Religion and Culture
The two main religions within countries with Slavic populations are Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism. Religious areas are clearly divided between the East Slavic and West Slavic regions though historically western Ukraine was affected by Roman Catholicism resulting in a Uniate Church. South Slavs are divided between Orthodoxy in Bulgaria, Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro and Roman Catholicism in Croatia and Slovenia, while in Bosnia and Herzegovina Muslims form a plurality.
Besides religion there are also divisions of culture and political orientations. Over time nations with West Slavic origins and the Slovenes increasingly patterned their thought and institutions on Western models in areas ranging from philosophy, art, literature, and architecture to government, law, and social structure, whereas Eastern Slavs developed their culture influenced by the once powerful Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire).
For example, while Eastern Slavic people use Cyrillic (a larger alphabet derived from the Greek and Glagolitic alphabets), Western Slavic people use the Latin alphabet. South Slavs are split, Orthodox Bulgarians, Serbs, Macedonians and Montenegrins use the Cyrillic alphabet, while Roman Catholic Croats and Slovenes and Muslim Bosniaks use the Latin alphabet.
Read more about this topic: Slavic Europe
Famous quotes containing the words religion and/or culture:
“Religion is a great force: the only real motive force in the world; but what you fellows don’t understand is that you must get at a man through his own religion and not through yours.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“The genius of American culture and its integrity comes from fidelity to the light. Plain as day, we say. Happy as the day is long. Early to bed, early to rise. American virtues are daylight virtues: honesty, integrity, plain speech. We say yes when we mean yes and no when we mean no, and all else comes from the evil one. America presumes innocence and even the right to happiness.”
—Richard Rodriguez (b. 1944)