Myth of Albanian Indifference to Religion

The Myth of Albanian Indifference to Religion which moto is The religion of the Albanian is Albanianism is a core myth and basic narrative which serves as template for other myths and narratives of Albanian nationalism. The "religious indifference" of Albanians is one of the most resilient constructions of ideology which still affects studies of Albanian society. Although there could be more religious communities, according to this myth the ideal community exists when there is only one Albanian community.
History of the myth
First Albanianists
The Myth of Albanian indifference to religion emerged at the end of the 19th century. Albanian nationalists were then faced with a major obstacle to the national unity — the fourfold religious division of Albanians who were members of four different religions, Orthodox, Catholics, Sunni Muslims and Bektashi. The Albanian nationalist's tenet has been that foreign rulers imposed religion which is obstacle for national unity.
Naim Frashëri who was also a Bektashi leader at the end of the 19th century, promoted Albanian identity which include all religions hoping that Bektashi Sufi order would be a bridge between Muslims and Christians. He was the first who went in direction of building an imagined monotheistic community whose slogans were: "There is only one God" and "We all have the same God". Some other Albanian nationalists went into direction of calling upon original common religion of Albanians which was in some cases perceived as polytheistic religion of the Pelasgians or Christian religion in other.
Albanianists were divided by their religion in this period. Before the Young Turk Revolution Muslim Albanianists tried to build non-Turkish identity in order to legitimize their demands in front of the Great Powers in case of collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Orthodox Albaniansts linked their identity with Hellenism.
The Albanianism promoted after 1878 by Naim Frashëri was inspired by Hellenism and later opposed to it. Another form of Albanianism emerged later, on the north of Albania and was inspired by Croatian and Montenegrin nationalism and resulted with anti-Slavic component of Albanianism. An anti-Slavic component of Albanianism was initiated by Albanian Franciscan priests who modified popular epic poetry of Slavs from Austria-Hungary and Montengro and substituted the central motif of their fight against Turks with Albanian fight against Slavs.
Albanianism after the Young Turk Revolution
After the Young Turk Revolution in 1908, because of the politics of CUP, the Albanianess was connected with Islam even with Ottomaness and Turkishness. Supporters of such connection were Ibrahim Temo from Struga and Rexhep Voka, among the others.
Albanianism under communist regime
The religious division of Albanians was sometimes seen as a treat for national unity because the population was identified as Turks, Greeks or "Latins" according to their religion. A non-religious Albanian identity, based on ideals which are later strongly mythologized, was proclaimed to eliminate this danger.
Even the communist regime in Albania adopted the myth of religious indifference aiming to reduce the treat of undermining the unity of people in Albania. Another aim of Albanianism, subjected to nearly deification and exploited as a quasi religious ideology during "socialist" regime of Albanian communists, was to neutralise the tribal diversity of local communities. Communists didn't hesitate to distort the ideas of writers from Albanian National Awakening period like when they took, out of context, statement of Pashko Vasa — "The religion of the Albanians is Albanianism". In Albanian society that sentence was the atheist motto for almost 50 years.
The culmination of this ideas was in 1967 when communist regime in Albania attempted to extinguish religion in Albania trough violent campaign which forced Albanians to quit practising their religion. All religious objects were closed or converted to serve other purposes like warehouses, worskhops... It was announced that Albania had become the first atheistic state in the world. The struggle against religious differences became the struggle against religion.
Revival of religion in Albania
Revival of the religious life was one of the main aspects of the post-communist period in Albania. Despite the popular belief that religion of Albanians is Albanianism, surveys of Albanian population present the information that mayority of Albanians are Muslims and rest of them are Christians.
Consequences of the myth
Being a core myth of the Albanian nationalism the myth of Albanian indifference to religion affected not only the Albanian society but other myhts of Albanian nationalism as well.
Social aspects
There is a positive aspect of this myth. According to it, the ideal Albanian community constructs Albanians who are "civilised", "pure" and "authentic". It gives legitimization to sympathy communities show to each other.
The negative aspect of this myth is its basis on suspicion of attempts aimed to tear the Albanian nation apart. This myth associate a manipulation of the religion with foreign nations, by associating themselves with other Albanian religious communities. Foreign nations are perceived as enemies driven by politics, imperialism or selfish interest to have power over the Albanians whose religious communities are being under big risk to involuntary pursue anti-Albanian interest. Fan S. Noli emphasized negative consequence of negative attitude of the first Albanian nationalists toward religion — Albanians were perceived as people without religion.
Regardless of the claims of the nationalistic ideology that Albanians are indifferent to the religion, with Albanianism as their only true religion, there were significant divisions within Albanian society based on the religion.
Basic narrative to other myths of Albanian nationalism
The Myth of Albanian indifference to religion affected the construction of the Myth of Skanderbeg. The religious aspect of Skanderbeg's struggle against Muslims was eluded by Albanian nationalists because it could divide Albanians, who are both Muslims and Christians, and undermine their unity. Therefore Albanian nationalists selectively used elements of the Skanderbeg's image and painted it as nationalist myth presenting Skanderbeg as hero of the nation.
The Myth of Albanian indifference to religion is also connected with the Myth of Albanian provenance (sometimes referred to as Myth of Albanian Origins and Priority). It is taken for granted that modern Albanian community is based on Albanian blood relation linked with Illyrian pedigree. Such ethnogenesis is used to support Albanian "religious tolerance".
Albanian nationalists incorporated the Myth of Albanian Indifference to Religion together with Myth of Skanderbeg and Myth of Albanian Origins and Priority into territorial claims of Albanian nation state. Albanian nationalists glorified " the ancestors' cult" and connected it with Skanderbeg as one of ancestors whose territory Albanians inherited. Skanderbeg is therefore utilized as symbol of the meaning of the Albanian nation: nation who inherited the right to live on land inherited from Illyrians via Skanderbeg. That meaning was proclaimed to legitimize claims that Albanian nation state should include all areas which were populated by Albanian speaking people for centuries because Albanians inherited those territories from their Illyrian ancestors via Skanderbeg. The fact that those ancestors had different religion is ignored in such claims because the sanctity of Albanian language underlined the Albanian indifference toward religion.

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