Move Ramadan to Another Date

02 September 2008

Over the past several days, we have witnessed, in the print media, on internet portals and forums, a heated debate caused by the intention of the islamic religious authorities to organize the observation of the month of Ramadan at the same time when the Queer Festival is organized in Sarajevo. Having in mind the extremely negative attitudes of religious institutions towards the homosexual community, their intent to organize the Ramadan in the same month with the Queer Festival is an unnecessary provocation and well concealed attack on legally guaranteed civic freedoms, which could have much greater consequences on the matter of civil liberties in our society in general.

Although the fall of the Berlin Wall, or in our case the collapse of socialist Yugoslavia, marked the removal of religion from the list of illnesses (until then it was considered the opium for the masses and fell into the class of addictions, which are a major global social and health problem), there are quite a few people who believe the phenomenon may have detrimental effects on mental health of individuals, with extremely negative consequences for the social life of a community.

Personally, I find such fears irrational and unnecessary. However, it is necessary to conclude that this reality we have lived in over the last two decades proves that such fears are more than justified.

In fact, the role of religious communities in the tragic wartime events of the near past, and in the gloomy present as well, was far from naive. In spite of the creation of the Inter-Religious Council and numerous appeals issued by religious leaders for peace, coexistence and tolerance, it is difficult not to remember that these were the same institutions whose representatives, frequently and often within religious services, supported and lobbied for the nationalist parties that caused the war to get to the power. We shouldn`t forget the fact that together with those who insist today that the war we had was not religious, there are those who blessed armaments, called for a holy war and promised places in heaven, held funeral masses to notorious murderers, discriminated on ethnic grounds during distribution of humanitarian assistance and so on. We should note that there were such honourable exceptions and that not everybody colluded with the devil, but in this day and age of transition struggles and enjoyment of fruits of one`s work, put all together, it seems that they all drink from the same glass. I have not heard any voice of dissent from the Catholic Church on the discrimination of children in the school in Čapljina or opposition from the Islamic Community on the intent to introduce religious education in kindergartens in Sarajevo, thus lowering the age limit at which the new generations are introduced to the process of recognition of their differences. They don\'t object to the winners of the economic transition either. Quite the opposite, they maintain quite close relations with them. Some of those winners, in spite of the fact that they own over 600 pages in criminal charges held by the Federal Prosecution Office, managed to get to the position of President of the Convention of Islamic Community. That, however, is not the topic of this show...

Of course, the introduction to this text are a feeble attempt at sarcasm, replacing the positions of criticized and critics. The worrying thing is, however, that such approach will be perceived by the majority as an insult, as not serious and ridiculous, while the position that the Queer Festival is a provocation during the Month of Ramadan will be well accepted. It speaks volumes about the levels of public awareness here, the anti-democratic tendencies and the disregard for the freedom of expression of one`s identity in the public sphere. I am baffled by the logic that gives Ramadan precedence over the Queer Festival. How comes the Festival is considered threatening to Ramadan, not vice versa? Did we become a theist state in the meantime, and I was not informed about it? Is it another form of Balkan`s oppression of minorities, regardless of who is the victim?

When preachers and chaste keepers of public morals tell homosexuals they should keep their sexual preferences for the privacy of their homes, why don`t they give them example and practice their religion in their homes and the dedicated temples, since both orientations are a private matter of every individual. Why calls for prayers and church bells are not restricted to private premises? Do they wonder if I, an atheist, may be insulted? As far as Sarajevo is concerned, there are other question that beg to be asked, like, would the same happen if Queer Festival was organized during the Christmas season?

Too many questions remain unanswered... In fact, we all know the answers, but we are defeated by the fact that the situation is as it is and there is little we could do to change it, at least for the time being. So, it is easier to get on with life pretending that we don`t know the answers. We test the tolerance through the uneasy feeling we have eating and drinking on the street while some people fast, we suffer through the angry looks and occasional hecklers. We should, at least, have greater understanding for the plight of pigs in Tehran, now that we know how they must feel.