CATECHISM IN SCHOOLS

THE RIASET HAS DECIDED...

AIM SARAJEVO, January 4, 1995

The first semester is over in Bosnian-Herzegovinian schools during which catechism was introduced for pupils, for the first time after the forty five year long history of socialist schooling with an atheistic ideological sign. However, this is not only the question of an innovation in the educational system, but rather of something much more important - namely the relationship between the state and religious institutions, i.e. the very form of social order which should grow on the ruins of the preceeding one.

The dominating socialist atheism which was stimulated by not always subtle methods, was the first to be attacked by the religious authorities, and quickly and easily produced its own opposite - dominating theism. Just as the previous authorities proved that atheism was not forcibly imposed, for which it frequently had sound arguments, the present authorities and its ideologues claim that religion will not be introduced rigorously. It will surely not be hard to find formal arguments in support of such a claim. In Bosnia and Herzegovina religious instruction in schools is optional. In other words, a pupil of elementary or secondary school has the right to choose on his own (with the help of his parents) whether he will attend classes of catechism which are envisaged as one class a week of theoretical instruction. The curricula and instructors are provided by the religious communities, while the school provides the premises and time. Although attendance is optional, the subject is graded, i.e. the pupils get marks, but that mark should not influence the pupil's final results. With such formalities the impression is that religion has not been forcibly imposed.

However, some statistical figures open interesting questions on this subject. They show that in Sarajevo even as much as 80 percent of the pupils have opted for catechism, in Tuzla between 0 and 90 percent, and in Zenica as much as 90 to 100 percent, which extremely relativizes the voluntary character of attending catechism classes. Without claiming that children are forced to such a decision, it is still necessary to know that in a war in which force is by definition the modus vivendi, where there exists aggressive political and ideological propaganda, voluntariness in any sphere is relative, to say the least. Opposite, false, and sometimes biassed conclusions frequently also result from the cited figures, which are normally used for political and politicking purposes, like those to the effect that an islamic state is being created in B&H, with religion as the determinant ideology. As usual, neither the confirmations nor the negations of these conclusions are fully true. Only time and future events will tell what will ultimately happen here.

For the time being, pupils of Islamic creed on the territory controlled by the B&H Army attand catechism classes in B&H, with the exception of the Catholic school in Sarajevo in which religious instruction is an obligatory subject. This issue is regulated by laws of the self-proclaimed Herzeg-Bosnia on the territory which is under the control of the Croatian Defense Council. Children of Orthodox religion on both these territories have no chance of attending catechism classes simply because there is no one to hold them. Actually, there is almost no clergy there (they have left these places at the beginning or even before the war), so that even religious rites cannot be performed. The Serbian Orthodox Church is the main culprit for such a situation because, by siding with Milosevic's and Karadzic's political-military option, it withdrew all its clerical staff from the territories which are not under Karadzic's control. Consequently, religion was totally put into the function of destroying the basic essence of Bosnia, its multi-ethnic and multi-confessional character as a form of coexistence which has persisted here for centuries. And, it goes without saying the multi-ethnic character was not jeopardized by the introduction of catechism into schools, but rather by the abuse of religion for political purposes.

At least it is so for the time being, while the war is still raging. There are intentions that religion should be the foundation of political relations after the war, they are even not being disguised, and that will be the determinant along which the final line of delineation will be drawn between the political options in these areas. Indicative in this respect is the behaviour of the Riaset of the Islamic community especially of the Reis Mustafa Ephendi Ceric, who takes advantage of every opportunity for advancing religion in political relations. The testimony given by a journalist of the Sarajevo weekly Dani, glaringly confirms this thesis.

Namely, just before the Reis's press conference, journalists were rather unexpectedly called into the Cabinet where Reis Ceric, Alija Izetbegovic, Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic and Minister of Education Enes Karic were waiting for them. The Dani carried the following dialogue from that meeting: "Izetbegovic said that, as far as he knew, catechism in schools never produced good results, to which the Reis reacted by adding that this was confirmed by some experiences in Western countries. I am in favour of religious science being studied in schools, and catechism in mosques and churches - said Izetbegovic. But this dialogue was not concluded by the President of the state Presidency, as is the custom, as is appropriate and according to protocol, but the Reis-ul-Ulema who said that the Riaset had decided at its recently held session that the theoretical part of catechism will be studied in schools, and the practical, Islamic aspects, in mosques...Dr.Ceric said that Riaset h a d d e c i d e d... We thought that the state was in charge of deciding on such issues, but it turned out differently", concludes the Dani commentator.

This could lead to some negative conclusions regarding the relationship between religion and the state in B&H. However, they should not be made hastily, not because this account may be incorrect (this meeting was public, in any case), but because neither this event nor anyone's intentions or wishes can by themselves definitely shape the course of history. It will be decided by the balance of powers and what that balance will be is impossible to reliably forecast today. The present one has tipped the scales in favour of religion as the state ideology. However, as the outcome of the war is not definitely known the outcome of the final political relations is also uncertain. Given the destructive forces at work in Bosnia, and its hypersensitivity when religious and interethnic relations are in question, one must be very cautious in passing judgements on these topics. This naturally does not mean that the topics should be concealed - but rather the opposite, but conclusions and reactions must not be drawn and made lightly and hastily.

Religion is an achievement of civilization and a civilizational question, besides being the ethical and moral determinant of the world, and that is why it should be given the place it belongs to it as such. Everything that is more or less than that, especially in Bosnia, may cause harm which is here measured in terms of unforseeable consequences. In these territories, in which the sense of proportion in political and generally in interhuman relations was most often neglected and suppressed before anti-civilizational categories such as force, its ideology or primitivism, a wrong assessment of the position of religion in society could open up a new cycle of antagonistic contradictions.

STRAJO KRSMANOVIC