RELIGION IN DEBATES ABOUT THE EUROPEAN IDENTITY

Abstract

A short reflection on the books and publications in which I have already written about religious identities in Europe is presented in the introduction. A situation with religious identities varies from one society to another, from one continent to the other. There are three types of religious identity that dominate in Europe (church, churchless and “distanced“). Have religious identities or their “folklore” aspect become stronger in Bosnia and Herzegovina since the 1990s? Then I come back to the very term and type of identity (acquired, chosen etc.) and their basic sociological characteristics. The importance of self-identification and others’ perception of our identity is discussed. Considering the multiplicity of human identities, there will be elaboration of the place of religion among multiple identities. In what social conditions does religious identity gain significance? What is the correlation between religious identity and family, national and professional identities? What happens if the religious identity is rejected? There will be some elaboration also of the place and the role of religious symbols in identities. What kind of social "game" can these symbols play? The examples of conflicts over religious symbols are provided. In particular, migrations and the religious identity of Europe will be discussed. Migrations lead to establishing more regular contacts between different religious identities. Who does not understand whom: is it that the domicile population does not understand migrants or vice versa? Is the migrants' arrival experienced more as an encounter of different religious cultures than as an encounter of different religious identities? Is the relation of those with the Christian and those with the Muslim identity in fact the central issue in all this matter? Approaching migrants as a "threat" to the "Christian European identity". Who is bothered by the plurality of religious identities in Europe? Above all, conservative consciousness, then right-wing politics growing stronger in Europe and inciting hatred towards the non-Christian, especially towards the Muslim identity. The inability of the left-wing to develop a different, more tolerant model towards migrants. Does this mean that the position of the minority in Europe will become more difficult? Something about the sacrilege and the ways in which it is demonstrated in Europe and in our region. The religious identity in the creeps of criticism and art. How far does the freedom of artistic provocations go? The conclusion will be about whether religious identities lead to their separation from others. How to talk about religious identity of "the other" from the standpoint of a personal worldview and religious identity in a society with multiple religious identities? Are we confident that identity problems will not cause further conflicts and instability in European societies?

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