Confronting the spectre of pluralism
White European and White American Christians are now discovering the problems of living in multi-religious, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural societies where they find their Christian values and their racial, ethnic and religious supremacist way of life coming under increasing pressure from non-White and non-Christian Americans and Europeans. The Islamization of Europe, the Hispanization of the U.S and the ever increasing immigration from Asia and other regions of the world into their countries is forcing nervous White Christians to re-examine issues of national identity and national ethos. ‘What does it mean to be American, What does it mean to be British, Should Christianity be stated to be the religion of the European Union in the EU Constitution’ are questions that are being increasingly and openly debated. And these countries are forced to examine the “salience and substance” of their national identity because what is threatening their national identity and security are the very features of a modern nation-state and the compulsions of globalisation that they have been insisting are universally desirable.