Immigration of The West and Religion - Assignment Example

Word Count: 1611 Immigration of the West and Religion Immigration has always been a primary platform for the spread of a particular religion to otherplaces than the country of its origin. This is because immigrants bring along their faiths and cultures to the countries where they relocate. When one considers the history of world religions, it becomes evident that immigration has played an important role in the wide spread of these religions. In the west also, immigration had a key role in preaching religious principles and their popularity among different cultures and communities. When an individual immigrates to another country, for example one of the western countries, that individual can be considered as a carrier of the particular culture and religious beliefs. This religious belief can attract the people who are living in a different religious atmosphere. So, one can see that the immigration to the west is responsible to a great extent for the wide spread of different religions. This work aims to examine the importance of immigration in the spread of different religions in western countries. When one analyzes the connection between immigration to the west and the spread of religion, it is evident that the migrants decided to take on a voyage to west not only for land and money, but also in search of a place with freedom of religion and new opportunities. The rural areas of Europe were facing the problem of fragmentation of arable land. Reformation and the geographical discoveries related to it resulted in mass industrialization of Europe. One of the merits of industrialization was the development of railways and steamers. In the article, “The migration to North America,” it is pointed out that there were several circumstances that resulted in large scale migration from Europe to the American continent. “Population pressure and fragmentation of land in rural Europe, the development of the New World, the spread of railroads and the progressive substitution of sailing boats by steamers.” (Schrover). These factors resulted in mass migration from Europe to American continent. When people migrated from east to west, their culture and religious beliefs followed them to the new continent. The development in culture and religions like Christianity in Europe and central Asia resulted in missionary works in other parts of Asia and Europe. When the geographical discoveries helped the Europeans to find out new continents, the missionary works were concentrated in the west. So, as to spread Christianity in western countries, some missionaries and adventurers and sailors sailed from Europe to the west. Thus one can see that there is a close relation between immigration and religion in west. The article, “Religions of the World,” points out that all world religions are capable to explain the theories connected to absolute truths and they revealed to the common people in the past. “All religions have the function of explaining the world in terms of absolute truths revealed to people at some point in the past. Most religions postulate the existence of one or more intelligent entities responsible for the existence of everything.” (Religions of the World: Introduction). Most of the religions, which are spread throughout the world, promulgate that there are one or more entities that are responsible for the existence of all the things in this world. When we examine the background of religions, it can be seen that the factors that shaped the migration from east to west were historical, political, economic, cultural, and religious. These factors can be perceived as interconnected and when one considers the relation it is evident that religion influences all. The important religions that majority of the world population believe in are Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism and Islam. Fenggang Yang & Helen Rose Ebaugh points out that: “Religion continues to be an important identity marker for new immigrants in the United States. However, immigrant groups differ in the ways they integrate religious and ethnic identities and the emphasis they place on each.” (Abstract). Among immigrants in America, religion is considered as an identity marker. But the way they integrate religious and ethnic identities is different. When some members of Asian religions reach western countries, they move from majority status to minority status. In the case of immigrants, the power of adaptation plays an important role in their survival in a new world. Historically, it is evident that most of the important religions are originated in Asia. For example, Christianity originated in Asia and spread rapidly within the Roman Empire. Gradually, global colonization by Christian countries and their missionary work resulted in the popularity of Christianity in Western countries. Until early 20th century, the Western countries were mono-religious and the migration from former colonies resulted in multi-religious societies. In a pamphlet namely Christianity & Eastern Religions, it is pointed out that: “in 1900 an estimated 1% of North Americans believed in Hindu or Buddhist reincarnation compared with approximately 25% of the U.S. population today who believe in reincarnation.” (Christianity and Eastern Religions: The Growth of Eastern Religions and What it Mean to Christians). Before a century, people from western countries did not have an idea about eastern religions like Hinduism and Buddhism. But now because of globalization, which brought these two worlds so close, a rapid exchange occurred between these cultures which resulted in the influencing of western culture by eastern religious teachings and practices. As an example, in 1900, only 1% of people in North America believed in the principles of Hindu and Buddhist theories of reincarnation of soul. But now, over 25% of US believes in these principles. As stated earlier, most of the important world religions are of Asian origin and they spread to Europe and to Africa and America. For example, Islam originated in Central Asia and it is the fastest growing religion. In the Western parts of Europe and North America, Muslim minorities are showing a rapid expansion in population. On the other hand, Sikhism which was originated in India, is Britain’s third most popular religion and about half a million Sikhs are living in UK. The spread and popularity of Sikhism in UK is due to the migration of Sikhs from India in search of better livelihood. Another religion which was originated and reached western civilization through immigration is Judaism. Daniel Judah Elazar points out that: “As the experiences of the two civilizations converged, the first response of the Jews who came to the United States in the 19th century was to abandon in the name of modernity those elements of polity.” (Elazar 7). Jews immigrated to the United States after the Second World War. There were so many similarities between Jews and the people of United States. Moreover, both these cultures were compatible to each other. But when Jews mingled with the westerners, they had to give up some elements of polity. However, similarities like inspiration from biblical sources and the voluntary commitment of Jews helped them to adapt themselves and survive in different cultures. The Roman Catholics and the Protestants form the two major dominant religious sects in the Western nations. Roman Catholicism was originated in the fourth century AD in the Roman Empire and later due to immigration and evangelization, became the most powerful religion in the world with almost 910 billions of believers. The origin of Protestantism as a religion can be traced back to the 17th century AD in Germany. Both these religions have origin in Judaism, which is regarded as the oldest of the Western religions and whose origin can be traced back to the 7th century BC in Palestine. The fact that both Roman Catholicism and the Protestantism was originated outside the West reinforces the role played by immigration in the rapid spread of these religions in the West. Studies have shown that “it was the Eastern European immigrants that came after the Civil War who really popularized the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. After the Civil War, immigrants from Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Poland swelled the ranks of the Roman Catholic Church. The entrance of 100,000 Catholic Mexicans into America by 1900 also helped the growth of the church.” (Roman Catholic). German Catholics contributed to the majority of immigrants to the nation and during the 1830s and 1840s there was a remarkable increase in the number of Catholics in Germany. The nation also witnessed the rapid growth of foreign Protestants, Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims. However, The Pew report reveals that “nearly half of the U.S. foreign-born are Catholic (mostly immigrants from Latin America), one-fourth are Protestant, and 16 percent have no religious affiliation. About 3 percent of the foreign-born are Hindu, while Buddhists and Muslims account for less than 2 percent each of the foreign-born population.” (Mossaad and Mather). All these immigrants have brought their diverse culture and religious beliefs along with them, and this religious diversity of the nation has been instrumental in promoting multiculturalism in the US. Thus, it can be concluded that it is the phenomenon of immigration that has brought great changes to many of the political, social, religious and cultural lives of the West. Thus, one can see that there is a close and strong relation between the spread of religion from Eastern countries and immigration to the western countries. The immigration from one country to another can result in a positive impact on both countries. Moreover, immigration can be considered in a wider scenario because it plays an important role in international co-operation among countries. Immigration can also be considered as a give and take policy because there is a sharing of culture and religious beliefs. When one takes into account the fact that immigration from eastern countries resulted in a positive impact on western culture, the aim of immigration from east to west is fulfilled. Work Cited Abstract. Cat.Inist. 2008. 6 Oct. 2008. . Christianity and Eastern Religions: The Growth of Eastern Religions and What it Mean to Christians. Greenleaf Press. 2008. 6 Oct. 2008. . Elazar, Daniel Judah. Introduction. Community and Polity. 1995. 7. 6 Oct. 2008. . Mossaad, Nadwa., and Mather, Mark. Immigration Gives Catholicism a Boost in The United States: America’s Religious Melting Point. Population Reference Bureau. 2008. 6 Oct. 2008. . Religions Of the World: Introduction. Kryss Tal. 2006. 6 Oct. 2008. . Roman Catholic. Genealogy. 2007. 6 Oct. 2008. . Schrover, Marlov. Causes of Migration: Circumstances that Favored Migration. 2008. 6 Oct. 2008. . Read More