Religious dialogue and cooperation

WESTERN BALKANS THROUGH THE PRISM OF STEREOTYPES, PREJUDICE, AND RELIGION: LESSONS FROM NORTH MACEDONIA, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, AND KOSOVO

Sanja Angelovska — 2024-12-16

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.

RELIGION IN RELATION TO GLOBALIZATION PROCESSES

Ivana Gegoska — 2024-12-16

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.

THE RELIGION ON THE SOCIAL MEDIA

Ivanna Hadjievska — 2024-12-16

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.

THE ART OF CONNECTING CULTURES: HOW MUSIC CAN NURTURE MUTUAL RESPECT

Maite Hes — 2024-12-16

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.

THE SACRED, SACRILEGE, AND SYMBOLIC BOUNDATIES IN POSTSECULAR, POSTSOCIALIST SERBIA

Danica Igrutinović — 2024-12-16

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).

THE ART OF CONNECTING CULTURES

Gerard Kester — 2024-12-16

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.

AUTHORITIES IN RELIGIOUS CONFLICTS AND CONTROVERSIES: FROM PROBLEMS TO SOLUTIONS

Aini Linjakumpu — 2024-12-16

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.

THE “HOUSE OF GOD”: THE ROLE OF RELIGION AND LITURGY IN THE TRANSFORMATION OF SACRED BUILDINGS

Nora Lombardini — 2024-12-16

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.

REVIEW OF THE STATUS AND POSITION OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Biljana Milošević Šošo — 2024-12-16

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.

INTERRELIGIOUS COUNCIL IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA - INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE AND MEDIA-MEDIATED REALITY

Dejana Radovanović Šarenac — 2024-12-16

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.

THE RISE OF THE BAHA’I FAITH COMMUNITY IN TUNISIA

Marta Scialdone — 2024-12-16

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.