NATIONAL IDENTITY CRISIS
Surviving - a national trait and a national problem
Ivo Koychev November 23rd 2007

During the last fifteen – seventeen years of the historical Bulgarian transition towards democracy and market economics, our nation was shook in very area of life. Each citizen of Bulgaria, despite of their ethnic background, felt the pain of this transition in a personal, family and community aspect. The majority of the nation became poor and reached a state of survival. As a result, several key problems emerged, and it is still difficult for us as a nation to resolve them. They are:

1. A crisis in our national identity

2. A lack of spiritual values and a civil society /if there has been such a society, it has been built upon the value system of the post-communistic mentality – I allude to the civil societies in 1992-1994

3. A political oligarchy – a lack of leaders-reformers, who can lead the nation towards a true national revival in the challenges of the new millennium

4. An ethnic confrontation – hate

5. A corruption and criminality, which have grown and united together with the Government

What exactly is the crisis in our national identity?

There is fear in our nation between the different ethnicities, expressing itself in the fact that whoever is different from us culturally and religiously, is a threat – in other words – he is our enemy. When fear takes control in the relationships between the ethnicities in one nation, the first thing that is expressing itself is ethnic confrontation, which divides the nation. This is a major sign revealing a crisis in the national identity.

In order that our nation can overcome the crisis in our national identity, we must rediscover ourselves in the value systems of democracy in the ideological and cultural aspects.

To rediscover our identity in the ideological course of development

The question is whether our nation will be focusing towards the value systems of the West or of the East. For the first time in its historic development, our nation is set before the challenge to find its own identity in a community of nations, whose values have been built upon democracy.

Regrettably, the spiritual climate of our nation still carries the ideology of Communism. If we look at the present growth in population, we will see that the predominant age group is between 45 and 65 years. These are people, whose mentality has been entirely formed by the ideology of the communistic period.

Young people are a minority in the present growth in population. That’s why, in the government of our nation, we can see the raising of populist and ethnic political parties like “Attack”, “VMRO”, “DPS” and “Euro Roma”. It is not a coincidence that many of our politicians have a dirty past and a connection with the structures of the National security, including the president of the Republic of Bulgaria.

There are two questions that can be raised on the basis of what we have written so far. They are:

Is it at all possible for our nation to have experienced a true transition towards democracy, having in mind this national readership, whose mentality has been developed in the environment of the Communistic ideology?

Do you think that the value system of democracy has been established in every ethnic group?

If you ask me, I will answer you in the following manner: we are walking in democracy intuitively, understanding partially its value system, as well as our rights and responsibilities. The main reason for this is the lack of a true democratic civil society in our nation. Where such a society is missing, there is a political oligarchy. On the other hand, the proof for having a true democratic society would be when the civil organizations have influence in society and when they impose a moral control over the political parties.

To rediscover our identity in the cultural aspect

Having in mind the 200 years of Byzantine slavery, where the dominant culture was the Greek orthodoxy, the 500 years of Turkish slavery, where the dominant culture was Islam and the 46 years under the Communist regime, dominated by the Marxist-Leninist ideology, it is extremely difficult for our nation to rediscover its true identity and culture.

The diversity of cultures hat have been forcefully imposed upon our nation have changed its identity. At present our nation, in the cultural aspects, is connected extremely much with the culture of Pan slavinism, whose main representative is Russia. What I mean is this:

Does the culture of the Bulgarian people come from the culture of the slav nations?

What is the reason that today our culture is more connected with the culture of Pan slavinism, whose main representative is Russia, than with the culture, coming from our national identity?

The main reason for this is the ideological orientation of Bulgaria towards the ex Soviet Union. That’s why, for a long period of time, a politics towards Slav sizing of he Bulgarian people has been implemented.

The subject I am touching now is a vast one and can lead to much discussion. It is an undisputable fact though, that the Bulgarians do not have any ties of relationship with the Slavs and that the Bulgarian culture has been the dominant one, over the Slav culture, during the reign of the khans and kings during the Middle ages. The Bulgarian culture does not have a Slav background, even though we are using Slav-Bulgarian alphabet, and our official religion is the Orthodoxy.

Mitko Mateev, in his book: “I trusted Your word”, says the following about king Boris I:

“…finding it impossible on his part, to impose the Bulgarian language (speaking about church liturgy) and finding himself in a hopeless situation concerning the canonical Latin and Greek languages, king Boris I chooses the lesser evil. During 893 he is introducing the Slav langiage, recognized in 863 from both Churches in Rome and Constantinople for a church-liturgy language in Great Moravia.

Moreover, he says: “…this is the truth about the Slav sizing of Bulgaria. It is exclusively a language one, and not an ethnic or racial one, and in no case a natural one. It was imposed by law because of a pure political necessity.”

During the 46 year Communistic reign, an intentional erasing of our national identity was done by force in our nation, through the manufacturing of a historical lie, resting on Pan slavinism in the face of Russia. We must remember the expressions: “the brother Russian slav peoples”, “the big brother”, “the brothers”, “grand dad Ivan” and many similar ones, which intentionally were erasing the identity of the Bulgarian nation. We must also remember that during the time of the Communistic reign, we were supposed to become the 16th Soviet Union Republic. The thing that the Byzantine and Turkish slavery could not do for 700 years, the Communistic regime managed to accomplish in one generation through its ideology. Great damage was done in the identity and mentality of our nation as a result.

The majority of the population of our nation is still trying to walk towards Europe with the wrong identity. Today, many political parties are being established exactly because of the crisis in our national identity and that’s why they have ideologies that contradict the value system of democracy, which defends the dignity of men, without regard of their ethnicity.

The religious nationalism phenomenon

During the last several years, the religious nationalism phenomenon can clearly be defined in our nation. The ethnic political parties are using the Orthodox church as an instrument for their racist nationalistic purposes. They create religions tension in our nation, setting the Orthodoxy against the other nontraditional Christian denominations – Protestancy and Catholicism. The religious nationalism in its essence is a trademark of the Bulgarian nationalism.

Orthodoxy, as one of three main branches of Christianity, should not be reduced to a national ethnic religion in a historical cultural aspect. When a given religion connects with the traditions, history and culture of a given ethnicity, its spiritual influence is being limited in the framework of this specific ethnicity. We must destroy the myth that if you are a Bulgarian, that means you are a Christian. If Christianity becomes an ethnic national religion, then it will not be different than the other religions, like for instance Islam.

At present we can see the Bulgarian Orthodox church to be so weak in its missionary aspect towards the other ethnicities in our nation. The position it has in society is a surviving and a defensive one. It’s services are not actual and understandable by the common people.

But even if the Orthodox church starts a missionary work towards the other ethnic communities in Bulgaria, what will its fruit actually be?

Most aspects of the Orthodox church’s ministry are ethno sized, thus revealing its connection not with Christ, but with the so called Bulgarian Orthodox tradition and history. That’s why the other ethnicities look at the Bulgarian Orthodoxy as to a main threat for their identity and culture.

Christianity must not be looked upon in an ethnic, national or cultural aspect, but only in a spiritual one. The purpose of Christianity is people from every ethnicity to find out God’s truth, which is unique and universal for all nations and peoples. This will help the ethnicities to discover their identity in Christ, and not in the traditions, customs, culture or religion of the given ethnicity.

About the author:

Ivo Koychev is founder and president of “Roma Destiny” National Media, which has as its purpose to reach the gypsy ethnicity in our nation, and to help for its transformation in a spiritual, intellectual and social way, so the gypsies can find their true identity and destiny and integrate successfully in our present society.

Ivo Koychev is also the founder and senior pastor of “Life in Glory” Apostolic Christian Center – a unifying center, where people from different ethnicities in Bulgaria are gathered to work together in unity, for the betterment of society.

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