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ZESZYTY
NAUKOWE
UNIWERSYTETU
JAGIELLOŃSKIEGO
MCCXCVII
STUDIARELIGIOLOGICAZ.40
2007
MariaSchnitter
UniversityofPlovdiv„PaisiiHilendarski”
FUNDAMENTALISMSANDEUROINTEGRATION:
THECASEOFBULGARIA
Thistextlaysnoclaimtoofferingapolitologicalanalysis.Itsaimsare:
todescribetheactualstateofreligiouscoexistenceattheBalkansand,more
specifically,inBulgariafollowingtheaccessionofthecountrytotheEuropean
Unionin2007;and
tooutlinecertaintendenciesintheprogressoftherelationsbetweentheState
andtheChurch,ontheonepart,andbetweenthedifferentreligiouscommuni-
ties,ontheother.
So,whenfundamentalismsareconcerned,weshouldalwaysspecifythemeaningof
thisnotion.WeallknowthatithasbeencoinedbytheradicalProtestantcirclesinthe
USAtowardtheendofthenineteenthcenturybut,ofcourse,thereligiousphenomena
itencompasseshavetheirlong-standinghistoricalprototypes(notonlytheseofChris-
tianitybutofJudaismandIslamaswelltorestrictoursubjecttothethreemostpopu-
larmonotheisticreligions).Mostschematicallystated,fundamentalismshouldbe
viewedas„areligiouswayofbeing”determinedbyastrategyaccordingtowhich
believersencircledbyalienreligionsattemptatpreservingtheirdistinctiveiden-
tityasapeopleorreligiouscommunityunderthemenaceofmodernityandthe
transitiontoasecularwayoflife
1.Earlymanifestationsoffundamentalismcanbe
tracedasfarbackasthetimeoftheBabylonianExile(Deuteronomy7),andafter,the
prophetsEzraandNehemiahforthefirsttimeheldextremelyorthodoxattitudesbor-
deringuponxenophobia.(Ezr.10,Neh.)Defendingreligiousidentitythathasbeen
shakenduringtheExilejustifieditselfasareasonforaggressiveinculcationofthe
normsofeverydaybehaviourinthebelieverswhich(forthefirsttimeinrecordedhis-
tory)exemplifiedtheconfrontationbetweenownandalieninrespecttoreligionand
matchedtheInfidelwiththeEnemy.
Infact,withoutenteringintohistoricaldetails,wemaysummarizethatsuchfunda-
mentalistmovementsalwaysemergeinsituationsofidentitycrisiswhenshattered
identitystrivesforconsolidationthroughtheexpressionsandinstrumentsofreligion.
Thishasbeenvalidforthesituationinpre-ReformationEuropewhentheprofound
1М.Рутвен,(M.Ruthven)Фундаментализмът,С.2006,с.18сл.[Cf.alsotheEnglishoriginal:
M.Ruthven,Fundamentalism:TheSearchforMeaning,OxfordUniversityPress,2004,pp.247].