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THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
AND THE NEW SERBIAN IDENTITY:
Study
01/31/2006 , HCHRS
At the turn of the penultimate decade of the 20th century to the last,
the world was shocked by the (out-of-court) pronouncement of the death verdict for an
artist, that is, an author by the leader of a theocratic regime, on the grounds that his
book insulted one religion or, to be more exact, Islam and all Muslims. Naturally, it is
the question of the famous Rushdie affair. According to the leader of the Iranian
revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini, the novel “Satanic Verses” by Salman Rushdie was
blasphemous and the author deserved to be sentenced to death by a fatwa. This case - which
has not been closed to this day - demonstrated in a radical way the seriousness and
complexity of the... |
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WHAT THE CHURCH CAN(NOT) BE
ASKED ABOUT - THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH, STATE AND SOCIETY IN SERBIA -
Study
01/31/2006 , HCHRS
In March 2005, Serbian President Boris Tadic stated that “even if
the Church is not a part of the state, given the political context we live in, it is
certainly a part of the society and should be asked about many vital issues relating both
to individuals and the society as a whole”. Tadic’s view that “the Church
should be asked” caused a considerable controversy and numerous reactions in public.
Some public figures, including both the former and present Minister of Religious Affairs,
agreed with him, while others (including numerous nongovernmental organizations) protested
such a statement, regarding it as another call for the clericalization of the Serbian
society... |
