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Religious
belief is on the rise, a world of faith is
growing. And, in particular, religious right is running harder and harder
into politics of many states. While Muslim radicals do not stay short of
full state control and terrorism, Roman Catholics in Europe are pushing
for ‘Christian Democracy’. Catholic bishops have never been scared of
politics; in Spain that results in bishops’ revolt against the
government, an open confrontation, whereas in Croatia, a quasi-secular
state, they ‘own’ the government.
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Religion
practicing is a powerful social movement, and a robust separation
between religion and state is practically impossible, not to
mention that it would be unwise. However, the separation of church
(i.e. institution drawing social and societal power out of
population’s religious beliefs) and government institutions
(constituted by and large of believers) proved itself to be
essential ingredient of the Western-type democracy.
True,
we can’t expect that clergy will just sit back and let God to do
everything. However, most of our everyday actions is guided by
moral norms, customs and etiquette, not by law, and that is
everlast-ing work field for a church. When it comes to law, let
God (more precisely: His insti-tutionalized Earthly
representatives) stay aside, let human beings organize their
society. Are those beings sinful? Yes, so let the church reconcile
at least some of their sinfulness with social order and let the
secular law carry out crucial societal management. Thus, church
can make a substantial contribution to debates about greed and
social justice, while acknowl-edging the country’s secular
constitution.
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