There has been a recent rise in reflections on migration in the Abrahamic religions - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This has especially been made urgent by the recent rise in migrant deaths as desperate people from Africa and the Middle East attempt to reach Europe. But are these reflections on migration necessary? The short answer to this question is that they are not quite necessary. They are however made necessary because most followers of these religions often do not reflect on the genesis of their religions. The genesis of these religions show that they are religions that require migration and so making any theology of migration in these religions tautological. In fact, these religions see migration as necessary and sometimes create the conditions that require migration. They require both physical and spiritual migration, that is, they require people to move from one place to another both physically and spiritually.
Judaism began with the migration of Abram and continues in the life of Israel as a whole. Christianity began with the migration of Christians beyond Jerusalem and it requires that Christians move from one place to another to spread the gospel. Islam had its genesis from Muhammad's migration from Mecca to Medina and back again and followers are tasked to migrate to spread the message of Islam. Spiritually, those who become part of these religions are required to change their inner dispositions and hopes. The surface structure of these religions is therefore migratory, making a theology of migration in these religions only an exercise in the retrieval of memory. Followers of these religions only need to be reminded that migration is at the very center of their faiths. In fact, they need to be reminded that their religions require migration. They should be encouraging migration rather than seeing it as an alien phenomenon.
That these religions require migration and also create conditions that make it necessary for migration to happen should make adherents of these religions to embrace migration rather than treat it with fear and loathing, as they now do.
Judaism began with the migration of Abram and continues in the life of Israel as a whole. Christianity began with the migration of Christians beyond Jerusalem and it requires that Christians move from one place to another to spread the gospel. Islam had its genesis from Muhammad's migration from Mecca to Medina and back again and followers are tasked to migrate to spread the message of Islam. Spiritually, those who become part of these religions are required to change their inner dispositions and hopes. The surface structure of these religions is therefore migratory, making a theology of migration in these religions only an exercise in the retrieval of memory. Followers of these religions only need to be reminded that migration is at the very center of their faiths. In fact, they need to be reminded that their religions require migration. They should be encouraging migration rather than seeing it as an alien phenomenon.
That these religions require migration and also create conditions that make it necessary for migration to happen should make adherents of these religions to embrace migration rather than treat it with fear and loathing, as they now do.
No comments:
Post a Comment