Prof. dr Zorica Kuburić

Novi Sad

The young and religious tolerance

Summary

The results of the research of religious distance and religious tolerance of high school students in Serbia are examined in this work. Survey was done Center for empirical research of religion from Novi Sad 2002. year on sample of 610 pupils. The obtained data show that the majority of high school students are opened and tolerant to high extent, however there are those who show mistrust towards the other confessions and look for the religious homogeneity. The young are tolerant towards the members of different religious confessions in the sense to enable the freedom of choice and equal rights for all, but not sufficiently open and ready for life in religious heterogeneous environment. The reservation and distance are more expressed in the possibility of creation of direct contact and different aspects of social relations with the members of different confessional groups. High-school students from Vojvodina show higher religious tolerance and less distance than the young people of the same age from other regions in Serbia. The fear of religious heterogeneous environment is less expressed by young people from national and religious mixed families and with friends from other confessions. The young people, who are religious, show higher social distance and religious intolerance. The data about the spreading of religious distance and intolerance among young people show the need to pay greater attention in schools to the development of tolerance and education for life in multinational and multi-confessional society. Besides family, school and mass media, the religious communities can give significant contribution in achieving this goal.

Key words: religious tolerance, religious distance, religiosity, and students, school