THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH During Times of War 1980-2000 and the Wars Within it

THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH During Times of War 1980-2000 and the Wars Within it

Author: Milorad Tomanic

Publisher:

Published: 2021-01-21

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13:

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During the 1980s, two attitudes crystallized in Serbia, which read as follows: 1) Serbs and Croats can no longer live together in Croatia, as well as Serbs and Muslims in Bosnia, and 2) the solution to this problem is the unification of all Serbian countries (those parts of Yugoslavia where Serbs are the majority of the population). The creators of this solution were primarily prominent members of two institutions: the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU) and the Serbian Writers' Association (UKS). Later, it was accepted with open arms by the bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church who were its most determined and persistent representatives. Already in the early 90s, two Serbian entities were created outside Serbia: Serb Republic of Krajina (in Croatia) and Republika Srpska (in Bosnia and Herzegovina). All that was needed was to merge them with the motherland of the Serbian people. And thus, the ultimate goal would be achieved. But it turned out that the realization of such a project required capable individuals: politicians, spiritual leaders and military leaders. And, of course, people who are firm in the belief that their fight is just and justified. Instead, Serbs had at their disposal communists once loyal to Tito's regime, "elite intellectuals" who wisely kept silent during Tito's life, and a large number of zealous bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, some of whom were willing to sacrifice thousands of people to achieve certain political goals. These goals were thought to be achievable with military leaders ready to completely destroy a city like Vukovar, hold a city like Sarajevo under siege for more than a thousand days, and shoot thousands of (war) prisoners in an organized manner, as was done in Srebrenica. Or, with convicted criminals at the head of paramilitary formations whose members expressed their patriotic feelings through robbery, rape and killing. At the same time, the bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church left their dioceses and bishops' courts, leaving Orthodox believers without spiritual help and holy communion. They hung out and took photos with those who mercilessly shot thousands of unarmed or disarmed people. They baptized and blessed paramilitary formations that committed numerous war crimes. And they demanded continuing of the war, regardless of the number of those who will suffer. According to the author of this book, the above facts contain the answer to the question why the Serbian people, at the very end of the second millennium since the birth of Jesus Christ, experienced one of the greatest defeats and humiliations in its entire history.


Religious Separation and Political Intolerance in Bosnia-Herzegovina

Religious Separation and Political Intolerance in Bosnia-Herzegovina

Author: Mitja Velikonja

Publisher: Texas A&M University Press

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 386

ISBN-13: 1603447245

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Mitja Velikonja has written a comprehensive survey that examines how religion has interacted with other aspects of Bosnia-Herzegovina's history. Velikonja sees the former Ottoman borderland as a distinct cultural and religious entity where three major faiths -- Islam, Catholicism, and Orthodoxy -- managed to coexist in relative peace. It is only during the past century that competing nationalisms have led to persecution, ethnic cleansing, and mass murder. Emphasizing the importance of religion to nationalism as a symbol of collective identity that strengthens national identity, Velikonja notes that religious groups have a tendency to become isolated from one another. He believes Bosnia-Herzegovina was unique in its sarlikost, or diversity, because while religion defined ethnic communities there and kept them separate, it did not create a culture of intolerance. Rather than suppressing one another, the region's ethno-religious groups learned to cooperate and mediate their differences -- useful behavior in an area that served as buffer between East and West for most of its history. Velikonja believes that Bosnians went beyond tolerance to embrace synthetic, eclectic religious norms, with each religious group often borrowing customs and rituals from its rivals. Rather than the extreme orthodoxy evident elsewhere in Europe, Bosnia became the home of heterodoxy. Sadly, nationalism changed all that, and the area became the scene of systematic persecution, forced conversion, and mass slaughter. Velikonja considers the misfortunes suffered by the Bosnians during the 1990s as largely the result of actions by their neighbors and local militants and inaction by the international community.But he also sees the tragedy that unfolded as the result of the exploitation of ethno-religious differences and myths by Serbian chauvinists and Croatian nationalists. Despite the tragedy that overwhelmed Bosnia-Herzegovina


An Orthodox Festival Book in the Habsburg Empire

An Orthodox Festival Book in the Habsburg Empire

Author: Jelena Todorovic

Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 9780754656111

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A transcription and translation of Zaharje Orfelin's 1757 festival book, Festive Greeting to Mojsej Putnik forms for the core of this study. It is one of the most comprehensive accounts of the festival life of the Orthodox hierarchy in the Habsburg lands.


Orthodox Christianity and the Politics of Transition

Orthodox Christianity and the Politics of Transition

Author: Tornike Metreveli

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2022-05

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13: 9780367644840

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This book discusses in detail how Orthodox Christianity was involved in and influenced political transition in Ukraine, Serbia, and Georgia after the collapse of communism. Based on original research, including extensive interviews with clergy and parishioners as well as historical, legal, and policy analysis, the book argues that the nature of the involvement of churches in post-communist politics depended on whether the interests of the church (for example, in education, the legal system or economic activity) were accommodated or threatened: if accommodated, churches confined themselves to the sacred domain; if threatened, they engaged in daily politics. If churches competed with each other for organizational interests, they evoked the support of nationalism while remaining within the religious domain.


The Russian Orthodox Church and Modernity

The Russian Orthodox Church and Modernity

Author: Regina Elsner

Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand

Published: 2021-10-20

Total Pages: 390

ISBN-13: 3838215680

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The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) faced various iterations of modernization throughout its history. This conflicted encounter continues in the ROC’s current resistance against—what it perceives as—Western modernity including liberal and secular values. This study examines the historical development of the ROC’s arguments against—and sometimes preferences for—modernization and analyzes which positions ended up influencing the official doctrine. The book’s systematic analysis of dogmatic treatises shows the ROC’s considerable ability of constructive engagement with various aspects of the modern world. Balancing between theological traditions of unity and plurality, the ROC’s today context of operating within an authoritarian state appears to tip the scale in favor of unity.


Holy Bible (NIV)

Holy Bible (NIV)

Author: Various Authors,

Publisher: Zondervan

Published: 2008-09-02

Total Pages: 6793

ISBN-13: 0310294142

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The NIV is the world's best-selling modern translation, with over 150 million copies in print since its first full publication in 1978. This highly accurate and smooth-reading version of the Bible in modern English has the largest library of printed and electronic support material of any modern translation.