Supporting Ideologies |
Orthodox Nationalism
The entanglement of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the
Kosovo conflict can be understood with reference not only to Serb history but
also to the larger context of eastern Orthodox Christianity, which sees
religion and politics as inseparable.
Within the eastern churches, faith remains closely tied to national identity. In contrast to Catholics, who all submit to the authority of the Pope in Rome, and Protestants, who submit to local authorities within their denomination, the Orthodox are loyal to national churches that compete with the churches of neighboring countries. Each claims supremacy for its own national organization, while other Orthodox are seen as splinter groups that have betrayed the true church.
An example of this antagonism was seen in 2000, when the Montenegro Orthodox Church separated from the Serbian Orthodox Church, with leaders from each church claiming that the other was illegitimate:
"The politics of the Serbian Orthodox Church is no different than the aggressive and arrogant politics of the Serbian state that we have seen in the past few years," said the leader of the Montenegrin church, Metropolitan Mihailo, defending his church's decision to secede from the Serbian patriarchate....
For [the Serbian Orthodox], the Montenegrin Orthodox Church represents nothing less than heresy. "They are a sect. They're Judas," said Father Danilo, his hands tightly clenching his rosary beads. "As we all know, there are only two ways to go: to hell or to paradise. They all will be going to hell."[1]
According to a news analysis in the Los Angeles Times, this amalgamation of faith and nation means that the Serbian identity is peculiarly fragile:
More than anywhere else in Europe, religion and nationality merge in the Balkans, making it possible to create potent propaganda and a unique mytho-history that can be used to inspire hatred of "the other."...
"In the Balkans, religious identification became part of national identity, as expressed through language and the communication of the national myth," said Peter Black, a senior historian at the United States Holocaust Museum." Thus, being Orthodox is part of being Serbian. Americans don't have a single religion--being Catholic or Orthodox or Muslim isn't part of our American identity."
Read the entire Los Angeles Times article, "Crisis in Yugoslavia; Religious Identity at the Heart of Balkan War" (Yale access only).
PHOTO CREDIT: Decani Monastery
[1] Steve Nettleton, "One Faith, Two Churches: Religion Splits Again in Yugoslavia," CNN Balkans Notebook, January 27, 2000. Accessed at http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/kosovo/notebook/0127/