Christianity and politics often mix but the result is not always that great, to say the least. There must be some reason why Christianity, which fancies itself as one of the world’s most peaceable religions, is often used by people to march against others. Maybe the answer is the same as it is with those chemicals that only explode when mixed together.   

On June 15, news agencies happily announced that Volen Siderov, leader of the ultra-nationalist Ataka party, had appeared at Shoumen University Konstantin Preslavsky for his final exam. The VIP student had been studying theology at the university since 2002 but finished in 2009 after taking a break in 2007.

Siderov’s theme for his exam was "the Resurrection of Christ".

"I think I did well, I filled in the four sheets of paper I was given," Siderov apparently told reporters after the exam. Naturally, he didn’t shirk from making symbolic references to the upcoming elections on July 5. "I think the exam’s theme has a symbolic meaning for the elections," he said.

I am sure that many people would be interested to read what Siderov wrote in his essay on the resurrection of Christ. I am not quite sure whether exam papers fall under the legal power of the law on protection of personal data and how this matter is being treated but, for me, what is more interesting is the choice of Siderov’s major in the first place.

Bulgaria has had a number of people who have graduated from a seminary or other Christian Orthodox- related educational institutions and, unfortunately, history accords none of them a particularly favourably place. Father Hristofor Sabev’s case is a notorious one. Sabev, also a nuclear physicist, is stil referred to in the media by his mocking nickname "Fori the firefly" for his affection for public protests with candles in his hands. He was one of the most memorable faces of Bulgaria’s political life in the first years after communism’s fall.

A firm opponent of everything related to socialism, "Fori the firefly" believed in democracy as if it was his mission on earth to fight communists. Naturally, step by step, this radical stand consigned him to political oblivion only to be referred to today as one of the most colourful (or should we say black, as this was the colour of his robe?) personas of Bulgaria’s transition from socialism to democracy. So Siderov has an example of how radical politics mixed with religious beliefs often get the better of their user.

Not that Siderov has anything to do with Sabev. Both are two separate individuals and both are a product of their time and people’s fears. Sabev had the ghost of communism and the former communist police as his flag while, today, Siderov uses the Turks and all other minorities to scare people.

When leaving the university on June 15, Siderov said that it was time for the resurrection of Bulgaria to start. Otherwise, he said, Bulgaria was facing a new Ottoman rule. Funnily enough, it reminded me of Sabev’s cries, from the early 1990s, that communist rule was about to return.