Extremists threaten NGO activists

The group believes that the government, led by Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica, is trying to give the Orthodox Church “a monopoly on the spirituality and morality of the people.”

Not that I am in favour of any Church having too much political power, but most states have a primary religion eg. France, Italy & Spain Catholicism etc. which has a major influence on the people.

I am very happy to see the police being used to stop extremists from trying to prevent people from using their right to demonstrate. That is very positive.

I am waiting to see a peaceful gay rights march taking place with the police ensuring the safety of participants. This happens everywhere else in Europe and shouldn't be seen as any kind of threat.

It is a symbol of tolerance, like an anti-racism march or any other peaceful demonstration.

And please, before anyone from the pro-independence camp starts having any type of pop at Belgrade, look first at your own levels of tolerance and record for marches or demos other than about status.

Kate

You are absolutelly right. While in Finland for few years I was amazed to see how much church has influence on the people but also in their education.
Of course this vandalists have right on thier opinion too but it was very wrong expressing it this way. This vandal behaviour should be condemned and centenced in order to prevent similar events in future.

Kate: This is really a "no comment" sort of news item, because it simply shows what we know and have been saying all along. I support the group that organized the rally and I also think that it shows Serbia has a problem with radicalization as well as a large segment of the populations, probably the overwhelming majority, that are not radical and are willing to make a stand for it. But there is no reason why we in the "pro independence camp should not be able to have a pop at Belgrade for this, because it is precisely the Serb government that has encouraged such radicalism. E.g. you say that every country has its own primary religion, but only in Serbia was there a proposal to grant priests amnesty and have a greater role for religion in politics. I don't see that going down well in the UK for instance and I also don't see how that could have been helpful to the peaceful coexistence of Serbs and Albanian had Kosova failed to secure its independence.
And just imagine for one moment what the reactions would have been like if a similar thing had happened in Kosova, with groups protesting the greater role of Islam in the state. You first of all would have been at our throats with accusations of Al Qaida affiliations and fundamentalism and what not.
But fortunately for us you can accuse us of all sorts of things but religious extremism is not one of those and I tell this to you as an Orthodox Christian living a majority Muslim country.

Listen, most people on this earth are tolerant of others, weather they are homosexual or not. But I challenge most of you to research some of these gay pride parades around the world. Take a look at the one in California, in the city of Folson, gay pride parade. This is nothing about tolerance but a public display of inmorality, you had a bunch of freaks in pornoware strolling around a public city with children present, they displaye lewd sexual acts in public people!!! If that's called tolerance you can have it.

Call me what you want but I belive in the church & what it stands for. If it wasn't for the church during the Turks rule there would be no Serbia & we would all be muslim. Thank God for the Serbian Orthodox Church. CCCC!

I think we can all agree that people will more or less unconsciously conform to the moral of "their" group. A principle that gives leaders great power, for better or worse.
France, Italy, Spain, and Finland have been mentioned by commentators in order to establish a link between leaders and followers.
The protest was in favour of a secular state, one that would give everyone the same rights, so that for instance same sex couples can marry, like in Spain. That is the central point here. A secular society ruled by democratic law, as opposed to a state that gives religious leaders special privileges both personally and nationally.

Nationalism however, is a problem to be overcome in every state and country.

Jack - why not climb down off that fence! I was only using a gay rights march as an example of tolerance. My point is that all people should be allowed to demonstrate or march peacefully unless they create an incitement to hate etc.

I agree with you in keeping sexuality away from children, but the marches I've seen in London have more of a carnival atmosphere. Anyway it's only on for a few hours and you don't have to take your kids to watch.

But seeing as you've focused on this, surely having pornography openly on display in many European cities in full view to children is just as bad if not worse than anything on display at the occasional gay rights march?

Delije if it wasnt for the church then Serbs would not have been converted in the first place.

The (muslum) church converted Serbs in the first place. In the absence of organised religion no Serbs would have been converted.

Still, I thank my lucky stars that nazi Germany didnt manage to win WW2 or we would all be speaking German!

Delije - I wouldn't call you anything for that. I actually agree that what the Church stands for is good. I just don't like seeing church leaders, whether Orthodox, Catholic or Protestant, having too much political power. Rather they can have an influence which may be reflected in decisions by elected politicians.

The church stand mainly to provide for its own survival and prosperity. At least that is what it has come to. The problem is that every religion is the same way, the more members the more powerful which is not the way it is supposed to be. Organized religion is over rated and has caused centuries of war and conquest, for what? Wouldn't it be better if we were all one, whatever that may be, in any case all these different religions are praying to the same god. The fact is that NO ONE RELIGION IS RIGHT THEY ARE ALL WRONG BECAUSE THEY ALL TEACH WORDS OF MORTALS NOT GODS.

I echo Kate's comment about the conduct of the police. For too long the police looked the other way when it comes to protecting protestors.

Jack your types of views dont help. Why do you have to mull over the aim of the protestors? Frankly, they have a right to protest without being beaten up.

And if you are going to stand as judge and jury on whether it is moral to be gay or not (even if this is not the issue), why dont you question the morality of those that represent values that are close to neo-nazism.

Personally I'm not thrilled about watching say two guys kissing in public but I can just look away.

Call me queer (strange) but I'd rather be friends with somebody gay than with nazi scum.

Kate: This is really a "no comment" sort of news item, because it simply shows what we know and have been saying all along. I support the group that organized the rally and I also think that it shows Serbia has a problem with radicalization as well as a large segment of the populations, probably the overwhelming majority, that are not radical and are willing to make a stand for it. But there is no reason why we in the "pro independence camp should not be able to have a pop at Belgrade for this, because it is precisely the Serb government that has encouraged such radicalism. E.g. you say that every country has its own primary religion, but only in Serbia was there a proposal to grant priests amnesty and have a greater role for religion in politics. I don't see that going down well in the UK for instance and I also don't see how that could have been helpful to the peaceful coexistence of Serbs and Albanian had Kosova failed to secure its independence.
And just imagine for one moment what the reactions would have been like if a similar thing had happened in Kosova, with groups protesting the greater role of Islam in the state. You first of all would have been at our throats with accusations of Al Qaida affiliations and fundamentalism and what not.
But fortunately for us you can accuse us of all sorts of things but religious extremism is not one of those and I tell this to you as an Orthodox Christian living a majority Muslim country.

The group believes that the government, led by Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica, is trying to give the Orthodox Church “a monopoly on the spirituality and morality of the people.”

Not that I am in favour of any Church having too much political power, but most states have a primary religion eg. France, Italy & Spain Catholicism etc. which has a major influence on the people.

I am very happy to see the police being used to stop extremists from trying to prevent people from using their right to demonstrate. That is very positive.

I am waiting to see a peaceful gay rights march taking place with the police ensuring the safety of participants. This happens everywhere else in Europe and shouldn't be seen as any kind of threat.

It is a symbol of tolerance, like an anti-racism march or any other peaceful demonstration.

And please, before anyone from the pro-independence camp starts having any type of pop at Belgrade, look first at your own levels of tolerance and record for marches or demos other than about status.

Kate

You are absolutelly right. While in Finland for few years I was amazed to see how much church has influence on the people but also in their education.
Of course this vandalists have right on thier opinion too but it was very wrong expressing it this way. This vandal behaviour should be condemned and centenced in order to prevent similar events in future.

Listen, most people on this earth are tolerant of others, weather they are homosexual or not. But I challenge most of you to research some of these gay pride parades around the world. Take a look at the one in California, in the city of Folson, gay pride parade. This is nothing about tolerance but a public display of inmorality, you had a bunch of freaks in pornoware strolling around a public city with children present, they displaye lewd sexual acts in public people!!! If that's called tolerance you can have it.

I think we can all agree that people will more or less unconsciously conform to the moral of "their" group. A principle that gives leaders great power, for better or worse.
France, Italy, Spain, and Finland have been mentioned by commentators in order to establish a link between leaders and followers.
The protest was in favour of a secular state, one that would give everyone the same rights, so that for instance same sex couples can marry, like in Spain. That is the central point here. A secular society ruled by democratic law, as opposed to a state that gives religious leaders special privileges both personally and nationally.

Nationalism however, is a problem to be overcome in every state and country.

Jack - why not climb down off that fence! I was only using a gay rights march as an example of tolerance. My point is that all people should be allowed to demonstrate or march peacefully unless they create an incitement to hate etc.

I agree with you in keeping sexuality away from children, but the marches I've seen in London have more of a carnival atmosphere. Anyway it's only on for a few hours and you don't have to take your kids to watch.

But seeing as you've focused on this, surely having pornography openly on display in many European cities in full view to children is just as bad if not worse than anything on display at the occasional gay rights march?

I echo Kate's comment about the conduct of the police. For too long the police looked the other way when it comes to protecting protestors.

Jack your types of views dont help. Why do you have to mull over the aim of the protestors? Frankly, they have a right to protest without being beaten up.

And if you are going to stand as judge and jury on whether it is moral to be gay or not (even if this is not the issue), why dont you question the morality of those that represent values that are close to neo-nazism.

Personally I'm not thrilled about watching say two guys kissing in public but I can just look away.

Call me queer (strange) but I'd rather be friends with somebody gay than with nazi scum.

Call me what you want but I belive in the church & what it stands for. If it wasn't for the church during the Turks rule there would be no Serbia & we would all be muslim. Thank God for the Serbian Orthodox Church. CCCC!

Delije if it wasnt for the church then Serbs would not have been converted in the first place.

The (muslum) church converted Serbs in the first place. In the absence of organised religion no Serbs would have been converted.

Still, I thank my lucky stars that nazi Germany didnt manage to win WW2 or we would all be speaking German!

Delije - I wouldn't call you anything for that. I actually agree that what the Church stands for is good. I just don't like seeing church leaders, whether Orthodox, Catholic or Protestant, having too much political power. Rather they can have an influence which may be reflected in decisions by elected politicians.

The church stand mainly to provide for its own survival and prosperity. At least that is what it has come to. The problem is that every religion is the same way, the more members the more powerful which is not the way it is supposed to be. Organized religion is over rated and has caused centuries of war and conquest, for what? Wouldn't it be better if we were all one, whatever that may be, in any case all these different religions are praying to the same god. The fact is that NO ONE RELIGION IS RIGHT THEY ARE ALL WRONG BECAUSE THEY ALL TEACH WORDS OF MORTALS NOT GODS.