Religious Changes and Challenges in the Wake of Increasing Global Migration

Data on global migration clearly illustrate the changing demographics of the present day. Famines, droughts, earthquakes, armed conflicts, and the decline in democratic standards for basic human rights have led to an increasing number of migrants on a global scale. Consequently, this has led to religion-based challenges and confrontations, as one of the most important qualitative consequences of these demographic changes is the increasing plurality of local and global religious spheres. This plurality emphasizes the need for an academic discussion on how religious changes and challenges can be supported and managed in the increasingly precarious situation that results from religious pluralism. How do religious actors reconcile fundamental doctrinal and practical differences within their own ranks? Additionally, how does the state ensure that both it and the public are sufficiently informed about these differences? In other words, society's approach to religious education requires both intra- and inter-religious awareness between secular and religious actors.

Peter Berger, once known as a staunch advocate for the secularization thesis, formulated a theory of religious pluralism. According to Berger, it is religious pluralism—and not religious decline—that is the most important consequence of modernity as it concerns religion. In line with Berger’s theory, we can largely identify the dual pluralism of today's societies—both the coexistence of religions and religious and secular discourses and practices.