Religious exclusivism in modern Macedonian society

Abstract

: Religious exclusivism is one of the biggest problems shaking the global world. Many ethnic, political, and economic conflicts take on the appearance of religious conflict. That is one of the reasons that multiculturalism, as a static concept, is increasingly outdated in Europe. That is why interculturalism as a dynamic concept is becoming more current. R. of North Macedonia, which is unfortunately still in a post-conflict period, is trying to build a strategy for one society for all and develop interculturalism. In such a society, all citizens, regardless of their religious, ethnic or political affiliation, will have equal access to the labour market, social, cultural and political institutions. This will overcome religious tensions and conflicts. The two largest religious organizations in the country, the Macedonian Orthodox Church-Ohrid Archbishopric (MOC-OA) and the Islamic Faith Community (IFC), play a crucial role in developing the religious dialogue and cooperation. They still do not do this satisfactorily, because of their extreme closeness to political parties, which leads them to religious nationalism. Consequently, R. of North Macedonia is experiencing the politicization of religion and the religionization of politics. Instead of engaging in a process of religious dialogue, the dignitaries of the MOC-OA and the IFC often poison the believers with hate speech and religious exclusivism.