The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has released a new report which offers a sobering look at the declining state of religious freedom around the world. Titled "Rising Restrictions on Religion ," the study analyzes the policies and practices of all 198 countries using both a "Government Restrictions Index" and a "Social Hostilities Index."
While most countries have seen their religious freedom remain unchanged, those that have experienced the greatest deterioration are some of the most heavily populated. (My emphasis)
Restrictions on religious beliefs and practices rose between mid-2006 and mid-2009 in 23 of the world’s 198 countries (12%), decreased in 12 countries (6%) and remained essentially unchanged in 163 countries (82%)…
Because several countries with increasing restrictions on religion are very populous, however, the increases affected a much larger share of people than of states. More than 2.2 billion people – nearly a third (32%) of the world’s total population of 6.9 billion – live in countries where either government restrictions on religion or social hostilities involving religion rose substantially over the three-year period studied. Only about 1% of the world’s population lives in countries where government restrictions or social hostilities declined.
Specifically, religious restrictions rose substantially in eight of the world's 25 most populated countries. How well do you follow international news? Care to take a guess as to the eight? You can find the answers in the Executive Summary here. I follow this topic fairly closely, and I only got four right.
For those of you who prefer good news on a Friday, here are the countries we can celebrate (relatively speaking) for their decline in government restrictions on religion: Greece, Togo, Nicarauga, Republic of Macedonia, Guinea Bissau, Timor-Leste, Equatorial Guinea, and Nauru.
