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 with respect to the highest instance (i.e. God) from which it derives its origin and its contemporary existence. Furthermore, everyday life on the level of society and individual is organized on the foundation basis of legislation that operates from laws originating from a theophanic experience. This experience is very important for an individual and subsequently for his decision to shape the life of a community according to this experience. Theophany is materialized through a personal experience of an individual (e.g. Moses) who introduces his experience and its implications to the community he leads. This moment is further strengthened by the nature of narration that is in the Bible related to constitution of an ethnic community led by the individual in the time of its making and self-definition. Based on this individual’s authority, theophany is subsequently materialized within the community that according to accounts is willing to accept this ancient tale of its origin. Besides, this ancient tale becomes the foundation of administering social institutions, trade and economic life of the community. Being chosen lends a higher meaning to existence of the people that rationally and emotionally embraces this explanation; also, it defines the community’s identity. The literary form of such accounts features mythological constructs but it is not a myth. Relevant opinions of modern experts confirm that the form of narration is detennined by the period in which these texts were created. So-called étiologie intentions - i.e. explanation of causes of particular phenomena and reality - often remain unnoticed in the process of these texts’ interpretation.27 While struggling for their own identity in the biblical context, ethnic and national entities fought a campaign that offers a paradigm for the universal effort to transform the world into a global village. At the dawn of the Christian calendar, the transition from a national approach to a national-confessional one transcended into an intra-cultural area. Supporters of the single confession (i.e. the Christians) began to differentiate based on their inner attitudes and ethical standards. Tribal, consanguineous, confessional and ritual identificators lost their original meanings. It is good to realize these basic facts when looking at several centuries at the turn of the ages. In its essence, the Hellenic culture was a multicultural world of people and ideas. The ideological interference and literary affinity of biblical and non-biblical accounts on origins of the world, the mankind, national communities and cultures indicate the way in which the oldest yet remarkably preserved texts of the Hebrew and Greek bible interpreted references to particular ethnic or cultural entities. Through gradual interpretation of the notions of ‘people’ and ‘nation’, these ancient texts offer basic frameworks and interpretation keys to under236
