It's impossible to classify entire groups of people into one category, but I will do
my best to explain the spiritual climate of eastern Europe, and Croatia more
specifically. First of all, evangelicals make up less than 1/10th of 1 percent or .1% of
the population. That figure is absolutely astounding. That's less than one in a
thousand people! Even the middle east has a greater percentage of believers
than eastern Europe.
I think that most people in this area are post-religion, or post-modern in their
thinking, and they value intellect and knowledge more than faith. This doesn't
apply to everyone, but a vast majority. Atheism is common. Agnosticism exists,
but secularism and materialism are the order of the day. I can understand to a
certain extent. This part of the world has had numerous wars and religion is the
main dividing factor. There is a special disdain for Christianity in general since the
Serbs (eastern Orthodox) were the aggressors in the last war. Such horrid
atrocities occurred that anything resembling the religion of those people is
completely unacceptable. Can you blame them?
Croatia is a predominately Catholic country, yet less than 15% attend mass, or
believe in their hearts. It's hard to separate religion from ethnicity. A recent
convert to Christianity was asked, "are you still a Croat?" This implies that there
can be no distinction between religion and race.
From the folks we've met, there seems to be a respect for spirituality, but no
guidance about how to find truth. The children we work with were open to
learning about the Bible, and we were surprised to learn how little they knew
about it. Stories we thought would be commonplace were brand new to some of
the children. Several adults have expressed an interest in studying the Bible to
"see what's in it" and discover if there are any practical life lessons.
We have seen a favorable response from government officials toward the
churches, mainly because of the humanitarian work that is done. Under
communism, Croatians were taught that it's OK to believe whatever you wish,
but you can't push it on anyone else. That sentiment survives. It's sort of a "to
each his own" type of attitude.
I hope this answers the question!
my best to explain the spiritual climate of eastern Europe, and Croatia more
specifically. First of all, evangelicals make up less than 1/10th of 1 percent or .1% of
the population. That figure is absolutely astounding. That's less than one in a
thousand people! Even the middle east has a greater percentage of believers
than eastern Europe.
I think that most people in this area are post-religion, or post-modern in their
thinking, and they value intellect and knowledge more than faith. This doesn't
apply to everyone, but a vast majority. Atheism is common. Agnosticism exists,
but secularism and materialism are the order of the day. I can understand to a
certain extent. This part of the world has had numerous wars and religion is the
main dividing factor. There is a special disdain for Christianity in general since the
Serbs (eastern Orthodox) were the aggressors in the last war. Such horrid
atrocities occurred that anything resembling the religion of those people is
completely unacceptable. Can you blame them?
Croatia is a predominately Catholic country, yet less than 15% attend mass, or
believe in their hearts. It's hard to separate religion from ethnicity. A recent
convert to Christianity was asked, "are you still a Croat?" This implies that there
can be no distinction between religion and race.
From the folks we've met, there seems to be a respect for spirituality, but no
guidance about how to find truth. The children we work with were open to
learning about the Bible, and we were surprised to learn how little they knew
about it. Stories we thought would be commonplace were brand new to some of
the children. Several adults have expressed an interest in studying the Bible to
"see what's in it" and discover if there are any practical life lessons.
We have seen a favorable response from government officials toward the
churches, mainly because of the humanitarian work that is done. Under
communism, Croatians were taught that it's OK to believe whatever you wish,
but you can't push it on anyone else. That sentiment survives. It's sort of a "to
each his own" type of attitude.
I hope this answers the question!