The Divided God project deals with intercultural dialogue focusing especially on religion and the following question: does religion contribute to tolerence and provide a solution to contemporary
cultural conflicts or does it in some cases and to some extent actually generate this problem?
The project started in the beginning of 2007. It was realised in the form of yoith exchanges, experts symposiums and internet communication. The content was presented at research video workshops, lectures and
theotrical and public discussions. The project included over 70 young people interested in video research and the humanities, who were joined by over 40 experts from the participant environments. The exxchanges
were carried out in partner cities: Mostar, Movi Sad, Ljubljana, berlin and Istanbul. 44 shourt documentary films were shot. The project visited 19 religious communities and intercultural dialogue.
The question concerning intercultural dialogue and the role of religion in it is of great importance for young people
since they are in the forfront of most contemporary intercultural conflicts, But including older experts in the
project also proved crucial.
Key questions of the Documentary :
- Can religion make a contribution to tolerance and understanding and to the conflict solution, or is it sometimes actually at the root of intolerance and conflict situations?
- Can religion provoke intolerance and religious and ethnic polarisation, which is then exploited and intensified by political leaders?
- How important is the role of family education with respect to ethnic and racial intolerance?
- How are children brought up to regard other religions, and what kind of information and guidance about other nationalities and religions in their locality do they get from parents and teachers? What are Slovenian children told about Croatians, Serbs, Bosnians? What do Turkish parents tell their children about Greeks and Jews?
- How do different national educational authorities and institutions decide on, and implement, an approach to these issues? And how do the resulting textbooks differ?
What are different points of view of religious teachers (Orthodox and Catholic priests, Muslim imams, etc.) regarding inter-faith tolerance and understanding, and how do they put across these views?
- What are the thoughts and ideas of ordinary people in the street regarding ethnic and religious tolerance?
- What kind of experiences regarding different races and religions, and also ethnic and religious tolerance, do young people have? And what are their thoughts and ideas about these issues? What kind of impact on the development of the individual do national and religious upbringings have?
Cultural and religious diversity and difference should be understood as positive factors in contemporary European culture; as rich and vital elements out of which Europe should be building its cultural future. Intercultural dialogue and tolerance between different ethnic, religious and social groups is necessary for future stability and for positive cultural development of the European space. In the present context of religious and cultural intolerance in many parts of the continent, it is increasingly difficult to put forward arguments for the value of difference, and for how can we live with difference. How to open up new discourses and dialogues that will address the productive possibilities inherent in the religious and cultural complexity of Europe now?
The project Divided God would be an example of positive intercultural practice, in which young people could explore, in their own ways - and, crucially, based on personal experiences - how religion can be a personal and intimate experience as well as a cultural value of a particular group, and how it might function without the kind of political and ideological influences that lead to conflict and fragmentation.
