The Greeks, the originators of Western science and rational thought, are also prone to outbursts of irrationality (though they are not alone in that). The inhabitants of a land with sparse resources and an unforgiving climate, they are hardy and independent, but four hundred years of Turkish occupation have left them with an ingrained suspicion of authority, and the two combined have resulted in a population which sometimes seems near to ungovernable. It has led to the twin national sports of tax evasion and illegal building, which persist despite successive governments’ attempts to curb them, and it is revealed in the public suspicion of many government measures ostensibly designed to make life easier or safer for the ordinary citizen.

The public reaction to the Covid pandemic provided many examples of such behaviour. The wearing of masks, which socially conscious East Asian peoples had adopted long before the pandemic, and the introduction of universal vaccination, which most families accept without demur for their children, are the most obvious cases.

The wearing of masks seemed particularly problematic for churchgoers. Despite police patrols outside churches, many resisted obligatory mask-wearing, encouraged by some bishops’ initial insistence that Covid could not be caught through Communion. A lady questioned by a TV news reporter as she emerged from a service, announced with a beatific smile that she would not catch Covid “because I believe”. Others, including local farmers in Kolymbari, simply ignored the instruction, or paid it lip service only, by wearing the mask under their chin or leaving the nose exposed.

The issue of vaccination also produced some irrational reactions. While not so many Greeks subscribed to the more extreme conspiracy theories, such as that vaccination was part of a deep plot by Bill Gates and his associates to inject the entire human population with a microchip, anti-government attitudes played a large part in vaccine refusal. A local fisherman, questioned by Afrata’s Dr Ali on Afrata Beach, admitted that he had not been vaccinated. He had nothing against vaccination, he said, adding that his wife and daughter were vaccinated, but as far as he was concerned, because the government had made it obligatory for everyone, he would have nothing to do with it.

The most egregious examples of anti-vaccine stances were among doctors who were prepared to undergo suspension from the Public Health Service, and pensioners who were prepared to have 100 euros docked from their monthly pensions, for refusing vaccination (though the latter measure only lasted 3 months).

Against these attitudes, it was the Orthodox Church which provided a voice of reason and good sense – even if it was couched in religious terms. The Ecumenical Patriarch, asked if he would be getting vaccinated, replied “Of course, I am of an age when it is necessary,” and allowed himself to be filmed getting the vaccine to set a public example. In an encyclical issued at Christmas 2021, he urged the faithful to become vaccinated: “Science, provided it serves to minister to humanity, is a precious gift from God,” he noted. He exhorted all Orthodox people to “not get carried away by the irresponsible voices of non-experts and those proclaiming themselves representatives of God and ‘spiritual advisors’ of the genuine faith, who contradict themselves woefully, however, due to their lack of love for their fellows, whose life they expose to great danger.” (Greekreporter.com)

Other unsuspected irrationalities have surfaced locally in conversations with seemingly quite normal people, including the belief that vapour trails from aircraft are evidence of some kind of assault on the populace by unnamed forces, or that a reported high cancer rate in Chania is because of the nuclear weapons held at the US/NATO base (tours of duty for US personnel are limited to 2 years for this reason, we were informed).

The most recent trigger for such attitudes, however, has been the proposal to introduce a new digital ID card, the size of a credit card and bearing a magnetic strip – an EU standard – instead of the current paper or card version, in September. Applications for the old-style ID close at the end of the month, and as a result police stations around the country have seen citizens who need to renew their ID cards lining up to obtain one before the deadline. Queues have been reported in Kozani and Patras, while demonstrations against the new card have been held or are planned in Rethymnon, Thessaloniki and Athens.

The objection to the new cards is the fear that they will contain a chip – “to tsipaki” – which will enable the government to trace people’s movements and generally open the way to 24/7 surveillance of citizens – this despite the Police’s assurance that the cards will contain no device which enables GPS tracking. The growing protest movement, fuelled by social media posts, has been supported by traditionalist elements of the Orthodox Church, who have long voiced their opposition to the principle of ID cards.

According to Keeptalkingreece.gr, several Greek Orthodox associations issued a joint statement at the beginning of August 2023 in which they stated among other things: “The Orthodox Christian Associations from all over Greece who sign this text, express their strong protest to the Greek Government, for the announced release of electronic (digital) identities from next September, after about 40 years of constant popular disapproval and rejection of similar governmental efforts.
“As faithful members of the Church, we remain committed to the synodal decisions of the Church of Greece (1993, 2626/1997, 2641/1998) and to the legacy of the contemporary venerable and holy Elders, who advised us not to receive any such identity, with the which, as we explain below, we surely surrender our God-given freedom to the digital state.”

Citizens quizzed in the street by ERT News found it hard to to express exactly why they were opposed to the new cards, their arguments being on the level of “it’s the information, isn’t it,” or “it’s the tsipaki”. Others who did not object to the new cards were more articulate, pointing out that if the government wants to track people’s movements, they already have the means to do so via channels which most people use without thinking – mobile phones, bank cards, social media etc.

As in the case of the Covid pandemic, and despite the interventions of traditionalists, the Orthodox Church has again proved a calming voice. As reported in the Haniotika Nea of 28^th August, “in an exhortation to reason and sober judgment” the Archbishop of Crete Evgenios expressed his opposition to any protest movements which may be organised in Crete against the digital ID cards. Commenting during Vespers at the Church of St Titus on a demonstration being held at the same moment in the nearby Eleftheria Square in Heraklion, he said: “In principle, we should be here [i.e. in the church] and not at the demonstration which is instigated by non-official church associations.” Referring to the people queuing to get the old-style ID cards, he said “Some people are hurrying to our police stations to get ID cards because they have been listening to conspiracy theories.” He concluded by calling on the faithful to trust the Church’s spiritual leaders and not to listen to anyone “who exploits the belief, the piety and the innocence of your heart.”

The Minister of Citizen Protection, Yiannis Oikonomou, has described the cards as a means of modernising Greece and ensuring safe travel, as well as fulfilling the country’s obligations within the European Union. He emphasises that the cards have no sinister or religious implications and that those spreading misinformation should recognise the progress made “during the Enlightenment era”.