Skip to main content

Albanians Rediscover God

Today's Washington Post has an article on the revival of religious communities in Shkoder.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I have to say I meself made my humble contribution to this Albanian godfest when I was 16. Of course it was all for naught as I was accompanying Bible-belt Yanks.;)
Anonymous said…
i think the article has a point. Myself i've noticed that unfortunately Islamic influence in Albania has been growing. It's sad that foreigners always ha ve a better understanding of the situation in Albania than Albanians themselves!
Our number one radical islamist is Berisha and then comes Nano who was sort of the best man in Turkey's priminister/or prestident's son wedding. Nothing wrong with that, except that the bride was 19 and her veil tight around her face. Disgusting!
Anonymous said…
As much as i hate to admit it, I have to agree with the last comment made by anonymous. It used to be that religion did not matter much in the country but with Albania's inclusion in the OIC (Organization of Islamic Countries) in 1991-92, all of that changed. Mosques spread out everywhere and an Islamization of the cities and the country side with high minarets took place. It's kinda sad because especially after 9/11 that's what foreigners notice most about the country given that the mosques are in such a central position in each city and they have the prayers played outloud 5 times a day. To a foreigner surely this must look like a muslim country. But in truth very few people attend mosque service on fridays or church on sundays, for that matter.

Popular posts from this blog

Albania and the Perils of the 21st Century

Another article on religion in Albania appeared yesterday. Patrick Poole, writing in the American Thinker , argues that Saudi funding for the construction of mosques and the training of imams is a threat to Albania, since these mosques and imams reflect the fundamentalist interpretation of Islam dominant in Saudi Arabia.

Kamëz Part 3

For those who want a lengthy detailed report into the election there will, undoubtedly, be a range of them to chose from. In the meantime, here are my brief reflections on the last few weeks. At the heart of the problems around this election is the unwarranted influence of political parties on all aspects of the electoral process. Every institution responsible for organising and facilitating the election is under the control of political parties. The Electoral Code itself was heavily revised only days before the original date for the elections and only weeks before the actual date (Law 9676 13 January 2007). It was these revisions, specifically Article 181/2, that created the overly complicated identification requirements that caused so much confusion, and undoubtedly disenfranchised some voters. Let's be clear though: these revisions were not designed to protect the interests of the electorate. They were drafted primarily because the political parties do not trust each other. The ...

Big in Albania

Ask me how much I knew about Albania before coming here and my list would be a short one: Enver Hoxha, bunkers and Sir Norman Wisdom. I have no idea when or how I acquired this extensive body of knowledge, but the association of Norman Wisdom with Albania was by far the most interesting part of it. I remember watching Norman Wisdom's old films on British television. My parents were fans of his wholesome, slapstick comedy, but apparently missed the ideological significance of Pitkin's relationship with Mr Grimsdale. Pitkin, the downtrodden and oppressed representative of the workers, triumphed every time over his capitalist oppressor, Mr Grimsdale - and he got the girl. It took a theorist of Hoxha's insight and profundity to discern this deeper political message. It always seemed tremendously unlikely, yet the story of Sir Norman's fame in Albania has been reported in worthy sources like the BBC , the Guardian and the Daily Telegraph . According to the Guardian, when Wi...