Religious freedom declines in Europe, US –Study

The findings were made in the 12th edition of the World Report on Religious Freedom, released November 4.The report is a snapshot of the state of religious freedom in 196 countries from Oct. 2012 to June 2014.Religious freedom in each country was gauged by the right to conversion, to build places of worship, to conduct […]

The findings were made in the 12th edition of the World Report on Religious Freedom, released November 4.
The report is a snapshot of the state of religious freedom in 196 countries from Oct. 2012 to June 2014.
Religious freedom in each country was gauged by the right to conversion, to build places of worship, to conduct missions, and the allowance of children to be educated according to the religious principles of their parents.
Peter Sefton-Williams, president of the report’s drafting committee, said that the analysis “highlights that the state of religious freedom have worsened in 55 countries” – that is, 28 percent of the globe.
“Only six out of 196 countries have recorded an improvement,” yet four out of these six countries still “record a religious persecution ranked as ‘high’ or ‘medium.’”
Other data shows that out of 196 countries, 81 nations (41 percent) are identified as places where religious freedom is at risk or declining. Twenty countries are deemed at “high” risk of violation of religious freedom, and 14 out of these 20 are challenged by religious persecutions linked to Islamic extremism.
“The good news, if there is any, is that 80 countries (40 percent of the total) did not record any worry over the lack of religious freedom,” Sefton Williams said.
A general overview of the state of religious freedom showed that violations are high in Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Syria and Sudan.
The United Kingdom, Germany, France, Netherlands and France are among the countries where the state of religious freedom is deemed as “worrying” and at the same time “worsening” by the report.
“Europe has always been considered the cradle of human rights, and it seems to feel the responsibility of defending these rights, at least on theoretical terms,” said Martin Kugler, member of the Observatory on the Intolerance in Europe.
Kluger said that threats to religious freedom are mainly supported by groups of “radical” feminist and gay lobbies.
“In order to pursue an effective and real equality between men and women, radical feminists think that non-restricting law for abortion, contraception and bio-technologies (for instance, in-vitro fertilization) are needed, and so they push that the objection of conscience” is not relevant anymore, Kluger said.
Gay activists in Europe, Kugler added, “want to show that homosexuality is absolutely normal,” and so they push for “a legalisation of the gay marriage” and the “possibility for gay couples to adopt children.”
Meanwhile, Christians and Muslims are pressured to be “completely silent” for what concerns their moral vision on homosexuality.
For what concern the United States, violations to religious freedom are deemed “low,” but the general situation is marked as “worsening.”
– eurasiareview.com