Petőcz Kálmán (szerk.): National Populism and Slovak - Hungarian Relations in Slovakia 2006-2009 (Somorja, 2009)

Miroslav Kocúr: For God and Nation: Christian National Populism

MIROSLAV KOCÚR:

For Cod ancI Natíon: CFrístían NatíonaI PopulisM

On the outside, religiously defined communities' that dwell within civil society cannot be distinguished from other social organizations, associations or societies; on the inside, though, they are glued together by the supernatural element of shared belief in deity.

Their internal order is derived directly from the Bible or secondary religious literature by important figures of church history. Besides organizational purpose, these regulations are supposed to lead community members to moral integrity and impeccability. Based on precisely stipulated sanctions, their observance of the internal order may even be enforced to a certain degree, although this degree is rather limited nowadays. Even the greatest sanction today that in some cases may amount to excommunication is hardly comparable to coercive measures used in the time of Giordano Bruno or Master Jan Hus.

In civil society, church membership is perceived as a voluntary and free decision of its individual members; however, primary social networks of church members largely stem out of shared religious beliefs. The moral dimension of religious belief ensuing from being organized in church and its ethical implications may have unexpected consequences for church members. Government respects the internal order of religious communities and refrains from meddling in any way even with regulations whose nature may be discriminatory in ternis of civil legislation.2 They are simply considered internal regulations of religious communities that are accepted by their members based on their conviction.

The interaction between society and religious communities nears zero as both parties live their own, largely separate lives; however, ethical requirements of churches and religious communities regularly encounter with soci221