Slovenia: at a distance from a perfect religious market

Abstract

SERGEJ FLERE Introduction Slovenia is surrounded by predominantly Catholic countries and is also 'historically Catholic'. During modern times, the Catholic prevalence in Slovenia has somewhat diminished, but Slovenia can hardly be called confessionally pluralist, since other religious groups (mainly Lutherans) are very small. During most of the twentieth century Slovenia formed part of Yugoslavia, a multinational and multiconfessional state. After the Second World War, as a communist state, Yugoslavia was known for a 'soft' political system and a liberal stance towards religion. In fact the earlier period (until 1965) was characterised by a repressive policy towards the major religions. This is partly to be accounted for by the potentially divisive nature of religion in this composite country, and partly by the need for this particular brand of communism to assert its 'authenticity' and 'purity' (Alexander, 1979; Mojzes, 1992). Within Yugoslavia, Slovenia was regarded as the most liberal environment from the religious point of view. Slovenia acquired independence in 1991 and avoided involvement in the conflicts that subsequently engulfed the rest of Yugoslavia. Since then Slovenia has seen peaceful development, and the economy is doing rather well, Slovenia taking the 29th position in the world according to the Human Development Index (Human 2003). At independence a constitution was adopted and, as in other postcommunist transition countries, it guaranteed the principle of separation of church and state (Article 7 Para.l). The political objective of this principle may be to guarantee freedom of conscience, but its latent social function goes beyond this. Its social and societal function is to create space in which religious views and practices can be freely exercised and can compete in a free environment; or, to put it in contemporary parlance, where religious entrepreneurs have the perfect market possibilities to offer the variety of their services, or 'goods', and to enter into 'exchange' relations with religious consumers, while the latter have the widest opportunity to choose among various 'religious products'. Thus some will choose a strict religion and a correspondingly greater 'return' for a greater (alleged) renunciation of this-worldly goods, albeit a 'return' that is somewhat postponed and comes in the form of a sort of 'compensatory' promissory note. One may choose liberal or restricted religion, ascetic or hedonistic, ritual-rich or ritual-poor, or may combine these elements in the most varied fashions. These types of religion, furthermore, may be combined with a variety of creeds and doctrines as well as with a variety of organisational forms, which call for further choice. This view of religious life (Stark and Finke, 2000) as a specific market that is not substantially different from the commerical market or the marriage market provides a perspective for an understanding and close analysis of certain processes in religious life.