Europe’s Immigration Crisis: A Clash of Civilizations

Religion plays an important role in the migration crisis in Germany. This article explains the phenomenon of Muslims converting to Christianity in Germany. There have been a growing number of reported Christian-baptisms of Iranian people in churches across Germany. In many of the refugee’s countries, they can be persecuted on religious grounds for converting. In Germany, they are free to convert to Christianity, and many think that this will increase their chances of staying in the country.

The article goes into the idea that what makes assimilation difficult for many is the fact that these refugees are moving from predominantly Muslim countries to either Christian or secular countries. The culture shock alone is hard for many Muslims. In most countries where Islam is the dominant faith, it is also the main form of government and law. This religious divide is making it difficult for not only Muslim refugees to assimilate, but also making the receiving countries bringing in these refugees hard. Many countries see this cultural divide and are hesitant about welcoming Muslim refugees.

Much of this cultural divide however comes from ignorance about the Muslim tradition. Understanding that Islam, just like Christianity, came from Abraham would create a mutual respect. While in theory we would like to believe that modern European countries do not discriminate based on religion, we can clearly see in this migration crisis that many countries are rejecting refugees based on “cultural” differences when in reality, cultural differences also includes religion. While some Muslims are converting to Christianity, a host country must be accepting enough so that these refugees do not feel like they need to convert in order to integrate.

Whether one is secular, Christian, Muslim, or practice any other faith, religion is interwoven into the fabric that makes up the migration crisis in Germany and all of Europe. Until people learn how to accept and integrate different cultures and religions into their society, the migration crisis will never be solved completely.

Citation:

Palmer, Richard. “Europe’s Immigration Crisis: A Clash of Civilizations.”Europe’s Immigration Crisis: A Clash of Civilizations. The Trumpet, 10 Sept. 2015. Web. 5 Mar. 2016.

 

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