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Results for tag:refugee crisis

A nativity scene at St Antony of Padua Church, Istanbul, decorated with objects found in shipwrecks of refugees on the Turkish coast. Christmas 15/16. Photographer: Pedro J. Pacheco. Used under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

The ‘refugee crisis’, religion, and encounters with the divine through the human at Christmas

Date:24 December 2016
Author:Religion Factor
Whether you see it as truth, myth or folklore, the Christmas story is a powerful narrative in contemporary politics in multiple contexts. In the midst of fraught politics around refugees and immigration, refugee advocates often highlight that ‘Jesus was a refugee’, his family being forced to flee to Egypt shortly after his birth to escape King Herod. Yet as well-meaning as this argument is, does this emphasis on Jesus as a ‘refugee’ help to inspire compassion, or does it retain an emphasis on labels and categories that prevent us from seeing fellow human beings? In today’s post Erin K. Wilson and Luca Mavelli explore this and other dimensions of how the Christmas story speaks to the current crisis of humanity that is often referred to as the ‘refugee crisis’. Whatever your beliefs, we wish all our readers a safe, peaceful and joyous holiday season.