Czech atheists remain religious

From Daniel Raus and Hanka Rausova’s presentation to The Media Project's Course on Religion & Politics
 
Czechs are among Europe’s most ardent atheists, yet Czech fortune
tellers and psychics earn more money than trained psychologists, said
Daniel Raus, a senior reporter for Cesky rozhlas, Czech national radio.
 
Though they might not admit it, Czechs are actually quite religious,
Raus argued. They simply reject certain expressions of religion that
have historically held sway.
 
The result is a nation of the most superstitious atheists in central
Europe. Recent studies found that fully 50% of Czechs are “very
superstitious”. No other nation in the region had even a third of its
population in this category. Austria, Germany and Switzerland were
closest, with 32%, 30% and 23% respectively.
 
“Philosophically speaking, we can say that the Czechs are a unique
and very modern example of the old G. K. Chesterton adage: ‘When people
stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing – they believe in
anything,’” Raus observed.
 
One thing Czechs are not so quick to believe in, however, is
politics. Political activity and affiliations in the Czech Republic are
very low, Raus noted. This is remarkable in light of the social and
political upheaval the country has gone through since the fall of
communism.
 
Raus suggests that low involvement in politics results from Czechs’
suspicions about their leaders. He argued that these paralyzing
political and religious suspicions are in fact two sides of the same
Czech cultural coin: a fear of social mobilization.
 
“The Czech mentality is not to get too involved, especially in
organized initiatives,” Raus revealed. “If you get too involved, you
get burned. The Czechs want to be independent, they want to have their
own view of everything and tend to be very individualistic.”
 
Czech media capitalize on this attitude with tabloid-style content,
according to Raus. Nudity is common on the front pages of print media.
If readers bother to look inside, they are likely to encounter reports
about religious and political scandal. The most successful private
television company, Nova, has taken this approach as well with the “Red
News”, which is famous for its female reporters reading the news while
removing their clothing.
 
The frivolous nature of Czech news is one of the inheritances of
communism, Raus added. Many journalists working today were trained
under communism, which punished independence and rewarded submission.
This created modern media that are politically passive and susceptible
to the Czech Republic’s pervasive corruption.
 
In spite of the shortcomings, Raus remains hopeful about Czech
media, especially his field of radio. He says that Czech media are more
stable than media in other post-communist societies. Raus has also
earned great liberties to bring a serious perspective on religion to
Czech national radio, a top-rated network. Greater reporting
opportunities have allowed him to paint a richer picture of faith, a
task he takes up gladly.