Why a Christian Refugee is a Better Refugee

Refugees and Christianity in Czech Media

Abstract

Media in the Czech Republic covers the issue of refugees and migration from various approaches. Emphasizing religion is one of these. During the period of 2015 and at the beginning of the year 2016, the concept of Christianity often appeared in connection with the acceptance of refugees in the Czech Republic. This text aims to analyze the role that the religious determination of refugees plays in Czech media. For this purpose, articles found by the Anopress media database were analyzed. Findings show that when speaking about refugees in the Czech Republic, borders between “us” and “them” are, in general, quite obvious. However, Christianity is used as a tool to, if we apply Richard Alba’s concept, blur these boundaries. In this particular situation, Czech society, which is usually not in favor of institutionalized religions, understands Christianity as a significant factor. The picture which the media provides us about this issue also indicates how Czech people define the so-called integration process. We can see that the fears that are associated with refugees are handled by the objective to assimilate them, instead of integrating such incomers into society.