The events during the communist revolution significantly influence the state and understanding of the contemporary Slovenian social situation. In the dissertation, in the light of the ideological contradiction between Christianity and Communism, and on the basis of the conflict that developed during the revolution, the author explores the causes and grounds for this influence. In this work the author shows the fundamental connection between the contemporary situation and the communist revolution in Slovenia. She chooses Girard's mimetic theory and scapegoat as a conceptual framework and tool for understanding. Girard describes culture as a mimetic cycle, where the individual imitates the other (this starts from the very childhood, when the child imitates his parents and thus becomes a social being). Imitation is the driving force of every company. In addition, imitation can also become a destruction of society, culture. Girard therefore implements the scapegoat as a conflict resolution where the two entities share the same desire and together turn against the scapegoat, which causes them a mimetic crisis and its sacrifice is a condition for restoring social order and social security. This general theoretical framework also makes it possible – to explore past social conflicts, and in particular their consequences in the present, including aspects of reconciliation processes and transitional justice. Therefore, the author fruitfully uses it in the mentioned research.
The author embraces Christianity and communism as two opposing ideological bases, which are already diametrically opposed in their conceptual bases, and are especially illuminated by Girard's theory. Christianity, with its cristian notion of personal freedom, stands out from the cyclical nature of the scapegoat, but communism is, on the contrary, based on mimeticism. Victims of character in Girard's conception that justify the murder of a scapegoat are based on facts that become acceptable for murder, regardless of the (un) reality of them. The implementation of Girard's theory on the Slovenian situation thus encompasses two key aspects. The first aspect is the sacrifice of the opponents of the communist revolution with the sacrificial signs of collaboration, riots, … This sacrifice makes it possible to establish a totalitarian communist regime in Yugoslavia, and thus in Slovenia. Communism, as a totalitarian regime, does not allow an alternative, it uniforms and isolates man. At the same time, it establishes total control and terror. Christianity, on the other hand, empowers man with uniqueness, inviolability, irreplaceability and freedom. Another aspect concerns the fact that the conflict from the communist revolution has still not been resolved, and that the rule of law and the establishment of a democratic society are still, in the eyes of many Slovenians, an unfinished project. Despite the democratic state system and the collapse of communism as a long-term socio-political and economic system, the author emphasizes two challenges of contemporary society in Slovenia. The first is the presence of communist ideology in the thinking and action of individuals, and the second challenge is the insufficient implementation of transitional justice.
The aforementioned aspects of the analysis are based first of all on the very conceptual contradiction and conception of both communism and Christianity. Christianity and communism are fundamentally different. Particular emphasis is placed on aspects of the perception of man as a free and rational being in both conceptual frameworks. Communism, by communist revolution, stands against man, against human dignity and against human freedom, thereby placing Christianity in a defensive posture. In doing so, the Church, which as one of the most prominent institutions has not been taken over and controlled by the Communist Revolution, becomes a defender of human life and human rights, while at the same time it stands against the Communist Revolution. Christianity, as well as the Church, uses various methods of defense and rebellion that are not always completely in line with Christian teaching. The methods of defense were the Christian stance in relation to war, to fellow human beings, to the occupier and to the revolutionary forces, physical defense, cooperation with both occupation and revolutionary forces, cultural, media and political activities. Nevertheless, revolutionary violence escalated, especially in the last years of World War II and the first years after the revolution. The situations in which individuals in Slovenia were placed were not straightforward or straightforward. It was not merely a choice between a revolutionary or a counter-revolutionary party, but the circumstances were more complex rather than straightforward because of the occupying forces. People were threatened with disapproval, persecution or violence from all sides. The Communist Party monopolized resistance to the occupation forces. The rudiments of any other, independent organization of resistance could have been punished. Quite a few Christians, for the sake of patriotism or inability to evade mobilization, became part of the liberation movement, regardless of the ideological basis of the movement or the organization that organized the movement. The church was not, however, a much-desired partner in the resistance, as evidenced by Kardelj's instruction: „Shoot the priests in the troops.“ (Griesser-Pečar 1996, 109) Not only the instruction, but also the deliberate degradation of priests through imprisonment, detention, deportation and execution, are witnesses to the Communist Party's attitude towards Church dignitaries.
Revolutionary violence has left unprecedented consequences not only in that time but also in the present, with the author's exploration of these consequences also playing a significant role in personal stories, personal and social responsibility, and the intergenerational transmission of traumas that they preclude a real transition from a totalitarian to a democratic system. Transition and transitional justice is thus a mechanism that seeks to fully complete the transition on a personal and social level, and to establish trust in state institutions, the functioning of state structures. Although the situation in Slovenia points to some of the positive effects of transitional justice, such as denationalization, the opening of archives, it still lacks the enforcement of justice on a personal level; for example, with regard to aspects of media pluralization, orderly economic initiatives, dialogue between different social groups, including the entry of religious communities into public debate, building confidence in state institutions, etc.
The view of the communist revolution in Slovenia through the prism of Girard the scapegoat offers a unique framework that connects the understanding of the communist revolution and the communist system with the contemporary position of Slovene society. On the one hand, Girard's mechanism of the scapegoat can be understood as supplemented in the communist revolution, and on the other, the mechanism seeks to supplement in the sense of the full implementation of transitional justice.
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