Abstract
A growing number of asylum seekers with a Muslim background choose
to get baptized as Christians while their application is being treated. The
practice of conversion among asylum seekers from the Middle East is
charged with critique and suspicion from government authorities and
the general public. The former Danish Minister for Ecclesiastical Affairs,
Bertel Haarder, has suggested that pastors should refrain from baptizing
migrants who are in the process of applying for asylum. The Minister’s
advice is problematic for a number of reasons: primarily, as it appears to
reduce conversion to a simple instrument for obtaining asylum. In this
article, we show how the recommendation by the Danish Minister for
Ecclesiastical Affairs ignores the complexity of motives involved in the
change of religious affiliation. By the aid of Bourdieu’s theory of social
capital, we demonstrate how conversion is also a way of existential survival in a situation of social liminality and psychological insecurity.
to get baptized as Christians while their application is being treated. The
practice of conversion among asylum seekers from the Middle East is
charged with critique and suspicion from government authorities and
the general public. The former Danish Minister for Ecclesiastical Affairs,
Bertel Haarder, has suggested that pastors should refrain from baptizing
migrants who are in the process of applying for asylum. The Minister’s
advice is problematic for a number of reasons: primarily, as it appears to
reduce conversion to a simple instrument for obtaining asylum. In this
article, we show how the recommendation by the Danish Minister for
Ecclesiastical Affairs ignores the complexity of motives involved in the
change of religious affiliation. By the aid of Bourdieu’s theory of social
capital, we demonstrate how conversion is also a way of existential survival in a situation of social liminality and psychological insecurity.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Faith in the system? Religion in the (Danish) asylum system |
| Editors | Marie Juul Petersen, Steffen Bo Jensen |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Publisher | Aalborg Universitetsforlag |
| Publication date | Nov 2019 |
| Pages | 113-124 |
| Article number | 10 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978-87-7210-271-9 |
| Publication status | Published - Nov 2019 |