changed by every dialogue because the experience itself is dialogical and open to cooperation.
THE TRAJECTORY OF POSTREVOLUTIONARY RUSSIAN DIASPORA THOUGHT AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO RUSSIAN EXCEPTIONALISM
Attention is being paid to the rise of post-Soviet nationalism, particularly given the conflict in Ukraine. To this end, the present paper examines Russian thought and its relationship to exceptionalism in the context of the post-Revolutionary diaspora. Examining the prevailing approach taken to freedom of thought, in light of Nikolai Berdyaev, Fr. Sergius Bulgakov and other thinkers, a trajectory can be identified that departs from the exceptionalist narrative. In the diaspora, this was accented by emergence in the context of the ecumenical movement and the keenness demonstrated by the emigres, which was fitting to the East / West interaction of the movement. In an important sense, the notion of Sobornost emerged as a sign of the diaspora’s theological development – in light the evolution of the notion and its ecclesiological aspect, but also in the journal by the same name, which was published under the auspices of the Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius. This altogether demonstrates a trajectory of thought that emerged in the diaspora intelligentsia, which stood in opposition to exceptionalism, messianic or nationalist sentiments, inasmuch as it was a inheritor of pre-Revolutionary Russian thought, is a contrast to the post-Soviet milieu.
THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL SECURITY ON THE SECURITY POLICY OF THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA
The concept of national security belongs to the so-called old, traditional approaches to security. Its focus is on the survival of the sovereign state, which is its territorial integrity and political independence (sovereignty) protected by diplomatic, intelligence and military capacities, which is ability to repel military aggression or respond successfully. It is therefore justifiably called the concept of state security. In the real socialist countries, state security meant the state of protection of the state from political crime, as well as the security of the (socialist, communist) regime. Therefore, national or state security was in principle divided into so-called external (security from armed aggression) and internal (security of the regime and the state from the internal enemy). The primary bearers of the fight against all occurrences of security threats, as well as the functioning of the security function of the state, are the institutions, organizations and security services. The intelligence and security services as an integral part of the security and intelligence system work to detect, prevent and suppress any occurrence of security threats to a particular country or social union. Through the establishment and organization of a security system or security-intelligence system, the state strives to achieve its vital interests, to preserve its sovereignty, territorial integrity, constitutional order and the freedoms and rights of its citizens, in order to achieve the strategic goals of the state - membership in NATO and the European Union, which will bring even greater regional and continental security and stability. The focus of the modern concept of national security is the security of the state, society and the individual. Our country must strive for internal reforms, in terms of restoring the criteria of the rule of law, freedom of the media, control over the executive branch, which have long been considered unfulfilled.
COOPERATION BETWEEN LOCAL AUTHORITIES AND RELIGIOUS ACTORS AS A KEY FACTOR IN PREVENTING CONFLICT. THE CASE OF HINDU AND SIKH COMMUNITIES IN THE ITALIAN CITIES OF NOVELLARA AND REGGIO EMILIA
Religious actors are often called to take an active part in initiatives promoted by European Institutions because of their potential to prevent conflict and ease social tensions that can arise among people of different religions. Member States are called to support a sustained, open and transparent dialogue with the different religions communities as a tool for peacekeeping and promoting social cohesion in Europe and at its borders. The role of local authorities is crucial in this process; virtuous cases are the Italian municipalities of Novellara and Reggio Emilia, whose abilities to value the presence of Sikh and Hindu communities in their territories led to the publication of a Handbook for Local Authorities, titled “Valuing religious communities as key actors of social cohesion”, with the patronage of the Council of Europe: an example of how local best practices can influence European principles from the bottom up. The paper aims to explore in detail the different ways in which these religious actors and local governments collaborate and cooperate: the enhancement of places of worship, the promotion of interfaith dialogue and the shared participation in religious festivities. These are policy strategies aimed towards a collective education for plural and inclusive citizenship.
Авторско право(c) 2023 Bernadette Fraioli