Religious Hostilities Reach Six-Year High

[cbayer]

http://www.pewforum.org/2014/01/14/religious-hostilities-reach-six-year-high/



The share of countries with a high or very high level of social hostilities involving religion reached a six-year peak in 2012, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center. A third (33%) of the 198 countries and territories included in the study had high religious hostilities in 2012, up from 29% in 2011 and 20% as of mid-2007. Religious hostilities increased in every major region of the world except the Americas. The sharpest increase was in the Middle East and North Africa, which still is feeling the effects of the 2010-11 political uprisings known as the Arab Spring.1 There also was a significant increase in religious hostilities in the Asia-Pacific region, where China edged into the “high” category for the first time.

The share of countries with a high or very high level of government restrictions on religion stayed roughly the same in the latest year studied. About three-in-ten countries in the world (29%) had a high or very high level of government restrictions in 2012, compared with 28% in 2011 and 20% as of mid-2007. Europe had the biggest increase in the median level of government restrictions in 2012, followed closely by the Middle East-North Africa – the only other region where the median level of government restrictions on religion rose.

Looking at the overall level of restrictions – whether resulting from government policies or from social hostilities – the study finds that restrictions on religion are high or very high in 43% of countries, also a six-year high. Because some of these countries (like China) are very populous, more than 5.3 billion people (76% of the world’s population) live in countries with a high or very high level of restrictions on religion, up from 74% in 2011 and 68% as of mid-2007.

Among the world’s 25 most populous countries, Egypt, Indonesia, Russia, Pakistan and Burma (Myanmar) had the most restrictions on religion in 2012, when both government restrictions and social hostilities are taken into account. As in the previous year, Pakistan had the highest level of social hostilities involving religion, and Egypt had the highest level of government restrictions on religion. Social hostilities related to religion in Burma (Myanmar) rose to the “very high” level for the first time in the study.

more at link

[rug]

1. I'd like to see that data correlated with political and ethnic tensions.

[madrchsod]

2. "what`s so funny ('bout ) faith, love, and understanding"

militant politico/religious fundamentalism.......

[dimbear]

3. Thank you cbayer for posting this accurate representation of what is happening in the world.

It's a welcome summary overwriting the feelgood fluff we recently discussed.

What would be most desirable would be a correlation table relating restrictions on religion versus economic success.

I believe that would be an eye-opener.

To be fair, China should be under-weighted somehow. Otherwise the conclusion is just foregone.

[cbayer]

4. PEW data is generally very reliable and can be used with some confidence.

It's also good for countering made up statistics, lol.

Agree that correlations, as you and rug suggest, would be very interesting. I suspect we will see those over the next few weeks as this data is distributed.