Socialism as Secularized Society To Be “a Churchgoer“ During Socialism – A Case Study

The paper analyzes the status of churchgoers (believers) in a socialist secularized society – the Czechoslovak Socialistic Republic. This qualitative study was focused on the self-understanding of believers’ own identity as the identity of a marginalized group members and on strategies developed by the churchgoers within social context. The theory of symbolic internationalism, developed by E. Goffman and H. Becker, is used to illustrate the labeling and the development of marginalized groups of outsiders within the social context of the socialist secularized society. The method used in the study were focused groups sittings. There were three sittings at which all the participants were Roman Catholics between the ages of 30 to 65, churchgoers from churchgoing families. The research reveals ways of becoming aware of one’s identity and of being different among peers, colleagues and other people, and strategies used to interact – gaining respect among peers, strong bonding with the believer’s community, hiding one’s own faith away. A key topic then was also education as a way to reach a better status in society