Floating territories of Religion(s): shifting paradigms, erratic theories, and volatile realities?

Author(s): Lionel Obadia / Language(s): English Issue: 18/2015

This paper attempts to outline the issue of “territory”, and other related conceptual categories such as “space”, in religious studies. Based on recent as well as older publications, it critically addresses current debates on the ambiguous status of “territory”. In such discussions, the world is generally described in terms of cultural and religious flows, subjected to deterritorialization processes. However, relocating “space” and “territory” to the forefront of Social Sciences and Religious Studies is urgent, as evidenced empirically and theoretically: it appears that opposing the shifting paradigms of “deterritorialization” on the one hand, and “spatial turn” on the other, stems from epistemological inaccuracies, rather than from a solid ground of empirically-observed religious realities. Hence, this paper offers a series of critical rejoinders to the opposed paradigms of “deterritorialization” and “spatial turn” in religious studies.

Church Jurisdictional Fragmentation, Religious Discourse and Public Policy: The Greek Case

Author(s): Konstantinos Papastathis / Language(s): English Issue: 18/2015

The paper aims at exploring the question whether the Greek State has exploited the jurisdictional fragmentation of the Orthodox Church in order to promote its secular agenda. The paper argues that the so-called ‘identity card crisis’ (2000) might be a case highlighting this point. To this end, the paper critically examines the discourse of senior church officials with respect to this public policy issue. Special emphasis is also put on the relations between Church and State, as well as the causes and effects of their systemic alliance within a growing secular and multi-cultural society.

Cities of Refuge: Harassing Nation-States’ Legal Systems for a More Inclusive Religious Stance

Author(s): Calvyn C. du Toit / Language(s): English Issue: 18/2015

On 2 September 2004, at the start of the new school year in France, a law was enacted banning all religious symbols and garb in public schools. The media interpreted this law as focused on the khimar (headscarves) that Muslim girls wear as part of hijab (modesty). On 14 September 2010, a ban on covering one's face in public followed. Such legal action, limiting religious freedom, is gaining traction among European nation-states partly due to their inability to deal with religious diversity in a constructive way, partly fuelled by a fear of religious extremism. According to the developing study of complexity theory in philosophy, however, dealing with religious diversity in such a way will only lead to a larger rift between nation-states and religious extremists; decreasing the meaningfulness and limiting the resilience of societies. This paper, attempts to track ways around such limiting legal moves by revisiting Derrida’s 1996 speech at the International Parliament of Writers published as On Cosmopolitanism. Employing an idea from Derrida’s address and supplementing it with one from Žižek, I will show how cities might become spaces that challenge austere and protective legal measures, enacted against religions, by European nation-states.

Sessa czyli przestrzeń dla mniejszości religijnych

Author(s): Wolfgang Wieshaider / Language(s): Polish Issue: 18/2015

This article analyses to discuss the judgement of the European Court of Human Rights in Francesco Sessa v. Italy. Referring to other decisions of the Strasbourg authorities, and also to the judgement of the European Court of Justice in Vivien Prais v Council of the European Communities, the author concludes that in this case the judges of the European Court of Human Rights human failed to properly balance the interests of the parties involved.

Utworzenie oraz rejestracja związku wyznaniowego jako przejawy wolności religijnej

Author(s): Artur Mezglewski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 18/2015

In this publication the author makes the following arguments. As the registration of a religious association in Polish law is a form of its legalisation by becoming a legal entity, that process broadens the influence of a religious association in the religious sphere, thereby broadening religious freedom. The registration of a religious association made on the basis of an application for registration filled by “supporters” of a religious community (it happens more than often in Polish registration offices) is not a manifestation of religious freedom. Registration of a religious association must be undertaken at the request of the religious organization itself or at the request of members of this community. Only such a procedure could be a sign of guarantee of religious freedom.

Zakaz dyskryminacji ze względu na wyznanie lub światopogląd w prawie polskim

Author(s): Paweł Borecki / Language(s): Polish Issue: 18/2015

In the contemporary Polish law, there are two opposing trends already visible in the Constitution of 1997. Clear is to strive to eliminate discrimination based on belief in religious matters in all areas of the unit, with the exception-pretty private life. Guarantees are both of a general nature and detail, especially in the wider field of employment. At the same time clearly the phenomenon of discrimination in the field of legal protection and in the field of freedom to manifest one's beliefs in religious matters irreligious people professing belief. The phenomenon of discrimination (unequal treatment) because of religion there is so-that between followers of different religious communities in Poland. It is connected closely with the diversity of the legal status of religious organizations. It should be noted that the optimum position of the legal and factual followers have the largest and oldest Christian Regarding the Church-hunt, which received individual statutory regulation in 1989-1997.Poland, to better prevent unequal treatment on grounds of religion or believe should sign and ratify Protocol No. 12 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

Prawo Kościoła Anglii jako część systemu prawa Anglii

Author(s): Michał Rynkowski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 18/2015

The aim of this article is to demonstrate that the law of the Church of England constitutes a part of the English legal system. This thesis is confirmed by the way this law is adopted, by the commentaries and by the jurisprudence of the English courts, and even of the European Court of Human Rights. The most characteristic legal act, the measure, is presented in terms of the legislative process and the scope of application, on the examples given.

Prawo rodziców do wychowania dziecka zgodnie z własnymi przekonaniami w świetle Konstytucji Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 2 kwietnia 1997 r.

Author(s): Michał Ożóg / Language(s): Polish Issue: 18/2015

The objective of this article is to present the constitutional right of parents to bring up their children in line with their personal convictions, with reference to the child’s right to freedom of conscience and religion. At the beginning of the argument, the author describes the legal status of both parents and children throughout the process of upbringing, with special regard to the Polish Constitution and Poland’s Declarations and Reservations to the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child. He points out that the parental rights are correlated with the obligation to respect the autonomy of the child. The Constitution of the Republic of Poland and the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child constitute the framework for evaluation of selected Polish laws regulating matters related to the question of upbringing. The author presents also general rules governing the public authorities’ engagement in the relationships between children and their parents. A separate section of the discussion is devoted to the issue of religious upbringing of the child, within the system of education. As the argument continues, the author draws basic conclusions regarding legal ties between parents and their children according to the Polish law. He appreciates the trend, observable in the Polish legislation, towards strengthening the child’s position by providing them with the right to self-determination and opportunity to co-decide in the matters concerning their situation. However, the author suggests that the child’s autonomy should not be unlimited, and needs to be restricted by the right of parents to raise their child in agreement with their personal convictions.

Stanowisko Świadków Jehowy wobec wybranych współczesnych procedur medycznych w świetle prawa polskiego

Author(s): Katarzyna Krzysztofek-Strzała / Language(s): Polish Issue: 18/2015

Nowadays, Jehovah's Witnesses in Poland are religious association registered under number 34 in the Register of churches and other religious organizations conducted by the Minister of the Interior and Administration. The doctrine of the Jehovah's Witnesses religious association, based on the literal interpretation of the words of Scripture, commits the members of this religious group to keep a number of orders and prohibitions. Some of them refer to issues related to the use of medical services. Today's rules forced the Jehovah’s Witnesses not to take transfusion of whole blood. The decision to undergo to procedure of transplantation organ or bone marrow and vaccination has been left to the conscience of every Jehovah's Witness, but the consent to such treatment may not result in exclusion from the Organization of Jehovah's Witnesses. Because of this, appears the question of the attitude which should adopt both the patient - Jehovah's Witness, and the doctor - Jehovah's Witness in relation to these medical procedures.

Przedszkola i ochronki zakonne w świetle polskiego prawa oświatowego w latach 1945-61

Author(s): Joanna Wiśniewska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 18/2015

Polish communist authorities of the People's Republic sought to secularization of education system, starting from the lowest level of education, namely kindergartens. As part of the anti-Church state religious policy, kindergartens run by female religious congregations were gradually eliminated in the first two postwar decades. Restricting independent of the ruling ideology entities that had been contributing up to that moment to preschool education institutions, resulted, in an undemocratic, totalitarian political system, in the monopoly of the state on organizing, conducting and supervising the institutions of preschool education, which would encourage more effective indoctrination of pupils. The education law became one of the instruments to implement the objective. Although until 1961 a pre-war educational Act of 1932 officially was still in force, in practice since the forties the state began to move religious congregations away from responsibility of raising a child of a preschool age. This phenomenon was not stopped by protests of superiors from religious congregation and hierarchy of the Church who claimed that the Polish government ratified international convention against discrimination in education, according to which, apart from state-run kindergartens there could also be “other” non-state educational institutions. Despite the absence of legal obstacles, religious congregations could not revive the business of conducting pre-school education.

Opinia prawna w sprawie braku możliwości odpowiedzialności za naruszenie dóbr osobistych za treść ogólnych ocen zawartych w kazaniach

Author(s): Michał Chajda,Michał Skwarzyński / Language(s): Polish Issue: 18/2015

Opinion law concerns the problem of the possibility of legal liability - liability for infringement of personal rights - to be general speech, contained in a sermon, delivered by a priest. The opinion refers to the content of the sermon of Archbishop Jozef Michalik delivered on 16th October 2013 in Wrocław Cathedral during the liturgy of the Mass. The sermon has become the basis for civil law claims for apparent infringement of personal rights. Opinion showed that in the present case there is no reason to implement liability for the infringement of personal rights. It also indicated that suing the Archbishop of and the course of the case violated the human right to freedom of speech and human right to freedom of conscience and religion.

Opinia prawna w sprawie statusu prawnego Instytutu Filozoficzno-Teologicznego im. E. Stein w Zielonej Górze po zawarciu przez uczelnię umowy o współpracy z Papieskim Wydziałem Teologicznym we Wrocławiu z 14 V 2013 r. w sprawie prowadzenia studiów...

Author(s): Artur Mezglewski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 18/2015

The opinion refers to situations of one of the theological institutes run by the Catholic Church in Poland. The situation of the institute changed after the entry into force of the amendment to the Law on Higher Education made in 2011. According to the new law state universities cannot have local branches (including theological institutes). In turn, church authorities have a problem with the affiliation of theological institute to the Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Wroclaw because their decisions must be interpreted in the light of existing agreements the state – the church.

Odnos vojske Kraljevine SHS/Jugoslavije do Slovencev

Author(s): Marko Zajc / Language(s): Slovenian Issue: 1/2015

The attitude of the Army towards Slovenians in the time of the Kingdom of SHS or Yugoslavia is a topic involving several methodological as well as other research problems that historians have to address. The title is multi-layered. This may not be obvious at the first sight, but it is nevertheless of fundamental importance for the researcher. Several questions emerge: are we referring to the attitude of the Army towards Slovenians as a nation or the Slovenian culture; or its attitude towards individuals - Slovenian soldiers and officers or Slovenian civilians; or maybe its attitude towards the Slovenian territory? It is also important »who«, on the side of the Army, has an attitude towards Slovenians: the supreme command, general, officers, soldiers, etc. What is the professional attitude of the Army members and what is their private or even intimate attitude? Naturally, the Army’s attitude towards Slovenians is closely connected with the Slovenian attitude towards the Army, and it is impossible to draw a precise line between them. The contribution focuses on the issue of the Slovenian territory in the military plans; on the question of the attitude of the Army of the Kingdom of SHS/Yugoslavia to Slovenian soldiers and officers; on the significance of Slovenia/Slovenians in the ideological constructs of the Army; and on the life of officers in the Slovenian part of the country.

"Smo mel cel popoldan fraj - da ti to kot delavcu vzamejo ..."

Author(s): Polona Sitar / Language(s): Slovenian Issue: 1/2015

In her contribution the author focuses on understanding the interconnection of work and leisure time in the period of the socialist Slovenia/Yugoslavia (1945-1991). She is interested in the meaning that women ascribed to their leisure time (understood as a reward for the workers during socialism) in comparison with gainful employment. She also pays special attention to the issue of how women experienced their leisure time in comparison with unpaid housekeeping and through the perspective of the so-called »double burden« in socialism, and how they experience it today, in the context of the capitalist market economy. The contribution is based on the fieldwork analysis, focused on the interviews with retired women, revealing their everyday life on the micro level. The goal of the »oral history« approach, used in the contribution, is not to reconstruct the socialist past and record it chronologically, but to present the perspective based on the women’s experience and their everyday practices, contributing an additional perspective to the existing official political and economic history descriptions.

Metodološki izzivi uporabe ustnih virov pri preučevanju vsakdanjega življenja v socializmu

Author(s): Jelka Piškurić / Language(s): Slovenian Issue: 1/2015

In the following contribution the author focuses on the methodological questions she dealt with during the recording and analysis of testimonies for the purpose of researching everyday life in socialism. The first part of the contribution is dedicated to questions related to the selection of the research method and the recording of testimonies. The author describes her fieldwork experience, the way of relating to the witnesses, and how different factors impacted the dynamics of the testimonies. In the second part of the contribution she focuses on the issues involved in the content analysis and wonders about the actual image of the past based on testimonies. It is evident that memories and deliberations on the past reflect individual experiences and simultaneously also strongly depend on the momentary involvement of witnesses in the environment and space. The collected testimonies reveal to what degree these narrations were impacted by the original environment of the witnesses, historical experience of their families, the period of the economic crisis and social discontent during which the recordings were made, or integration into the wider social context where different public discourses play an important role as well. The diverse outlooks on the past formed under the influence of these factors represent important material for understanding the social processes in socialism and post-socialism. However, a scientific analysis of these outlooks is required.

'Peace in Security' and the 'Bridge Border'

Author(s): Diego D'Amelio / Language(s): Slovenian Issue: 1/2015

The essay presents several ideas regarding the management of the ‘Adriatic Question’ in the period following World War II. It focuses particular attention to the strategies of the political centreleft, of ‘Moroteism’, and of ‘border Catholicism’ aimed at overcoming the legacy of the conflict and achieving normalisation of Italo-Yugoslav relations after the return of Trieste to Italy in 1954. The analysis reconstructs the conciliatory path of two bordering states, formerly divided by fierce national, political, and ideological rivalry. Drawing a parallel between the choices made centrally and those made locally, the work furthermore examines the connection between Aldo Moro’s ‘Ostpolitik’ and the line taken by Trieste’s Christian Democrats, both of which sought to put an end to controversy on the eastern border - following the so-called ‘defence of Italianness’ (1945-1954) - in a situation characterised by a lowering of tensions between the blocs, by the reorganisation of international Communism, and by the multilateralism of the Helsinki Conference. The aim of the paper is therefore to shed light on how and with what consequences Moro’s ‘Peace in Security’ and the ‘Bridge Border’ strategy - the leading principles of the Julian Christian Democrats throughout the 1960s and 1970s - established on the one hand a relationship of collaboration with Tito’s Yugoslavia (culminating in the Treaty of Osimo in 1975) and on the other designed a new political, economic, and national function for the peripheral region of Venezia Giulia, whose sovereignty had long been contested and which had been severely penalised in the aftermath of the Second World War.

Med kontinuiteto in diskontinuiteto

Author(s): Vladimir Prebilič,Dunja Dobaja / Language(s): Slovenian Issue: 1/2015

The article focuses on the issue of the establishment of a new military formation - a special brigade, indicating that the military preparations of what was at the time still not an independent and sovereign Republic of Slovenia were in fact underway. The confiscation of Territorial Defence weapons, taking place in May 1990, as well as other activities in the military field implied that an armed conflict was probably imminent. In these circumstances it became clear that it was important to preserve the continuity of the state leadership, which was a precondition for the organisation of the defence efforts of the nation. Hence the requirement and decision to organise special units with special tasks, including the protection of the political leadership. Due to time constraints, a mobilisation of officers, instructors and soldiers themselves for the basic training followed. Before that moment many of these had been members of the Security Brigade. The reason was that this unit was the best in the structure of the Territorial Defence of the Republic of Slovenia, and it had the best weapons at its disposal. In many aspects this very fact facilitated or even enabled the formal establishment of the new military formation - the 30th Development Group, which managed to successfully, effectively and highly professionally carry out all of its special tasks in the time before and during the armed conflicts in the Republic of Slovenia. After the war the unit was transformed and received a more recognisable name: the MORiS Brigade.

Gornja Radgona - slovenski Vukovar

Author(s): Rok Filipčič / Language(s): Slovenian Issue: 1/2015

The following contribution discusses the wartime events in Gornja Radgona in the early summer of 1991, belonging to the framework of securing the plebiscitary decision of the Slovenian nation of December 1990. The emphasis lies especially on the operations of the Territorial Defence and Yugoslav People’s Army, while certain activities of what was then the Slovenian militia are also mentioned. The contribution also briefly outlines the events leading to the military conflict in the Slovenian territory. The article is mostly based on testimonies collected by the competent bodies in charge of the judicial proceedings against the Yugoslav People‘s Army officer operating in the area of Gornja Radgona. As stated by one of the witnesses in the proceedings, a Territorial Defence officer, many orders were passed down the chain of command orally, therefore the aforementioned testimonies are all the more important. unfortunately, people‘s memories fade with years. Furthermore, every individual sees the events he takes part in from his own viewpoint, which is why the testimonies also contain certain differences. Deviations in the testimonies, more relevant for this article, are mentioned in the text or in the footnotes. The author of the contribution does not attempt to answer the question whether war crimes have been committed in Gornja Radgona or not.

Fotografinja Julijana Šelhaus (1892-1975

Author(s): Dejan Vončina / Language(s): Slovenian Issue: 1/2015

Julijana Šelhaus was recognised especially as a successful studio and underground photographer. She also excelled in blackandwhite and colour retouching. Few female photographers attained success with persistence and enterprise while taking care of their family as well, but in Škofja Loka Julijana Šelhause managed to do precisely that: assert herself as an independent photographer with her own studio. Her husband Janko and younger son Edi were also involved in photography. She was a very patriotic and brave woman who collaborated with the Liberation Front regardless of the consequences. She produced duplicates from the negatives of German soldiers, policemen and even Gestapo, revealing the cruelties of the German occupation army in the Gorenjska region. Hence she succeeded in preserving the photographic material about the brutal reprisals of the German occupiers, which is extremely important for the contemporary Slovenian history.

Nekaj dopolnil k prispevku dr. Aleša Gabriča o slovenščini in JLA

Author(s): Savin Jogan / Language(s): Slovenian Issue: 1/2015