Multiculturalism: Orthodox Christian Serbs in the BalkansBeing part of a certain culture means having common ground with other people. Most of the time we are not even aware that we belong to a certain culture, but every human being belongs somewhere, and not just to one group but to many of them. Our beliefs, customs, traditions, place of birth, religion can determine our membership in a group. Christianity itself is present all over the world and although long ago it was one religion; The branches of Christianity today are innumerable. The three most important branches of Christianity are Catholicism, Protestantism, and Orthodoxy, although Orthodoxy is less well known in the Western world. The major division of the Church occurred in 1054, when the Church split into two branches, Catholicism and Orthodoxy, and this event is known as the East–West Schism. The culture I chose to talk about is the culture I am also a part of, and that is Serbian Orthodoxy and believers originating from the Balkan region. The reason why I chose to talk about this culture is because it differs from any other religious culture in its own customs, traditions and beliefs and because religion interferes in their daily lives, even political ones. Religion is a very sensitive subject, especially in the Balkans. When we talk about religion, it is part of someone's spiritual life and people are mostly educated about it and know why they call themselves Christians, Muslims, Jews, etc. When we go to the Balkans, territory of the former Yugoslavia, religion is part of a person's spiritual life, but it is also linked to political beliefs and is usually determined by birth. The Balkans have three major religions and people generally associate them with their ethnicity... middle of paper ...... it will take a long time to establish peace among all Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks, but with the arrival of new generations, sectarianism itself will disappear. Works Cited Wilmer, Franke. “Identity, culture and historicity: THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF ETHNICITY IN THE BALKANS”. Global Affairs, Vol. 160, no. 1, ethnicity and politics (SUMMER 1997), pp. 3-16. Institute of Global Affairs. Heldref Publications. JSTOR Archives. Web.Fr. Dosenovich. “Specificities of Serbian Orthodoxy”. Orthodox Research Institute. Calendar of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the United States and Canada. 1986. Majstorović, Steven. “Ancient hatreds or elite manipulation: MEMORY AND POLITICS IN FORMER YUGOSLAVIA”. Global Affairs, Vol. 159, no. 4 (SPRING 1997), pp. 170-182. Institute of Global Affairs. Heldref Publications. JSTOR Archives. Web.Official webpage, “Crkveni Calendar” (trans. Church Calendar)