Does religion play a prominent role in European culture?
Whenever the alleged boundaries/borders of Europe are concerned, the issue of religion is raised instantaneously. Here, too, religion is only one parameter for establishing identity in accordance with a patchwork approach. Ever since last decades’ wars in former Yugoslavia, the classical European debate has revolved around the exploitation of nationalistic sentiments. And that, in turn, encourages the drawing of lines or boundaries in terms of religion. Is religion opposed to the idea of diversity and pluralism? EU masterminds are busy with constructing symbolic integration. Culture is as powerful a weapon as economics, but what they lack is a heart-warming element. Throughout there have been proposals on how to integrate religion in its cultural-religious dimension. All these attempts have failed so far because of Europe’s aspiration of having to function perfectly everywhere – as only in this case the EU feels justified in adequately representing all its members.
