Balkan Idols: Religion and Nationalism in Yugoslav States

Los Angeles and the ensuing Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, New York. In
one letter, Jonnie Mundt from Dallas, Texas, exclaimed: “the wonderful people
of Sarajevo worked together and showed a fascinating talent, creativity,
honesty and self-sacrifice. ...Yourpeople gave to the world such a wonderful
example of peaceful cooperation.” 23 Laureen Ruffner, from Las Vegas,
wrote as follows: “Nothing in the world is so badly needed as mutual understanding
and cooperation among different peoples; your country is the
best example in the world! Americans can learn a lot about the special spirit
and compassion of the Yugoslav peoples. I was touched by the sincere togetherness
and warmth of the Yugoslav people.” 24
“You have shown to the world that peace and cooperation among all
peoples are possible,” wrote Charles C. Dierks when he returned from the
Balkans to his native Hemet, California, and added: “thank you for the most
beautiful Olympic spectacle I have ever seen. Your wonderful children look
so healthy; may the good Lord bless you all!” Jack and Agnes Mudry from
Grand Junction, Colorado, dedicated to the host country of the Fourteenth
Winter Olympic Games the following piece of poetry:
Oh amazing Yugoslavia, country of many nationalities,
United in a magnificent single whole,
Full of beauty, customs, folklore and taste
Your children are wonderful, your men are courageous
Let the wonderful Yugoslavia live forever! 25
The Yugoslav press boasted that the Sarajevo Olympics was the world’s reward
to Yugoslavia as a factor of stability in international relations and honored
its success in international sports. The host city of Sarajevo, with its
domes, crosses, synagogues, and minarets, epitomized the Olympic ideal of
peace and cooperation in the world. The host country took the opportunity to
show the world a new kind of socialism different from the Soviet model. For example,
the Olympic Organization Committee provided halls for prayer and worship
in the Sarajevo Olympic village. The Committee chairman, Branko Mikulić,
held meetings with religious officials to discuss how to improve spiritual
services for guests and athletes. Even though Mikulić was a “liberal communist”
in economic matters, he showed no compromise over the issue of a multiparty
system in Yugoslavia. At the 7 February 1984 press conference, a Western
journalist, having declared that Yugoslavia seemed more democratic than
other communist countries, asked Mikulić why the League of Communists still
hesitated to allow the multiparty system. The Yugoslav leader replied:
If we allow [a] multiparty system in this country, all ...thepeople would
get would be several new ethnic and religious parties without any specific
political or economic agenda and issues except hatred for one another and
their leaders’ cries for partitions and secessions. We would have another
Lebanon in this country, and the League of Communists of Yugoslavia will
never let it happen! 26
united we stand, divided we fall 93