A new Pew Research analysis finds that 30 of the world’s countries (15%) belong to a unique group of nations that call for their heads of state to have a particular religious affiliation.
Though religious property damage by governments were most common in the Middle East-North Africa region, instances have occured in every region of the world.
The U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing for-profit businesses to opt out of the contraceptive mandate in the new health care law has raised questions about what the ruling might mean for businesses, for future challenges to the contraception mandate, and even for the future of church-state law. We posed these questions to Robert Tuttle, one of the nation’s experts on church-state issues. He is the Berz Research Professor of Law and Religion at the George Washington University.
The Supreme Court expanded the scope of religious liberty rights in a decision that said some for-profit business could opt out of the health care law's contraception coverage mandate. But the decision was limited to closely-held business.
Hate-speech laws exist in 89 countries around the world (45%). In some countries, the laws protect only certain religious or social groups, while others have broader laws, covering words or actions that insult, denigrate or intimidate a person or group based on race, gender, religion, ethnicity or other traits.
Here’s a region-by-region look at where religious harassment takes place, and to which groups.
As of 2012, at least 17 nations have police that enforce religious norms. Religion police forces are most common in the Middle East and North Africa, and are also found in the Asia-Pacific and in sub-Saharan Africa.
Highlights from the fifth annual Pew Research Center study of religious hostilities around the world.
Among the world’s 25 most populous countries, Egypt, Indonesia, Russia, Pakistan and Burma (Myanmar) stand out as having the most restrictions on religion when both government restrictions and social hostilities are taken into account.
A third of the 198 countries studied had a high or very high level of social hostilities involving religion in 2012. About three-in-ten countries had a high or very high level of government restrictions on religion, roughly the same as in 2011.
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About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts.
