PragueBuzz!

Christmas is approaching. Wooden cribs with baby Jesus inside proudly present in many Catholic churches and public stages. Czechs readily and delightfully tell tales about their baby Jesus. Locals and expats flock to the markets and street shopping for natural and artificial Christmas trees. Cathedrals and chapels readily flaunt their splendor. Angels, Saints and crosses take over local craft stores. Prague’s ubiquitous religious symbols might have tricked a newbie to think that he has entered a serious place for believers.

On the contrary, Christmas is merely a joyful event celebrated with great enthusiasm in one of the most atheistic country in the world.

Historically, Czechs came to regard the Catholic Church as a proxy for the Austrian Hapsburgs who crushed their rebellions. When the Hapsburg Empire collapsed after World War I, an anti-Catholic backlash swept the nation, though this was eventually overshadowed by World War II and 40 years of Soviet domination. “After all that history,” said Jirina Siklova, a sociologist and former dissident, “the Czechs are in the midst of a spiritual and moral hangover.”

Being a black sheep among her more pious neighbors: Poles, Slovaks, Germans and Austrians, Czechs claim that they do find contentment in a secular life. One Czech puts it like this: “I don’t need a church for God. I believe in bits and pieces of different religions. I believe in reincarnation, Christmas and nature. It’s more liberalized.”


[Theage.com.au]