Of the many, many effects that large-scale immigration will have on the future of Ireland, and Europe more broadly, one of the considerations that seems most interesting to me is whether or not immigrants will reverse the decades-long trend of secularisation here, or whether they too will hang up their old practices and beliefs in favour of the religiously-light lifestyle favoured in western societies of late.
This side of the Atlantic, more so than in the US, the question is one tinged with no small amount of anxiety, the spectre of faith-motivated terrorism hanging over any and all conversations had about Europe’s new religions (Islam obviously dominating the concerns). While the wave of terror attacks have been a significant factor in European public and political life and thought over the past two decades or so, other major implications have been largely left untouched – until recently.
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