Today I thought it would a good idea to share a few links to a new research study on the rising restrictions on religion across the globe because we often hear about governments or social groups acting against religious groups. For instance, the burning of Coptic churches in Egypt garnered a lot of attention just a few months ago.
The research study about the rise of restrictions on religion was conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. The study covers 198 countries over a recent three year period (July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2009). To summarize Pew’s main findings:
- 23 countries saw an increase in restrictions on religious beliefs and practices while 12 countries saw a decrease during the three year period.
- Nearly 1/3 of the world’s population faced greater government restrictions on religion or faced greater social hostility towards religion during the three year period. This is primarily due to an increase in religious restrictions and/or social hostility towards religion in some of the most populous countries in the world.
Pew developed a social hostilities index that “measures acts of religious hostility by private individuals, organizations and social groups”.[2] Pew took the index values of each country and categorized countries into groupings based on the level of social hostility towards religion. Here are the categories that each country was grouped into:
- Very High (ex. Egypt & Pakistan)
- High (ex. Saudi Arabia & Iran)
- Moderate (ex. China & France)
- Low (ex. Canada & Japan)
A list of countries that belong to each category can be found at the following link:
Notable countries that saw a substantial rise in social hostility towards religion include:
- China, the United Kingdom, and Russia
Pew also developed a government restrictions index that “measures government laws, policies and actions that restrict religious beliefs or practices”[3] Pew took the index values of each country and categorized countries into groupings based on the level of government restrictions on religious beliefs or practices. Here are the categories that each country was grouped into:
- Very High (ex. Saudi Arabia, Iran, & Egypt)
- High (ex. Pakistan & Russia)
- Moderate (ex. United Kingdom & France)
- Low (ex. United States & Japan)
A list of countries that belong to each category can be found at the following link:
Notable countries that saw a substantial rise in government restrictions on religious beliefs or practices include:
- Egypt, Syria, Libya, and Yemen.
A summary of Pew’s findings for each country included in the study can be found at the following PDF file starting on Page 90:
A more in-depth breakdown of Pew’s findings for each country included in the study can be found at the following link:
Based on Pew’s findings, it is pretty safe to say that many people are living in areas where religious freedom is on the decline.
References
[1] The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. “Rising Restrictions on Religion”. 9 Aug 2011. http://pewforum.org/Government/Rising-Restrictions-on-Religion%282%29.aspx
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid
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