ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY IN EUROPE: BETWEEN THE CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS AND DIALOGUE

Authors

  • Aleksandar Saša Saša Gajić Институт за европске студије Београд

Keywords:

The Clash of civilizations, post-Christian Europe, inter-religious dialogue, euro-peace, integration, assimilation

Abstract

Modern Europe witnesses the terrorist attacks, the influx of immigrants, ghettoisation of Muslims into city areas that are transformed into the „no-go zone” and, as a reaction, an increase of Islamophobia among European nations. How many of these phenomena are confirming Huntington's theory of „The Clash of Civilizations,” and how much space do they leave for „The Dialogue of Civilizations”, which, as an alternative, was proposed by the Iranian President Hattami before the UN? By observing the historical and normative perspective of the relationship between Muslims and the contemporary Europeans (which, in the meantime, became post-Christians), especially limited domains of integration, assimilation and the creation of „Euroislam” (advocated by Tariq Ramadan), the Paper tries to find the space for avoidance of conflict and the basis of fruitful dialogue between civilizations. Pointing out that the roots of the conflict and the inability of coexistence do not lie in cultural-collective identities as such and their values formed on religious grounds that only generate misunderstanding, conflict and division, the intentions of further transformation of Europe towards plural and value-neutral creation are shown as illusory. On the contrary, the Paper shows out that value neutral postion is precisely what creates contempt and additional resistance of the newcomers who have a clear value and religious identity. Thus, it advocates the return of Europe to its Christian cultural and value dimensions. Although there are insurmountable differences in some beliefs between Christians and Muslims, there are also many similar attitudes on which is possible not only to gain respect and trust from the other side, but also to create a consesus based on „the smallest common traditional denminator.” This would allow to religious and cultural identities to become the basis for co-operation and convergence rather than conflict.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Arhiepiskop Anastasios, Globalizam i pravoslavlje, Hrišćanski kulturni centar, Beograd, 2002

Gajić Aleksandar; „Verodostojan dijalog u BiH u konstekstu svetske krize”, Politea, br. 4, vol. 2,, FPN Banja Luka, Banja Luka

Gajić Aleksandar, Ogledalo vladara: Konstantin Mihailović i Nikolo Makijaveli, Institut za evropske studije, Beograd, 2014

Gajić Aleksandar, «Uticaj regionalnih kriza na savremene prilike na Balkanu: geostrateške impliakcije migrantske i ukrajinske krize», Kultura polisa, «Kultura bezbednosti:migrantske krize, stanje, perspektive, rizici» posebno izdanje br. 2, Novi Sad, 2017

Despotović Ljubiša, Gajič Aleksandar, „Geopoltics of Migrant Crisis and the Security Risk as Forms of Offensive Assimetric Threats in the Balkan”, in; Asimetry and Strategy, Ministry of Defence of Republic of Serbia, Belgrade 2018

Espozito Džon, Islamska pretnja, Prosveta, Beograd, 1994

Prema Janulatos A., Islam, Religioški pregled, Atina, 1985

Kirbassov, G., Has „the Clash of Civilizations” Found Empirical Support? http://www.fountainmagazine.com/article.php?ARTICLEID=783

Margion J., Erasme, Guerre et Paix, Montaigne, Paris, 1973

Narin Hakobyan, Islam within Europe: A clash of civilization? Master Art Thesis, University of Deusto, Yerevan, 2011

Said Edward, The Clash of Ignornace - Labels like „Islam” and „the „West” serve only to confuse us about a disorderly reality, The Nation, 273, January 01, 2001

Hantington Semjuel, Sukob civilizacija, CID; Podgorica, 2000

Hofman Brus, Unutrašnji terorizam, Narodna knjiga, Beograd, 2000

Fukuyama Francis, „History is Still Going Our Way”, Wall Street Journal, 5 October 2001

Downloads

Published

2018-09-30

How to Cite

Saša Gajić, A. S. . (2018). ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY IN EUROPE: BETWEEN THE CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS AND DIALOGUE. KULTURA POLISA, 15(2), 49–67. Retrieved from https://kpolisa.com/index.php/kp/article/view/616

Metrics