What happened to IBAR? Is it clearer to even one person who didn't know what IBAR was today what it was all about? No. It was a bogeyman and it remained a bogeyman. People celebrate that we got it, but they have no idea what it was all about. Basically, they realized that it was something important, like a pass, an invitation, a ticket or a token. It was a magic word that did its job. It came, made a whirlwind and disappeared. One word. It was quickly received, quickly forgotten. Just like other words: "Envelope", "Can", "Offshore"...
And such a society, which perceives everything rather superficially, is discussing religious education these days. And it is being discussed by MPs and politicians, self-proclaimed experts on the subject. They give opinions, which consist of a mixture of everything they listened to as children, what they picked up from the Slava discussion, and what they heard in YouTube documentaries.
There has never been a greater mix of old wives' tales than the discussion of our dear politicians in charge about whether religious education should "enter" schools. It is nothing new and nothing accidental, that a society that was communist-atheistic suddenly becomes religious. But it is not entirely true, because it is forgotten that society before communism was also inclined towards religion. So, it is a question of cycles and repetition, not of beginnings.
This is a bigger and more important issue than the blabbering of some people in suits at a table, some people who cling to their chairs and mandates like teeth to the wind. Experts in nothing, talking about topics that exceed them, topics that are outside their field of (non)action, whether it is about religion or science or religious education.
But our diary, especially the part where the topics are summarized and edited, is a cross-section of a state in which it is shameful to even mention religion and science. Because, we start with the Arabs coming and we argue about whether or not to build on Velika Plaza. After that comes the news that our criminals have been arrested in Bulgaria, and then there is a traffic jam on our roads. In between all this, the scant news that the trial has been postponed again for the first time Vesni Medenici and a shot of her lawyer in a checkered jacket, and that's where the politicians' discussion about religious education comes in.
It's hard to tell who's talking more, the one speaking from the perspective of the party they belong to or the one speaking based on personal conviction, whether they're a believer, an atheist, or an agnostic. In any case, the debate is so disgusting, "God forbid."
There is a serious problem in politics, first of all that there are fewer and fewer politicians and there is too much ambition. Everyone wants to be in charge, everyone wants to be important and know the answers to everything, but they can't even explain IBAR to the people in simple words. How will they understand science and religion, if they can't even cross the street?
Is the decision based on research, is it based on a survey, a sample, or has a major social debate been launched in which the pros and cons will be heard? Not really, we have other topics on the menu. But we have politicians ready to make a shortcut decision, the only important thing is that there is a topic, to collect daily wages, whether they raise their hands or not.
It is necessary for people who have no idea about religion or science to vote on religious education. That is the true picture of Montenegro, politics and potential. And while they are such wise decision-makers on TV and decide on one of the key issues of the state and the people, it is not bad to remember a quote that has become so widespread that it is attributed to many: “Atheism is like the absence of a TV signal - it does not mean that there is no program, it just means that you do not watch what others say there is.”
Is Montenegro a republic or a monarchy? We know the answer to that just as much as we know what IBAR is. We know we're kidding.
Bonus video:
