A Christian Apologist tries to demonstrate that atheism is a
bad thing by referring to the French and Russian revolutions and also to the
Balkans, thereby demonstrating a very skewed and narrow view of history. The
first two examples are dealt with here and here
The example of the Balkans is interesting because it is a
classic example of conflict fuelled by religious tension. The apologist appears
to be unaware of the atrocities committed in the Balkans during World War II by
the Ustaša regime (a blend of fascism, Roman Catholicism and Croatian
nationalism) where a million Serbs, Jews, Roma, Muslims, Communists and other
non-Catholics were exterminated in an attempt to convert Croatia into a pure
Croatian and Roman Catholic independent country. Hence President Tito was seen
as the liberator of Yugoslavia from an evil regime using Christianity as its
brand.
And now, the long version...
Here’s a quote from the liberal Catholic Theologians Hans
Küng and Karl-Josef Kuschel in reference to Bosnia…
"...the peace
negotiations between the Orthodox Christian Serbs, the Catholic Croats and the
Muslim Bosnians had collapsed again. And there is no doubt that the religions
that are so involved here had neglected in the period of more than forty years
since the Second World War to engage in mourning, honestly confess the crimes
which had been committed by all sides in the course of the centuries, and ask
one another for mutual forgiveness....I think there can be no peace among the
nations without peace among the religions!"
A good case study of Balkans Religious Conflict is Kosovo, which
was a province of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The main players in its 1990s
war were the government, army and militias of Yugoslavia, NATO, and the so-called
Kosovo Liberation Army. The American Presbyterian Church described the
situation like this…
“The main victims were
the people of Kosovo who were murdered at a scale unknown in Europe since the
end of World War II. These reports have become so numerous and so consistent
that it is difficult not to give them credence...If, as it now appears,
genocide is taking place in Kosovo, it must stop...No person in Kosovo or
anywhere else should be forced to become a refugee merely because he or she
belongs to one ethnic group or one religious tradition."
…and the conflict was a religious conflict at its core:
Religious identity has been present
constantly in the antagonisms that have fragmented the Balkans for centuries -
setting neighbor against neighbor, Muslims against Orthodox Christians, and
Orthodox Christians against Western Christians.
Depending on which experts you talk to, you will hear
about two conflicts now in the Balkans. In one view, the Kosovo war has
historical and mythological roots in the long conflict between Ottoman Turks
and southern Slavs, who are Orthodox Christians.
The other war is being fought in the air by NATO troops,
who, by bombing the Serbs during the Orthodox Easter--just as the Nazis did in
1941--have played into a view held by some Serbs that NATO is a force of
Western Christianity attempting to crush the Eastern Orthodox underdog.
"It really comes down to a war between Eastern and
Western Christianity," said Father Alex Karloutsos, an Orthodox priest in
New York.
Demographics of
Religions in Kosovo
The religious alignment of the approximately 1.9 million
residents of Kosovo consists of:
Muslims: 1.6 million
Serbian Orthodox: 150,000
Roma and Ashkali: These once numbered on the order of
150,000 people. However, many have been forced out of the country. Click here
for a detailed account…
Roman Catholics: 60,000
There have been a series of conflicts in the 1990s as countries
of the former Yugoslavia (originally established as an artificial kingdom after
World War 1) fought for independence: 1990 in Slovenia; 1991 in Croatia; 1992
in Bosnia Herzegovina. These are often
described as “ethnic conflicts” but the fact is Serbs, Croats, Slovenes and
Muslims in those countries share a common Slavic ethnic origin. They view
themselves today as distinct peoples because of their different religious
heritages.
"In the Balkans,
religious identification became part of national identity, as expressed through
language and the communication of the national myth. Thus, being Orthodox is
part of being Serbian."
-
Peter Black, senior historian at the United
States Holocaust Museum
Unlike the rest of the former Yugoslavia, the Kosovo
conflict was both ethnic and religious. Before the 1990s ethnic cleansing, 90%
of the population of Kosovo were ethnic Albanians - descendants of the ancient
Illyrian tribes who had occupied the area for thousands of years and who are
now mainly Muslim.
So, the Kosovo conflict was driven by:
-
Ethnicity: between Serbs, of Slavic origin, and
ethnic Albanians who are Illyrian in origin.
-
Religion: between Serbs, who are almost entirely
Serbian Orthodox Christians, and non-Serbs, who are overwhelmingly Muslim and
Roman Catholic, plus a minority of ethnic Albanians who are Albanian Orthodox
Christians.
So the war in Kosovo is largely a religious conflict
between:
-
Serbs who overwhelmingly belong to the Serbian
Orthodox Church,
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Ethnic Albanians who are mainly Muslims, and
-
A Roman Catholic minority.
Religious composition
of the former Yugoslavia (in 1999):
Republic of Slovenia:
Population: 1.97 million;
96% Roman Catholic, 1% Muslim, 3% other.
91% Slovene; 3% Croat
Republic of Croatia:
Population: 4.67 million
77% Roman Catholic; 11% Serbian Orthodox
78% Croat,12% Serbian
Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina:
Population: 3.36 million
40% Muslim, 31% Serbian Orthodox, 15% Roman Catholic
40% Serbian, 38% Muslim,
22% Croat
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (including Kosovo, and its
refugees):
Population: 11.21 million
65% Serbian Orthodox, 19% Muslim, 4% Roman Catholic, 1%
Protestant, 11% other
63% Serbian, 14% Albanian 6% Montenegrin, 4% Hungarian, 13%
other
Kosovo:
Population: 1.89 million
81% Muslims, 10% Serbian Orthodox, 9% Roman Catholics
90% Albanians, 10% Serbs, 3% Roma (Gypsies), 1.5% Turks
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM):
Population: 2.01 million
67% Eastern Orthodox, 30% Muslim
65% Macedonian, 22% Albanian
A brief recent
history of Yugoslavia:
For hundreds of years, Yugoslavia included three faith
groups: Islam, Orthodox Christianity, and Roman Catholicism. Atrocities were committed during World War II
by the Ustaša regime (a blend of fascism, Roman Catholicism and Croatian
nationalism). Up to a million Serbs, Jews, Roma, Muslims,
Communists and other non-Catholics were exterminated by the state. The goal was
to convert Croatia into a pure Croatian and Roman Catholic independent country.
Memories of this genocide were a major cause of the recent violence.
President Tito was seen as the liberator of Yugoslavia and during
his presidency after World War II, Tito angered the Serbs by granting autonomy
to the province of Vojvodina and the southern province of Kosovo in 1974 and
Yugoslavia started to disintegrate following his death. The country lost much
of its territory and population during the 1990's as Slovenia, Croatia,
Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina achieved independence. By 1999, Yugoslavia
consisted of only four provinces: Vojvodina, Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo.
Montenegro had a large degree of independence.
A disorganised and poorly armed militia, the Kosovo
Liberation Army (KLA) emerged in 1991, to fight for independence from the
Yugoslavian government. They were considered by the Albanians in Kosovo to be
freedom fighters; the Serbs considered them to be terrorists.
The battle was not simply between the Yugoslav army and
Kosovo citizens in the KLA. Yugoslav militias were also active. Many of the KLA
fighters are from the adjacent country of Albania. Some believe that soldiers
have come from other countries as well:
According to Catholic World News, "most of the army's strength has come from abroad - primarily from
Albania, but also from Yemen and Saudi Arabia." Another source reports that some mercenaries
from Russia had joined the Serb forces.
A "contact group,"
consisting of U.S. and many European countries, brokered the Rambouillet
Peace Accord for Kosovo. It was unsatisfactory to both sides:
-
The Serbs objected to giving Kosovo autonomy,
and to allowing NATO troops to enter the province and maintain peace.
-
The ethnic Albanians in Kosovo objected to the
accord because it did not grant them full independence.
The representatives of the KLA signed the peace accord,
after considerable pressure. The government of Yugoslavia refused to sign the
agreement.
NATO bombing campaign
NATO attacked Yugoslavia with air power in an attempt to
force the Yugoslav government to accept the agreement. By early 1999 NATO’s
objective became the independence for Kosovo. Widespread assaults, ethnic
cleansing, rapes and murders of ethnic Albanian civilians by the Serbian army
and militia, which had started long before NATO bombing began, accelerated.
Hundreds of thousands were forced to flee the province to prevent being
exterminated. It became impossible for the Muslim population of Kosovo to
accept any form of future association with the Yugoslavian government. Full
independence was the only feasible ultimate option.
Following centuries of tradition in the area, the Government
of Yugoslavia proposed a cease fire to during the Eastern Orthodox Easter celebration.
A complete cessation was rejected by NATO. This decision had a profound
psychological and spiritual impact on the Serbians. "...by bombing the Serbs during the Orthodox Easter--just as the
Nazis did in 1941-- [NATO]... played into a view held by some Serbs that NATO
is a force of Western Christianity attempting to crush the Eastern Orthodox
underdog." As Father Alex Karloutsos, an Orthodox priest in New York,
said: "It really comes down to a war
between Eastern and Western Christianity."
NATO was ultimately successful in 1999 in reaching an
agreement with the Yugoslav government to:
-
Withdraw its Serb troops, militias, police and
secret police;
-
Allow a NATO-led peacekeeping force to enter
Kosovo and
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To allow the ethnic Albanians to return to their
homeland.
This seems to have induced many among the small minority of
Serbian residents in Kosovo to leave the province, out of fear for their lives.
The Serbian link with
Kosovo
There is great, largely untapped, mineral wealth in Kosovo.
But that is not the main motivation for the present conflict. Kosovo is "the crucible in which Serb nationalism
was forged in a famous battle fought more than 600 years ago...its memory has
been kept alive by Serb nationalists down the centuries." (see reference
3). Kosovo is akin to a “holy land.” Many historic Serbian Orthodox
Christian churches and monasteries are located there. Kosovo is valued by the
Serbs much as Jerusalem is by the Palestinians and Jews.
The Rev. Blastko Taraklis explains: "a Serbian Orthodox priest in Mission Viejo who keeps in close
touch with the monks and nuns at the ancient Decani monastery in Kosovo"
said "We cannot give up Kosovo, because it is the Serbian Jerusalem. The
birthright of the Serbian Orthodox Church is in Kosovo and must remain there as
part of Serbia."
Carl Raschke, a religious studies professor from the
University of Denver, commented:
"Kosovo is the
detonator for all the passions, paranoia, fears and fight-to-the-death romanticism
that has been a force in the Serb consciousness for centuries." The
Serbs looked upon the 1999 conflict over Kosovo as "a kind of final battle for their national identity...The Serbs
are likely to let the country be destroyed before they give it up."
Following the occupation of Kosovo by NATO and a small
number of Russian peacekeepers, popular opposition to the Milosevic regime in
Serbia became organised and the CIA became involved in de-stabilizing the
government of Yugoslavia. The regime was ultimately overthrown.
Did the Serbs commit
genocide?
Civilian populations were increasingly being targeted during
the civil wars. However, atrocities must match certain specific criteria before
they are considered genocide. The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment
of the Crime of Genocide defines genocide as:
"... certain acts
committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic,
racial or religious group as such. The proscribed acts include killings,
causing serious bodily or mental harm, imposing measures intended to prevent
births within the group, forcibly transferring its children to another group,
or deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring
about its destruction in whole or in part."
Ethnic cleansing in Bosnia during the mid 1990s started as
mass expulsions of civilians. It escalated to include internment in
concentration camps, mass executions, rapes, etc. There was a clear policy by
the Serbs "to exterminate Muslim
Bosnians as a group..."
Their actions were generally considered to be genocide.
There is a general consensus that widespread atrocities were also committed by
the Muslims and the Croats (largely Roman Catholic). But the level of their war
crimes did not reach genocidal proportions.
There have been allegations that the Serbs were also engaged
in genocide in Kosovo before and during the NATO bombing. Media correspondents
and human rights investigators conducted large-scale interviews of Kosovar
refugees. The data collected show that the Geneva Conventions concerning
civilians had been ignored and that extremely serious war crimes were
perpetrated by the Yugoslavian army, police and militias. There appeared to be
a consensus among human rights investigators that genocide had been committed
by the Yugoslavian government against the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. This
belief was confirmed as the NATO forces occupied Kosovo. Mass graves were
located and were systematically examined by forensic specialists. Ethnic Albanians
came out of hiding with horrendous stories to tell. In excess of 11,000 murders
were reported to authorities.
Religious comments
about the war in Kosovo:
Christians were divided over how to resolve the conflict.
Some Evangelicals, Protestants and Roman Catholics supported the bombing as the
only way to eventually bring peace. Many Orthodox Christian leaders supported
the Serbian Orthodox church in asking for a cease fire. Many faith groups
concentrated on the plight of the refugees, and did not take an active position
on the war itself. During 1999...
-
Pax Christi is a Roman Catholic peace movement.
Its Italian branch called for international action in Kosovo. "A temporary solution of one or two
decades, would provide the immediate opportunity for increased economic
cooperation with and political integration into the international community. It
would enable the parties to build common ground for a final solution." (see reference 15)
-
A number of Roman Catholic, Serbian Orthodox,
and Muslim religious leaders met in Vienna in an attempt to forge a united
stance against violence. Father Leonid Kishovsky was an Orthodox priest from
New York who was present at the meeting. He reported "It was a very tense and challenging conversation that nearly
broke down. But they did manage to walk through this very painful dialogue and
came up with a common statement to step away from...violence and seek a
democratic solution." (see reference 20)
-
The Albanian Encouragement Project (a group of
about 70 foreign Evangelical Protestant agencies working with the local
Albanian Evangelical Alliance) stated that the immediate solution was to bring
NATO ground troops into Kosovo. They felt that the long range solution is more
difficult. "We can set up borders,
we can guard borders with UN troops and maintain a semblance of peace, but
until hearts change and ethnic hatred ceases there is no long-term
solution." (See reference 14)
-
Charles Colson, head of the Prison Fellowship ministry
in the U.S. criticised NATO's refusal to agree to a cease-fire requested by the
Serb President, Slobodan Milosevic during the Orthodox Christian Easter. "NATO's actions show how completely
tone-deaf Western governing elites have become on the subject of religion -- or
at least Christianity." Colson contrasted the Kosovo situation with
that of the 1998 decision to cease bombing in Iraq during Ramadan.
-
The Commission of the Orthodox Church predicted
that further escalation of the war may have "unforeseeable, terrible
consequences." They noted that both Evangelical and Roman Catholic leaders
in Germany have supported the bombing in Kosovo.
-
Archbishop Spyridon, primate of the Greek
Orthodox church in America said:
"The further escalation of this conflict can only serve to exacerbate the
human tragedy of violence, displacement and the inevitable hatreds that will be
spawned by the forces of death and destruction."
-
The World Council of Churches, the Conference of
European Churches, the Lutheran World Federation and the World Alliance of
Reformed Churches called on Christians and Christian Churches to observe an
international day of prayer for peace and reconciliation in the Balkans. These
four groups had the opportunity to make a major positive contribution to
religious tolerance by involving other than Protestant Christian groups in this
day of prayer. Unfortunately, they decided to not involve the three main
religious groups that are at least partly responsible for the terror and crisis
in the Balkans: the Serbian Orthodox Church, Roman Catholic Church, and Islam.
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Yugoslav President Slobodon Milosevic and four
others were indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for
the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). This is the first time a sitting head of state
had been formally accused of crimes against humanity.
-
An agreement was reached between NATO and
Yugoslav military leaders. The bombing was suspended. This lead to the
replacement of Yugoslav forces from Kosovo with international peacekeepers and
the return of ethnic Albanian refugees. Two consequences of this were the
departure into Serbia of many of the Serbs who had been living in Kosovo, and an
unknown number of ethnic Albainian hostages taken by Yugoslav forces from
Kosovo to Serbia.
-
CNN reported that there were about "860,000
refugees" who had fled Kosovo.
"The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has estimated that at
least 350,000 houses in Kosovo have been seriously damaged. The U.N. Children's
Fund reported massive damage inflicted on hospitals, clinics and schools, and
that doctors, nurses and teachers are in severely short supply."
-
Leaders of the Serbian Orthodox Church asked for
the resignation of President Slobodan Milosevic and his government, as a means
to find a new President and government that is acceptable to the world
community.
-
By October 1999, 76 Serbian Orthodox shrines and
churches had been destroyed or desecrated in Kosovo.
In 2000, Milosevic suffered an electoral defeat . His regime
was overthrown and a year later he was arrested and transported to The Hague to
be tried as a war criminal.
In 2004, three Serbian children drowned accidentally in
Kosovo. A false rumour spread that they had been chased into a river by four
Albanian children. In spite of a
statement from the U.N. Mission that no Albanians were involved, tens of
thousands of Albanians attacked Serbs and Serbian Orthodox churches and
monasteries. There are strong indications that the attack was carefully planned
in advance. Fourteen religious structures were totally destroyed; some dated
back to the 12th century. The National Review described it as
"Kristallnacht in Kosovo"
In 2005 Slobodan Milosevic had a heart attack and dies in
prison. The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) wrote that "....it is now more than ever crucial
that the international community bring other indicted war criminals to justice
in order to bring about a much-needed process of truth and
reconciliation....The European Union has given the Serbian government until
April to hand over Ratko Mladic, military leader of the Bosnian Serbs during
the 1992-95 war, who is accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and other
war crimes for the siege of Sarajevo and the massacre of thousands of Muslim
men and boys around Srebrenica in July 1995. The Bosnian Serbs' wartime political
leader, Radovan Karadic, also has yet to surrender to the Hague tribunal. Both
men have been fugitives for more than 10 years. Capturing and trying Mladic and
Karadic should be an immediate priority of the international community in order
to deliver long overdue justice that is crucial in order to begin the heal the
scars faced by those who witnessed the Balkan genocide firsthand."
The situation as of
early 2006:
In 2006 Kosovo had been under United Nations administration
since 1999, when NATO drove out Yugoslav troops. The United National Interim
Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) reported…
"Independence and
autonomy are among options that have been mentioned for the province, where
Albanians outnumber Serbs and others by 9 to 1. Serbia rejects independence.
Kosovo’s Serbs have been boycotting the province’s provisional
institutions."
"UN Special Envoy
Martti Ahtisaari confirmed that another meeting on decentralization would be
held in the Austrian capital on 17 March, focusing on local financing and
inter-municipal cooperation and relationships, adding that he was using 'a
bottom-up approach,' in other words starting the process by dealing with
practical and 'status-neutral' issues."
“Apart from
decentralization, we will run parallel discussions on cultural and religious
heritage, minority rights and economy'”, he said.
Kosovo in 2006 was a province of Serbia. However, with the
area occupied by NATO peacekeepers, and administered by the United Nations, the
term "province" is almost meaningless. There is strong support among
the Muslim majority for complete independence.
"British Foreign
Secretary Jack Straw said that Kosovo's movement towards independence is
'almost inevitable,' and said Serbia may have to accept that reality."
However, the Serbian
Orthodox minority generally refuses to acknowledge independence as an option.
Withdrawal of NATO troops, political independence for Kosovo, and long-term
peace and stability may well take decades to accomplish.
Kosovo declares
independence:
In 2008 Kosovo's parliament gave unanimous approval to a
unilateral declaration of independence. Prime Minister Hashim Thaci declared
Kosovo to be "proud, independent and
free." He described it also as
"democratic, secular and multi-cultural." Serbia has instructed Serbs
in Kosovo to reject succession, and has enacted countermeasures against the new
state. The U.S., Canada, and most European countries are expected to recognize
Kosovo's independence.
Russia opposed the development, probably for two reasons: it
might motivate independence-minded movements in Russia to demand independence,
plus Russia and Serbia are linked by a common Orthodox Christian faith.
Iran has announced its opposition, perhaps because Kosovo is
a predominately Muslim state that intends to be secular.
Serbian Orthodox Bishop Artemije, head of the Serbian
Orthodox Church in Kosovo called for violence. He said:
"Serbia should
buy state-of-the-art weapons from Russia and other countries and call on Russia
to send volunteers and establish a military presence in Serbia."
Kosovo Today
Kosovo is still a disputed territory. Serbia continues to
claim it as a “province” but refuses to recognise it as a state. It is one of
only two Muslim-majority territories on the European mainland (the other being
Albania) and it continues to suffer significant poverty after the past
conflicts.
