According to the World Christian Database, 64% of Albanians are Muslim while 29.8% are Christian.[1] However, others argue that the majority of Albanians today are either atheists Atheism can be either the rejection of theism, or the position that deities do not exist. In the broadest sense, it is the absence of belief in the existence of deities or agnostics Agnosticism is the philosophical view that the truth value of certain claims — particularly metaphysical claims regarding theology, afterlife or the existence of deities, spiritual beings, or even ultimate reality — are unknown or, in some forms of agnosticism, unknowable. It is not a religious declaration in itself, and an agnostic may also. According to the International Religious Freedom Report 2007[2]: "No reliable data were available on active participation in formal religious services, but estimates ranged from 25 to 40 percent.", leaving 60 to 75 percent of the population non-religious Irreligion is an absence of religion, indifference to religion, and/or hostility to religion. Depending on the context, it may be understood as referring to atheism, deism, nontheism, agnosticism, ignosticism, antireligion, skepticism, freethought, or secular humanism. Irreligious people may have convictions equal in depth to those of religious.[3][4][5][6]
The country does not have a history of religious extremism Extremism is a term used to describe the actions or ideologies of individuals or groups outside the perceived political center of a society; or otherwise claimed to violate common moral standards. In democratic societies, individuals or groups which advocate that democracy should be replaced with some kind of authoritarian regime are usually and takes pride in the harmony that exists across religious traditions and practices.[citation needed] Religious pragmatism Pragmatism is the philosophy where practical consequences and real effects are vital components of meaning and truth. Pragmatism began in the late nineteenth century with Charles Sanders Peirce and his pragmatic maxim. Through the early twentieth-century it was developed further in the works of William James, John Dewey and—in a more unorthodox continued as a distinctive trait of Albanian society and interreligious marriage Interfaith marriage, traditionally called mixed marriage, is marriage (either religious or civil) between partners professing different religions. Some religious doctrines prohibit interfaith marriage, and while others do allow it, most restrict it has been very common throughout the centuries, in some places even the rule. There is a strong unifying cultural identity, where Muslims A Muslim , pronounced /ˈmʊslɪm/, is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah (Arabic: مسلمة). Literally, the word means "one who submits (to God)". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah and Christians A Christian (pronounced /ˈkrɪstʃən/ ) is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who Christians believe was the Messiah (the Christ in Greek-derived terminology) prophesied in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, and the Son of God see themselves as Albanian before anything else.[citation needed] This has been solidified historically by the common experience of struggling to protect their culture in the face of various outside conquerors.
Adherence to ancient pagan beliefs also continued well in the 20th century, particularly in the northern mountain villages, many of which were devoid of churches and mosques. A Northern Albanian intellectual and poet, Pashko Vasa (1825–1892), made the trenchant remark, later co-opted by the totalitarian regime, that "Churches and mosques you shall not heed / The religion of Albanians is Albanism" (Albanian Albanian is a unique Indo-European language spoken by nearly 6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, Montenegro, and southern Serbia. Albanian is also spoken by native enclaves in Greece, along the eastern coast of southern Italy,: Mos shikoni kisha e xhamia / Feja e shqyptarit âsht shqyptaria). Skanderbeg Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg (Albanian: Gjergj Kastriot Skënderbeu, widely known as Skanderbeg, Turkish İskender Bey, meaning "Lord or Leader Alexander"), or Iskander Beg, was a prominent historical figure in the history of Albania and of the Albanian people. Known as the Dragon of Albania, he is the national hero of the Albanians and is also misquoted as saying this.[citation needed]
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