Međureligijska kultura i odnosi u Bosni i Hercegovini
Inter-religious Culture and Relations in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Summary/Abstract: Bosnia and Herzegovina is a meeting place of cultures, civilisations, and peoples whose existence is derived from their religions and largely shaped by them. For this reason, Bosnia and Herzegovina is a meeting place of religions. Relations between religions are reflected in all aspects of social life in Bosnia and Herzegovina. If Hans Kung’s maxim that there is no peace between peoples without peace between religions is true of anywhere, then it is certainly true of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Social responsibility requires us to consider this fundamental religious dimension of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to develop a proper understanding of it, and to treat it seriously and responsibly. Any assessment of interreligious dialogue under circumstances in Bosnia and Herzegovina must, however, be based on imperatives for dialogue resulting from both contemporary standards for interreligious relations in the world and particular needs in the country. Huntington’s pessimistic perspective regarding the Clash of Civilisations hangs over humanity like a sword of Damocles and has produced some not entirely groundless concerns. The 1991 to 1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina was, after all, in essence a war between Christianity and Islam. Even if there was fighting between the Serbs and Croats, they nonetheless managed, for the most part, to coordinate the war against the Muslims. Thanks to its position at the gates of Europe, all the controversies of the entire Islamic world have found their dumping ground in Bosnian Islam, where they come up against a similar convergence of the controversies of Christian civilisation. If this complex accumulation of relationships is left to the vagaries of chance, then Bosnia and Herzegovina will increasingly be abandoned to a chaos in which she faces even greater systematic pressure from dark fascistic nationalist ideologies. On the other hand, given enough positive pressure and by being brought into sync with global trends in dialogue and interreligious understanding, Bosnia and Herzegovina has the potential to play an important role on the global stage and be a new Jerusalem, inspiring, catalysing, and shaping contemporary trends.

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