By Maria Ravani,
The spotlight of the last few days has been recently hogged by a story about a family that lived in recluse, outside of a village in the area of Corinthia, in a cave. Far away from the hectic life of cities and the noisy commotion of streets, cars, and humanity in general. This group of early Christians (as they self-identify) has chosen a communal way of living and solitude over city-life. And apparently, Greek society is livid (or so the media likes to say).
The news broke out when another villager of the area visited the local police station to report that the father of the family, during a conflict, burned his car and threatened him. Authorities went to question the accused man and came face to face with the unprecedented images. The police squad that first went to investigate the place was attacked by various members of the group (the father, the mother, the 15 year-old son, and the 22 year-old daughter of the family), while one policeman was injured during the incident. The four members were arrested and brought to the police station, where charges were made against them. The policemen on the scene counted 10 people in total (among which were underage children) who lived in a caravan and makeshift caves. The four were freed and later, when state officials arrived to further examine the living conditions there, it became apparent that the underage kids of the family had fled the scene along with the mother, the oldest daughter, and some other members of the group. They questioned the father, who was accused, among other things, of resistance, and sent the underage son to a nearby hospital, where he stayed for further examinations, given the environment in which he was living. As of today, the rest of the family is still nowhere to be found and neither the father seems aware of their whereabouts.
When pictures of the caravan, the makeshift cave-temple, and the tunnel began circulating the Internet, a public dialogue started regarding the conditions in which these people were living. Specifically, about the appropriateness of these conditions, since kids were residing in these lodgings. The aspect of religion was also an important topic of the conversation (as the family identified as early Christians), because Greece is mainly an orthodox country, with the Orthodox Church playing an important role in the social arena.
The Greek state does not have such a complicated history with religious groups and cults as the United States does. So, it is no surprise that the media, as well as Greek society, are on the ‘’hunt’’ for whatever information they can get about the style of living that this family has adopted. As of now, however, the father of the group has given certain specifics about their choices of living. They refuse to use technological assets such as televisions, ovens, etc. and are securing their food mainly through hunting and cultivation. They are against vaccination and children not attending school, since parents are against a system which, as they say, ‘’is promoting different values and does not protect the poor and unconventional’’. Their way of living, as they say, is by the standards of early Christians and seems really similar to the Amis in the United States. They are not Greeks (because Greeks historically are related to paganism), they called themselves Romani since their beliefs are rooted not in Imperium Romanum but in the Roman Empire, after the establishment of Constantinople as a major center of power.
The paradoxes of the story are many. The father, though against humankind’s technological advances, was working as a public official remotely (!) with a laptop and Internet connection, which was powered by solar panels. He was also really active on Social Media and had his own blog where he was posting anti-vaccine content during the coronavirus outbreak of 2019. Another interesting information that has surfaced is about his connections with the criminal organization ‘’Golden Dawn’’. Overall, his self-identification as a religious minority, a destitute and mentally ill individual, has given the media plenty of ‘’controversial’’ content to twist the narrative and promote a certain type of image for this group of people. With the media ‘’judges’’ calling on the State to intervene and save the children, all the while using religious views as a point of joke.
This unique story became something of a twisted fairytale. The case turned into a witch hunt and people on TV panels questioned the family’s origins and fighting over children’s rights to education and decent living conditions. And the question arises: is it a part of the right to freedom and religious freedom specifically for someone to raise their kid in whatever way a parent deems aligned to one’s morals? Or are we allowed as a society to peek into others’ households and intervene? The answer is yet to be clear…
References
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