Title: Eyes Wide Shut: Discussion about Orthodoxy and Democracy in Serbian Theology and Thought
Abstract:Preconditions of the DiscussionThe tradition of democracy, which implies the question of tolerance, individualism and freedom, John Binns writes, is the product of a European post-Enlightenment period...Preconditions of the DiscussionThe tradition of democracy, which implies the question of tolerance, individualism and freedom, John Binns writes, is the product of a European post-Enlightenment period and is as such not too close to the Eastern European socio-political context.1 Viewed from the perspective of the two-thousand-year history of Christianity, Binns continues, the democratic traditions are experienced as relatively new civilizational achievements, and although Western Christianity has over time made them compatible with the Christian faith, Eastern Christianity, generally speaking, still retains a certain distance from them.This poses the question: Can Orthodoxy and democracy coexist at all?2 The answers to this question are of course twofold: negative and affirmative.On the one hand, following Huntington's clash of civilizations thesis, according to Christopher Marsh, some authors see Orthodoxy and democracy as mutually exclusive, arguing that the churches of the European East are solely dedicated to preserving national identity, making it impossible for them to participate meaningfully in building a constructive civil society and democratic worldview.3An additional argument for a negative attitude towards this issue is found in the Byzantine imperial experience -the concept of the symphony -which is considered constitutive for the Orthodox understanding of the relationship between church and state.4According to this understanding, Pantelis Kalaitzidis says, a monarchist worldview is considered to be in 1Read More