1997, vol. 20, br. 1-2, str. 25-36
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Religija kao sudbina
Religion as a fate
Sažetak
Možda je na Balkanu, više nego bilo gde u Evropi, religijska pripadnost ljudi i nacija deo njihovog identiteta. Tokom istorije nacija se menjala promenom religije. Kada je Srbin pravoslavac, u datim istorijskim okolnostima, prihvatio katolicizam ili, još češće islam, on je izlazio iz srpskog etničkog korpusa. Čak i kada on sam na tome nije insistirao, njegova dotadašnja etnička grupa ga je odbacivala. Protivurečnosti koje su u sebi nosile religijske razlike, odnosno crkve i verske zajednice, postajale su sastavni deo života i jedinki i nacija. Kao što je religija bila osnov za razlike, tako je bila i osnov za razumevanje, saradnju, razvijanje solidarnosti i prijateljstva. Religija, odnosno istorijske crkve su na ovim prostorima često bile osnovna integrativna forma na kojoj se u srednjem veku gradila i opstajala država. Crkve su starije od današnjih država i u njih su unosile sve ono pozitivno i negativno što je bilo rezultat njihovog istorijskog iskustva. Naravno, to se nije sprovodilo dekretima ili zakonskim propisima, čega je bilo u raznim formama, već prvenstveno kroz tradiciju, kulturu i svest pojedinaca i nacija, na šta je religija skoro presudno uticala, a utiče i danas. Zbog toga je sfera religijskog od izuzetnog značaja za razumevanja mnogih istorijskih tokova, zbivanja koja su se nedavno na ovim prostorima dešavala, koja se dešavaju i koja će se u neposrednoj budućnosti dešavati. Zato je možda religija, odnosno crkva, mesto gde se često presudno utiče na našu sudbinu, ne toliko molitvama Bogu, koliko podsticanjem netolerancije prema drugima, ili razvijanjem ljubavi, razumevanja i prihvatanja razlika među ljudima.
Abstract
It may be assumed that on the Balkans, maybe more than anywhere else in Europe, people's religious affiliation and ethnicity are a constituent part of their identity. Historically speaking, for instance, the nation was changed once the religion was changed. Thus, for instance, when an Orthodox Serbian, in given historical circumstances, accepted Catholicism or, more often, Islam, he actually left the Serbian ethnic group. Even when he himself did not insist on that, his former ethnic group rejected him. The controversies which comprised religious differences, that is, the churches and religious communities, became a constituent part of the lives of individuals and nations. As religion was the basis for differences, so it was also the basis for understanding, collaboration, development of solidarity and friendship. Religion, that is, historical churches on this territory, was often the basic integrative form upon which the state was built and sustained in the Middle Ages. The churches are older than the present states and they brought into them whatever was positive or negative in their historical experience. Surely, this was not done by decrees or legal regulations (though they were abundant in many forms), but primarily by means of tradition, culture and consciousness of individuals and nations. This process was - and still is - crucially affected by religion. Therefore, the religious sphere is of exceptional importance for understanding many historical currents, namely, the events that took place - and are taking place or will take place - on this territory in the near future. That is why religion or the church is the place which often crucially affects our fate not only by prayers to God but by promoting intolerance to other people as well as by stimulating love, understanding and acceptance of differences between people.
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