NATIONAL AND RELIGIOUS IDENTITY IN R. MACEDONIA IN GLOBAL AGE
NATIONAL AND RELIGIOUS IDENTITY IN R. MACEDONIA IN GLOBAL AGE

Summary/Abstract: There are more mechanisms through which persons are trying to find and keep their identity. Certainly religion and nation are two powerful forms for belonging and identifying. These are most significant in their effort to complete integration in the Macedonian social system. From a historical point of view the attempt of the Macedonian people for national state is often connected with the struggle for religious independence. In the past, Orthodox religion had the primary function in preserving the national identity. The crucial characteristic of modern time is the following rather paradox act. After the fall of communism, when religion came back in everyday life and social life, sociological analysts expected, that Macedonian citizens would find themselves as subjects of their own faith. But the opposite had happened. Necessity for belonging and identifying with the nation appeared to be much stronger than the religious identification and participation. After its independence, the Macedonian state and the Macedonian Orthodox Church were and still are being negated of their belonging by outside political influences. This sociological analysis is an attempt to review social reasons and consequences for contemporary social conditions viewed through a prism of national and religious identification.

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