Rasmus Bøttker Hansen

My identity
I am a Danish theology student, who is proud of being Danish citizen but also a EU citizen. I am currently writeing my bachelor, in the field of New Testament, Pauls letter to the Galatians.
Why Nationalism concerns me

Nationalism is a concern for me within the church, because it is easy for a majority church to isolate itself and thereby make an isolated theology, where its easy to forget that the church is a part of a bigger narrative, a bigger picture. The same goes for politics. I think we have to define us together and remember that more perspectives can fill out a bigger picture.
My studies of Paul has led me to a greater understanding of the ecumenical work. Reading his letters has left me with the feeling of the work he had to do to keep the early congregations together. I see a potential danger in churches only defining themselves without other churches in other countries who identify as the same church, ie. Lutherans or Calvinist. Therefore im looking forward for this conference, to actually meet people representing other protestant churches from other EU contries. I find it so important that the churches keep the conversations alive, and keep getting a better understanding of eachother.

Maximilian Braisch

Born in the freshly united Berlin and grown up and educated for ONE half of my life in progressist and liberal cities of Germany (in Baden, Württemberg and Franken), but shaped and impregnated mainly through the OTHER half of my life in the home region of my parents and hole family, romanian Transsylvania, I feel myself as a wanderer between the worlds and a sensible knower of their slight differences. As lutheran Saxon, earning a lot from local community´s cultural and spiritual richness, I early began to feel resistance against the defamation of home („Heimat“) and heritage, which I was learned to in German schools. On the other hand my inner conviction converges to Paul´s „All things are lawful for me; but not all things are expedient“ and to a justification of any lifestyle which offers love to the neighbour.

Being on the path from a freelancer musician to a church pastor, I´m continously looking for ways of communication between the multifaceted beauty of our world and our understanding of God´s will. I try to tolerate all, also extreme, postions (of different friends I have) concerning the relation between identity and society, national (/ethnical/familiar…) belonging and foreign attractions and I try to look always for their good motives. A big curiosity for opinions and perspectives fulfills the meaning of our existence.

Karl Michael

First of all, I think that today the issue of nationalism is back in the limelight, not only in Europe, but in much of the world. For example, in Chile we are currently discussing whether or not we should be a plurinational country, which would imply recognizing the indigenous people of the territory. This has led to criticism, such as that the country could fragment and lose its sense of unity. It is therefore worth asking, what is it that unites a State and its population, and whether we are prepared to discuss the diversity of its members. In this sense, I see with concern how nationalist discourse is used at the political level in order to exclude those who “do not belong” to a certain place, without carrying out a deeper reflection in terms of identity. Therefore, the relevance of talking about this issue and its implications in the life of society and the church.

On the other hand, talking about identity is always a complex matter, and even more so if we have to define ourselves in those terms in a country that has different peoples and cultures. I could say that I am a Chilean from the south of Chile, with German roots (my name, my paternal origin, the school where I study, etc.) which differentiates me from a good percentage of the Chilean population in general.At the same time, I have my maternal origins on an island in the south of Chile, Chiloé, which is also somewhat particular for the Chilean context. Still, I identify with the Chilean idiosyncrasy, with its particular language and culture. I would then define myself as a Chilean, southern, with German and Chiloé roots.

Jonas Drejer Jensen

Why the topic of nationalism concerns you personally and how your identity is defined.
My name is Jonas, I’m 25 years old and I am approaching my last year of my master’s degree.
Im from Denmark and study at Aarhus University Arts, Theology.

Though my personal interests and studies I’ve worked with the topic of extremism within Christianity. Quite often the topic of Christian extremism and right-wing nationalism goes hand in hand and as such I have experience with that as well. As such I have also in regards to my work studied multiple nationalistic manifestos on the topics that concern Christianity. Namely those of Brenton Tarrant and Anders Breivik. Extending that, I have investigated the more fringe organizations such as Qanon, Incel culture, 3%ers and the like. I have not as such worked with the more mainstream politics on a professional level though I do have some political interest.
Personally I find that there is a worrying increase in nationalist sentiments that are unhealthy for unity and cooperation, and I find that many of these tendencies needs to be counteracted on multiple fronts, primarily, as in concerns us, the church front. I find there is a need for greater understanding of the issues of nationalism and how to increase cooperation across cultures and, by extension, religion.
This may very well place me on the more cosmopolitan aspect of the spectrum.

István Tasnadi

Nationalistic ideas are not just widespread in Middle-East Europe of the 21th century, but they also seem to get stronger political representation in most of the countries. The rhetoric of Nationalism is so much present in the public life and debates as it cannot be left unnoticed or ignored. I was always interested how the followers of the same ideas can be sometimes the worst enemies of each other. By studying the logic of Nationalism, I hope that we can get insight into the failures of the past, and we can shape our future better. It is important to perceive the dangers behind nationalistic ideas, which lead to exclusion, but also to identify the resources lying in the benevolent national sentiment of the individual.

I would describe myself as a reformed Hungarian, who comes from a region with rich cultural heritage. The multilingualism, -etnicity and -culturalism of Transylvania can show us how living together in peace is not self-evident, but possible, and working together for an inclusive society should be one of the top priorities of every community. The history of Transylvania in the last century provides us both good and bad examples – we have to choose our way, which one we want to follow.

Asbjørn Lauridsen

Nationalism is a hard word to describe. In the later years it has become some what a buzz-word – an adjective that brings connotations to isolationism and fascism. While history shows that nationalism can bring totalitarianism it has also brought with it a feeling of safety – a place to belong to. It has brought movements of democracy. To have a national identity or to be proud of the country you belong to can be a great thing. The same applies to studies of nations history, to find examples of great leaders or events that formed a given nation. But nationalism is like a wild animal – it becomes dangerous if threatened. When a group of people get scared that their traditions, rituals, or life quality is slowly slipping out of their hands, they will rise to protect it. Then national history becomes a steppingstone for an aggressive, land gripping policy. Then identity becomes a border – religion a weapon.

I define myself as Danish. I am born in Denmark; I speak Danish and I feel at home in the small northern kingdom. But these geographical things are not what have formed me. Rather than my skin color or place of birth it is the Danish mentality that I find most important. Two things of this mentality should be presented here. Firstly, is the idea of an educated populace both in the traditional school way: history, maths, languages, and in spirit (german: geist). Secondly
Denmark has had a high historical tolerance level. For example: Some cities had religious freedom before it was constitutionalized in 1849 and our strategic position geographically meant, that Denmark could have relative positive relations with the Soviet Union. I am of course a product of all this history. And I embrace it. Both the regrettable things that have happened throughout history and the warm feeling of home when I cross the border into the Kingdom of Denmark.

Anna Ravn

My name is Anna (Neldeberg Fallesen) Ravn, and I’m 25 years old. I’m born and raised in Sønderjylland (the southern part of Denmark that is linked to Germany), but today I live in Aarhus where I study theology at Aarhus University. My family isn’t very religious, but they more have a kind of “cultural Christianity”. I have especially got my interest for the church and Christianity during my childhood and a church choir I sang in. I’m dreaming about becoming a priest in the Danish church when I have finished my university studies, and I want go back to Sønderjylland to get a job.

For me nationalism is a very interesting and important issue – especially in connection to Sønderjylland. The area is originally the Northern part of the duchies Schleswig and Holstein, that had been under the Danish king – and later was made a part of Preussen in 1864. In 1920 after WW1 there was a vote about where to place the new border between Denmark and Germany, and that was the foundation for the Danish-German border today.

All this makes Sønderjylland an area with a lot of Danish nationalism. On the other hand, is the Danish and German minority on both sides of the border some of the best cooperating minorities in the world today. I think that is very inspiring.

Anna Lerch

During my master I have studied Protestant Theology in Zürich and did an ecumenical exchange program in Jerusalem (Theologisches Studienjahr Jerusalem). In Jerusalem I had the chance to take classes in Jewish and Islamic studies and I got in touch with contextual Palestinian Theology. I am currently a vicar in the Reformed church Stäfa-Hombrechtikon, which is part of the Reformed church canton Zürich. In August I will be ordained as Verbi Divini Ministra at the Grossmünster Zürich, Switzerland.

Switzerland has four recognized national languages: German, French, Italian and Romansh. The history of the Swiss reformation was with Zwingli and Bullinger (German), Calvin and Farel (French), Gallicius and Chiampell (Romansh) et al. multilingual from the start. The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS) represents roughly 2 million Protestants and is associated with 24 Reformed cantonal churches and the Protestant Methodist church in Switzerland. So, my questions – living and working in Switzerland – are: How can this (maybe forgotten) inward diversity be made fruitful for a welcoming and integrating church culture? And how can outward facing diversity, ecumenism and cosmopolitanism be fostered in a more complex and connected world, with the thread of nationalism on its horizon?

Alžběta Hanychová

I grew up in a small town in the middle of the Czech Republic, where there was a very homogeneous society. On the other hand, I was strongly influenced by the collegial environment of my parents – both of them are priests, my father from my early childhood worked intensively with prison chaplains in the Czech Republic and abroad, we visited each other often, and we made a concerted effort to understand other cultures, which was not very common outside of Prague in the 1990s. I have to say that I enjoyed it very much, yet I was rather discouraged by the demanding nature of the parish priest’s vocation for my family.

In high school, I made strong friends with the school’s Catholic community and managed to participate in the then budding exchange visits. Eventually, I was drawn to theology and during my studies I was very interested in ecumenics and took the opportunity to study for a semester in Leipzig, Germany.
After 5 years, I interrupted my studies to work in Diakonia, in charge of professional training for social workers. I managed to .
In 2017 I finished my studies and entered the vicariate and then the pastoral ministry. I now work and live on the periphery of Prague (Horní Počernice), many people from the congregation have spent part of their lives abroad and we have managed to cultivate warm ecumenical relationships in the local community.
For konference:
1) A year ago I started to get involved in the Evangelical Preachers’ Fellowship – with my colleague Pfann (who was originally coming as well) we are in charge of the international agenda. Much of the contact has been established over the years, but we would like to extend our cooperation to a few more countries.
2) Personally, I observe a bit that many of the personal international contacts are with the generation on the verge of retirement. I very much appreciate this continuity and mature experience, yet I would very much like to attend a conference where people who are at the start or in the first stage of their service come together.
3) I will stay in Vienna until Monday, and have arranged to visit the Gaubenskirche Lutheran congregation in Simmering, where the congregation is warmly open to various minorities.

Andrej Lacko

The topic of nationalism in the old continent has been gaining importance over the past decades. Nationalist parties are increasingly shaping the political spectrum of European countries. After France avoided a far-right turn by losing to a pro-European candidate and general condemnation of the Russian nationalistic activities in Ukraine, it might seem the nationalistic crusades in Europe suffer one severe blow after the other. Nevertheless, the countries with their political parties and churches are obliged to face the new challenges brought by the recent political happening and take action to prevent serious consequences, reaching far beyond rejecting refugees and building fences.

I consider nationalism, especially its far-right form, a dangerous relict of the past, territorial times utilized as an easy-to-use weapon against not always unproblematically functioning democracies of the modern European countries. This is especially evident in the post-Soviet states, where problems such as corruption or malfunctioning social systems occur daily. I do not want my identity to be defined by a particular nation, I rather support the cosmopolitan point of view.

Translate »