Good morning! If you google “radical Islam” you will find countless texts and studies on the subject. If you search for the term “radical Christianity” or “radical Orthodoxy” you will hardly find anything not only in South Slavic, but also in English. Does this mean that there is no radicalism in Christianity? In Montenegro, we are witnessing the radicalization of the Orthodox faith, and very little is said about it.
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Radical Orthodoxy
There is no human ideology, no religion, that is resistant to radicalism. Especially when mixed with nationalism. No one would think that Buddhists can be radical, but look at the Buddhist monks in Myanmar. Especially the monk Ashin Wirathu, who distinguished himself by spreading hatred towards Muslims.
Due to numerous terrorist attacks in the world, inspired by radical political Islam, many studies and researches have been dealing with the topic of radical Islamism. In the Balkans, it was discussed more in the context of citizens of countries from the region who went to fight for the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. However, the Balkans have a different context. Although frequent wars and ethnic cleansing were waged here, although genocide was committed against Muslims in the last war, during and after the war, not a single terrorist attack inspired by religion or ideology took place in Serbia and Montenegro, the aggressor and co-aggressor countries.
Islamic theologians say that there is no such thing as radical Islam, because it is a single and indivisible teaching of Islam, but that there are radical Muslims and those who abuse religion.
Radical Islamism, as a political ideology, is a well-researched phenomenon. The bearers of this ideology, its methods and principles of action have been recognized and are being recognized through academic and journalistic research. And there are already many answers to questions about the threat of radicalization in this religion.
But what about Christianity, especially Orthodox Christianity, which threatens to be further radicalized in light of the war in Ukraine. In Montenegro, the church protest movement, so-called protest religious processions, gave a great impetus to Orthodox radicalization. That is, the radicalization of Orthodox believers.
The growing popularity of the so-called zealotry, that is, of various unrecognized true Orthodox churches, is not such a cause for concern. Those marginal organizations exist in Serbia, and as we recently found out, Russian zealots also had an influence on the work of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church (CPC). Despite their radicalism, these organizations remain marginal with very little impact and influence. But they should be cause for concern and should be given full attention. Both CPC and the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) in Montenegro should pay attention to their influence in their ranks.
What should worry us more is the radicalization of the Russian Orthodox Church, especially because of the war in Ukraine. The Russian church and the state are inseparable. The Russian Orthodox Church (RPC) is an extended arm of the Crimea. And the Crimea is now waging a “holy war” in Ukraine. Although the narrative about denazification is the loudest, in Russia, in religious circles, it is increasingly heard that the war of Orthodoxy against Satanism is being waged in Ukraine. In addition to his nationalism, Vladimir Putin is also a religious fanatic, and Slavoj Zizek spoke about this recently in a show hosted by Piers Morgan. There are many radical militant Orthodox organizations in Russia, the most famous of which is Sorok Sorokov.
We should also be worried about the SPC radicalizatio, which in this sense is a relay of the RPC and Russian influence in the Balkans. The influence can also be seen in this example. Although they could not copy Sorok Sorokov, whose franchise in Montenegro was opened by the profligate Russian consul and former Montenegrin diplomat Boro Djukic, they succeeded in remodeling the Orthodox youth brotherhoods based on the model of this Russian organization, existing in almost every Montenegrin city. In addition, there are Pillars and similar organizations that cultivate the ideas of Orthodox extremism. Add to that the Night Wolves, the Balkan Cossack Armies, Chetnik organizations and the picture is complete. Much needs to be done to investigate the processes of Orthodox radicalization, and there is plenty of research material. You just need to apply the same methods and analytical frameworks that were used to research radical Islam. Ideology can be elusive, but one can start by parsing the well-known slogans “orthodoxy or death” and “those unwilling will be baptized as well” that we hear more and more frequently at radical gatherings and see on their graffiti.
That’s it for today. We wish you a pleasant rest of the day.
Kind regards,
Ljubomir Filipovic, CdM analyst and columnist
(The opinions and views of the authors of the columns are not necessarily those of the CdM editorial staff)
