Desekularizovanje javnog prostora i verska nastava u Republici Srbiji
Desecularization of public spaces and religious instruction in the Republic of Serbia

Author(s): Darko Simović
Subject(s): Education, Public Law, Theology and Religion, State/Government and Education
Published by: Fondacija Centar za javno pravo
Keywords: Public law; education; religious education; Republic of Serbia; desecularization;
Summary/Abstract: Serbia has no clearly defined model of secularism. The search for a lasting model of secularity is a consequence of a half-century long practice of aggressive atheism in the period of communism which ceased the natural process of evolution of the relations between the state and church. Although the 2006 Constitution of the Republic of Serbia had explicitly proclaimed the principle of secularism, the existing practice, as well as the standpoint of the Constitutional Court is that Serbia should accept the model of cooperative separation instead of clear and rigid separation of the state and church. At the same time, in effect is a strong process of descularization of the public space. Desecularization of the public space in a multi-confessional and multi-ethnic society bears a certain risk of an increase in stigmatizing and discriminatory practices, violence and intolerance. In that context, the introduction of religious instruction of a denominational type in Serbia should also be taken into consideration. The introduction of religious instruction in a transitional state, in which the national identity is being built on the dominant religious affiliation, is an additional factor in the disintegration of the unstable multi-confessional society.

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