Electronic Library of Scientific Literature - © Academic Electronic Press
Volume 33, 2001, No. 1, pp. 1-132
Vladimír Krivý
Sociologický ústav SAV, Bratislava
Value Orientations and Religious Manifestations of Slovak Public in the 1990s. During 1990s one could observe several changes in the orientations of Slovak public. The materialist orientations of population were strengthened and within the sphere of moral norms the level of permission increased, being partly attributed to liberal tolerance and to weakened resistance against the immoral behaviour. The high social distance towards the Romas even increased and the capital of non-addressed trust to people decreased. In some aspects the religious faith was strengthened as well as the church-attendance and the general trust to church. The religious influence is endorsed in those cases when it keeps within the pressure limits and does not interfere directly into the sphere of politics. Tolerance to the coexistence of people of various religions or without religion is higher as it was at the beginning of 1990s. It might be a sign of the times: both materialist orientations and religious faith strengthened.
There are several issues, which differentiate the opinion of the people and divide them along the axis of religious individuals and people without religious faith. The most significant is the issue of abortion, about which both groups hold unchanged opinions during the 1990s.
Not everyone, who has a faith in God, considers himself a church member and not everyone who considers himself a church member is religious.
Proportion of the religious people characterised as “core worshippers” increased between 1991 to 1999 from 30% to 38%. It is one of the most significant signals of the strengthening of religious manifestations in the analysed period. The proportion of intensive worshippers is more remarkable among the Roman Catholics as among the Protestants, who take up their faith in a more “civic” manner, more liberally, less via the visits of church.
The analysed environments are far more differentiated according to the dominant, so called latent ideological types as according to the manifest types. The Roman Catholic environment generates mainly latent nationalists (“narodniars”) and conservatives. In fact, there are not so many socialists but rather latent communists among the Greek Catholics due to their regional culture and not as a result of their denomination. The Protestant environment and people without religious faith tend to be latent socialists and liberals. The differences between Roman Catholics and Protestants are caused mainly by their different understanding of religion itself and their particular traditions of political inclinations and political enemies.
The differentiating lines of latent ideological types between the various religious environments lead in a different manner in comparison to the main dividing line of Slovak society in the 1990s, which on the level of public and political parties existed between the authoritarian and libertarian understanding of politics. The main Slovak dividing line did not lead between different religious groups bur rather across them.
The analysis of the results of parliamentary elections in the period of 1992-1998 focuses on those cities and villages in which the particular religious group or people without religious faith represent a proportion higher than the Slovak average. The analysis confirms the notable influence of religious faith on the inclinations to political parties. However, this influence is neither decisive one, nor it leads to the significant political division of the society, but rather is “signed” on it. There remains an open question, what conflict will become dominant after the current authoritarian – libertarian one defers.
The decisive part of public wants neither strengthening, nor weakening of the current position of churches within the Slovak society.
Sociológia 200, Vol. 33 (No. 1: 7-45)
Ján Bunčák
Katedra sociológie FF UK a Sociologický ústav SAV, Bratislava
Religiosity in Slovakia and its European Context. The article analyses the degree of religiosity and the religious revival in Slovakia using data from the European Values Study (EVS) conducted in 1991 and 1999 as well as the International Social Survey Program (ISSP Religion) conducted in 1998. Slovak religiosity is compared in different dimensions with religiosity in some West European countries as presented by EVS in 1991. Central East European context for comparing Slovak religiosity is taken from M. Tomka - P. M. Zulehner work (Gott nach dem Kommunismus). Not only dimensions of religiosity defined by L. Halman and R. de Moor in EVS research project were examined but also the religious sociological typology elaborated by J. Dantine, W. Dantine, T. Krobath and H. Ungar (Ewangelisch). The article concludes that church involvement became a social norm in 19-nineties and the traditional type of religiosity is the most characteristic in Slovakia.
Sociológia 2001, Vol. 33 (No. 1: 47-69)
Ľubomíra Žaloudková
Ústav pre aplikovaný sociálny výskum, Kolín
Religiosity and Religious Participation in Contemporary German Sociology. The article brings a short overview of the most representative German sociological theories and methodological concepts of religion, religiosity and religious praxis. Special attention is paid to different concepts of dimensions of religiosity distinguished by Ch. Y. Glock, by R. Kecskes and Ch. Wolf as well as by L. Halman and R. de Moor.
Sociológia 2001, Vol. 33 (No. 1: 71-84)
Mária Suríková - Janina Słomińska
Katedra sociológie FH TU, Trnava
The Religious Education in Families in Trnava. The article is devoted to the issue of religious socialization and education. It gives reasons for religious education as the most important part of education. The argument for it is the teleologically oriented human development on the individual as well as on social level. The article analyses goals of religious education as seen by parents in unrepresentative survey realized in Trnava, and also their parental attitudes to it. The survey indicates a little coherence in respondents’ comprehension of religious education.
Sociológia 2001, Vol. 33 (No. 1: 85-98)
Eva Laiferova
Katedra sociológie FF UK, Bratislava
Reflection of Nationalism in Slovak Christian Sociology up to 1948. The study is going back to the topic of nation and nationalism in the reflection of Slovak denominational sociology up to 1948. The aim of this study is to discover approaches, identifying the nationalist ideology with the nation or enhancing it as the basic feature of national consciousness. The author takes into account social, historical and locally denominational limitation of the methodological framework. The problem of nationalism in the Christian-Catholic variant of social science represents a separate part of the study. In the first half of 20th century, two basic tendencies of forming the national idea in Slovakia emerged: the humanistic-democratic one and the nationalistic-Christian one. The mentioned second tendency established itself especially after the foundation of the Slovak state, when the need of formulating the Slovak national idea as the state-forming idea has been felt. The Christianity was the support of this ideological concept, in connection with the temporary adapted form of nationalism. In the Christian-Catholic variant of social science are dominating topics as: nationalism, patriotism and people’s character. To its representatives belong: M. Chladný-Hanoš (Ethos in Nationalism, Love to Nation, National Principal), Štefan Polakovič (Slovak National Socialism, About Tiso’s Struggle), Pavol Beňovský (What is it the Nation?), Ladislav Hanus (People, Widen Horizons, Treatise of Culture, Law of Tradition). In contributions of Catholic oriented authors, there is prevailing coherence of denomination with the national idea, nationalism, with strongly emotional component and temporary-propagandistic purposefulness. In the part, titled “Problems of nationalism in Protestant variant of social science”, the author concentrates on works of Samuel Štefan Osuský (Introduction into the Sociology, Service to Nation), of Michal Slávik, and Pavol Teriansky (Nationalism). More civil approach, more differentiated themes and more structured content of basic notions are visible in this variant. Individual approaches are differentiated from the point of view of methodology, denomination, ideology, so as of interpretation of facts, notions and linkages. However, the mentioned authors raised questions, which are now emerging as challenges from the past, asking reactions and forming of new concept.
Sociológia 2001, Vol. 33 (No. 1: 99-110)