Pentecostalism registered a huge success over the past two decades in the poor communities of Romania , many of which are facing segregation related issues as limited access to education , health services and a high rate of unemployment .
It is very well known by now , especially in the western media , that ethnic rromas tend to organize them self in to compact communities which face the risk of becoming hot spots for many of the issues mentioned earlier .
The compact character of rroma communities is the result of the prejudice that they face among the majority of romanians , when they are organized in compact communities , cultural elements such as the language and tradition remain unaltered by the influence of the majority .
Even so , these communities tend to live on the fine border between culture and anticulture , the second term refers to collective behavioral patterns that are violent , destructive and are in opposition with many fundamental human values.
Such communities suffer from a the lack of a solid system of social values , do to their economic struggle , one can use any methods and hang on to any opportunity to survive , even if this comes along with betrayal of other members from the community. In time this lead to the growth of a culture that promotes duplicity in group relations , fear and lack of trust in neighbors , friends and relatives and negative social representation that represent a great risk to children in their early years.
Over the last years , the romanian authorities had designed many programs that have as main objective the stimulation of school attendance among children from poor rroma communities . Group instability and social conflicts come in different forms but they always have a number of common causes:
1. The lack of a solid system of social values
2. A system of social values imposed from the exterior that is not validated by the members of a community.
3. Duplicity in behavior of community members .
4. Big educational and cultural gaps between generations.
Many rroma communities from Romania found a way in order to stabilize the relations between community members and to neutralize the tensions that they have with outside world .
The solution in this case was faith , and we are not talking about any of the traditional religious groups that the rromas were affiliated to over the course the many centuries from their arrival on this lands , the religious group that we are talking about is that of the pentecostals. Pentecostalism became over the last two decades more and more predominant in many rroma communities.
The solution in this case was faith , and we are not talking about any of the traditional religious groups that the rromas were affiliated to over the course the many centuries from their arrival on this lands , the religious group that we are talking about is that of the pentecostals. Pentecostalism became over the last two decades more and more predominant in many rroma communities.
The success of this protestant groups is sometimes put on the fact that congregations have a very well designed system of social care for its members , many being tempted to come in to the group for material benefits .
Some wonder if the material benefits were the only reason that made many rromas become active members of pentecostal congregations.
Before their conversion to Christianity , the rromas that inhabited the territories of the Romanian Principalities practiced a form of "paganism" , a set a believes that focused more on spirituality and the importance of a balance between the individual and the world of spirits.
A important component of this faith being shaped by elements such as spirits and energies . If we compare it with pentecostalism we find a few common point that can explain us the success of the spiritual revival among the rromas.
The most obvious similarity is that of the presence of the spiritual component , even after their conversion to Christianity , rroma culture preserved many aspects of its pagan spirituality in traditions that involve the use of magic. Not only in the case of the rromas this was one the main factors that lead to the success of new faith , in many african nations pentecostalism was adopted very easily do to its similarities with the traditional religions which often described the possession of people by both good and bad spirits.
A other very important factor was the relation between faith and ethnic identity , rroma identity is almost exclusively based on the language , traditions and race .
Having a very distinctive identity from the other ethnic groups of Europe , do to their indo-iranian origins , religion was not needed to consolidate a group identity that was very solid from the beginning .
Because of this , rromas adopted the religion of the community in which they settled . The success was also fueled by the fact that pentecostal moral didn't ban the wearing of the traditional dress , they even stimulated its usage when attending religious services . The positive aspects that the new faith brought are:
- the decrease in the use of alcool
- the decrease of violence .
- the social reconstruction of communities.
- a new social value systems .
- a better integration of rromas in society .
A other crucial factor for the spread of pentecostalism is the way in which the God - believer relationship is viewed . Having the possibility of a direct communication with God with no intermediate, as in the case of the traditional christian groups of Romania . This being backed by services where scripture interpretation holds a key place.
Being part of such congregations gave members the possibility of coming in contact with other members of romanian background , contributing to the creation of a variety social representations .
No comments:
Post a Comment