The Threat of Religious Fundamentalism and the European Immigration Crisis
Authors: Kardis Kamil , Valčo Michal , Valčova Katarina , Pal'a Gabriel 
Published: April 2022

A significant part of the crisis of our
contemporary European societies can be attributed to misplaced and abused religious
zeal in various forms of religious fundamentalism, both domestically grown as well as imported and shared
by the immigrants to Europe from third-world countries. To deal with this complex
phenomenon in the European environment, it is necessary to conceive the
analysis of the presented issue into a sociological scheme based on three
premises: (1) diagnosis of migration processes in the context of growing
population movements in Europe, (2) identification of determinants and factors
that cause these movements, as well as (3) a proposal to solve the current
situation in the spirit of social teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. Our paper is an attempt to interpret and compare
the opinions of selected experts on this sensitive issue and, with the help of
their opinions, to present some guiding ideas on the path to possible solutions
to the current situation. We begin by
describing the
ideological deconstruction of the moral and cultural world as
evidenced in the postmodern
society, accompanied by processes
of subjectivization and individualization, which acquired a societal context in
Europe and North America in the 1960s. We then turn to
exploring the context of religious change (from a theological-sociological
perspective). The religiosity of
postmodern man becomes a mixture of various correct, albeit often
contradictory, discontinuous elements , involving a small dose of love for one's neighbor, often taking
the form of friendly affection and showing emotions towards animals and the
external environment, ideologically correct psychology as well as
parapsychology, supplemented by esoteric, occult and astrological notions,
while staying open to the
possibility for Eastern philosophies and the sects.
Islamic fundamentalism is seen as a reaction to this religious-cultural context
that is perceived (by conservative Muslims and Christians alike) as hostile to
traditional values, ideas about the world, and ideals. The context of
contemporary Islam’s influence on the European religious landscape and culture
is scrutinized in the next section of our paper. In Europe, the number of Christians will fall from
74.5% to 65.2% between 2010 and 2050, while the number of non-believers (nones)
will increase from 18.8% to 23.3%, and the number of Muslims will also almost
double from 5.9% to 10.2%. The growth of Muslims in Europe will be affected by
both birth rates and migration. A part of our critical analysis
points to the self-destructive tendencies of some European elites and cultural
influencers/policy makers. After
outlining some forecasts and developments, and offering initial
critical views on the transpiring phenomena, we move on to delineating possible solutions to this situation. Due
to the complexity of the problem, there is no ready-made, simple way to handle this situation.
While immigrants have always played in important role in the European history,
a growing number of political
scientists talk in particular about the internal protection of Europe, that is,
the inevitability of protecting
its constitutive,
fundamental values
and rights.
If Europe is not to lose its
face and cultural/moral fiber, it is important to uphold its constitutive
values. This will not be possible without an intentional struggle to reinvent
its moral and spiritual heritage with every new generation without forfeiting
the fundamentals upon which our culture and civilization has been built.
The concluding section of our paper focuses
on the Catholic Church's position on this issue and its recent proposals for
resolving the migration crisis. The Church’s teaching that state officials and others who profess Christianity but
reject refugees are hypocrites because Jesus would accept these people
should be balanced by a critical call to be aware that our obligation to love and care for our neighbor
extends not only to the immigrants and their families but also to the families
and individuals of the European host countries. Our fear of Islamization of Christian Europe
may be an indication that we
Europeans have very little confidence in our own faith. Accordingly, we will
not be able to preserve the Christian faith by living it secluded in our
churches, but by presenting our Christian spirit - by accepting these refugees
and by helping them in their concrete circumstances,
and by engaging them (as well as our secular counterparts) publicly with due
respect in an open-ended discourse of metanarratives.