Global Issues: Religious Freedom

Are we free to believe in what we want?

It is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance without government influence or intervention. It also includes the freedom to change one's religion or belief.

  Freedom of religion is considered by many people and most of the nations to be a fundamental human right. In a country with a state religion, freedom of religion is generally considered to mean that the government permits religious practices of other sects besides the state religion, and does not persecute believers from other faiths.

Freedom of belief is different. It allows the right to believe what a person, group or religion wishes, but it does not necessarily allow the right to practice the religion or belief openly and outwardly in a public manner.

▪ Most and Least Religious countries
 
Do you live in a religious country?  Let us find out!
Here are the top ten most religious countries in the world (by percentage of the population):

Those are countries with the biggest amount of people that feel religious, it also helps us to identify the adherence to a certain set of religious beliefs.
(Check the complete list)
 
 Countries with the smallest amount of people that feel religious: In these places, religion is not an important part of daily life for most citizens; have you ever think how can it affect your life?
(Check out the list)

▪ Worst Countries for religious freedom

At its core, freedom of religion or belief requires freedom of expression. Both fundamental rights are protected in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, yet nearly half of all countries penalize blasphemy, apostasy or defamation of religion. In 13 countries, atheists can be put to death for their lack of belief.

The U.S. State Department names and shames eight “Countries of Particular Concern” that severely violate religious freedom rights within their borders. These countries not only suppress religious expression, they systematically torture and detain people who cross political and social red lines around faith. The worst of the worst are:


 ▪  Burma / Myanmar 
MaBaTha’s influence reportedly waned significantly following the government’s public denunciation of the group in July, although members of the organization continued circulating anti-Muslim materials in some villages and continued fanning religious tensions using social media. (Read more)



▪ China
The constitution guarantees freedom of religious belief, a principle that Beijing says it upholds. But an annual report from the US State Department released in August said that in 2016, China “physically abused, detained, arrested, tortured, sentenced to prison, or harassed adherents of both registered and unregistered religious groups”. (Read more)

 ▪ Eritrea
Another Eritrean Jehovah’s Witness dies after release from prison.
(Read more)

▪  Sudan
Sudan’s interim constitution partially protects religious freedom but restricts apostasy, blasphemy and defamation of Islam. Muslim women are also prevented from marrying non-Muslim men. The country’s vaguely worded apostasy law discourages proselytizing of non-Muslim faiths. Christian South Sudanese living in Sudan are subject to harassment and intimidation by government agents and society, but untangling the religious and ethnic motivations for this persecution can be difficult. Muslims generally enjoy social, legal and economic privileges denied to the Christian minority population. Government authorities have reportedly destroyed churches in recent years, and Christian groups have reportedly been subject to disproportionate taxes and delays in building new houses of worship. (Read more)

 

▪  North Korea
North Korea’s constitution guarantees religious freedom, but this right is far from upheld. The state is officially atheist. Author John Sweeney says the country is “seized by a political religion” and that it considers established religious traditions a threat to state unity and control. North Korea allow for government-sponsored Christian and Buddhist religious organizations to operate and build houses of worship, but political analysts suspect this “concession” is for the sake of external propaganda. A Christian group says it dropped 50,000 Bibles over North Korea over the past year. If caught with one, citizens face imprisonment, torture or even death. Given the government’s extreme control over the flow of reliable information, it is difficult to determine the true extent of religious persecution in North Korea.

Most Christians worship secretly. If discovered, they are “taken to political camps (kwanliso); crimes against them in these camps include extra-judicial killing, extermination, enslavement/forced labor, forcible transfer of population, arbitrary imprisonment, torture, persecution, enforced disappearance, rape and sexual violence and other inhuman acts.” CSW reports documented cases of believers being “hung on a cross over a fire, crushed under a steamroller, herded off bridges, and trampled underfoot.” (Read more)

▪ Religious Persecution Cases

▪ Catholic Inquisition
In 12th century, torture became an integral part of all capital legal proceedings. Also, it was often practiced by the inquisition in most European countries in cases of heresy, blasphemy, adultery and many other similar ‘crimes against God’. Beside common means of torture like beating, suffocating and burning Roman-Catholic Church used others, more depraved ways of extracting confessions and execution of its victims… (Read more)


▪ Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan, with its long history of violence, is the most infamous — and oldest — of American hate groups. Although black Americans have typically been the Klan's primary target, it also has attacked Jews, immigrants, gays and lesbians and, until recently, Catholics.
(Read More)

 
 ▪  Governmental persecution

In Eritrea, if you are Catholic, Muslim, or a member of the Orthodox and Evangelical churches in Eritrea then it seems you can breathe easy.
However, those who believe and practice minority faiths are routinely persecuted, according to human rights groups. (Read more)

A church in northern China had been demolished not long ago, this, not being the a case apart, which sparks fears of a wider campaigns against Christians as authorities prepare to enforce new laws on religion.
(Read more)

▪ Some Persecuted Religions
 
▪ Jehovah’s Witnesses
Anti-terror legislation is being used to target those whose faith is only ‘extreme’ in terms of its commitment to non-violence. It should be a warning to us all. (Read more)

From the Korean War period to the present, South Korea has relentlessly prosecuted young Witness men who refuse military service, and the government has not provided any alternative to resolve the issue. The result? South Korea has sentenced over 19,200 Witnesses to a combined total of more than 36,700 years in prison for refusing to perform military service. (Read More)


▪ Muslims
“Ultra-nationalist Buddhist group Ma Ba Tha has been spreading anti-Muslim rhetoric across Myanmar for years. Cosmopolitan Mandalay is at the heart of this hostility – which many fear is here to stay.” (Read more)




Read Even More:
▪ Another Blow To The Victims Of Religious Persecution
▪ Bangladesh: Runaway Muslim Persecution of Hindus
▪ Anti-Christian religious persecution on the rise

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Global Issues: Prejudice

Prejudice

Did you know?

▪ The word "prejudice" comes from the Latin roots "prae" (in advance) and "judicum" (judgment), which essentially means to judge before. When we "pre-judge" someone, we make up our minds about who they are before we actually get to know them. Prejudices or "pre-judgments" are not based upon actual real-life interaction with a person or group it is often born of stereotypes and forms the fertile soil of discrimination.

For instance, a person may hold prejudiced mentally towards a certain ethnic group or gender etc. (e.g. sexist).

▪ The word ‘stereotype’ comes from the French adjective ‘’stéréotype’’, which itself comes from the Greek στερεός (solid) and τύπος (type). The earliest example in the Oxford English Dictionary of this usage is from a 1922 essay by Walter Lippmann in the journal Public Opinion: “A stereotype may be so consistently and authoritatively transmitted in each generation from parent to child that it seems almost like a biological fact.”

For instance, a person may stereotype a certain group of people, by the pre assumption based on some members of that group etc.

▪ The word ‘’Discrimination’’  from the Latin ‘’discrīminātus’’, which means literate to separate, can be considered the culmination of both previous terms, it is the behavior or action to make a distinction in favor of or against an individual, a group of people or something (being also most of the time negative) especially based on sex, race, social class, etc.

 For instance: a person might discriminate another by their different way of dressing. 

▪ The effects of social norms on prejudice: 

According to McLeod, S. A. (2008) on Prejudice and discrimination, Minard (1952) investigated how social norms influence prejudice and discrimination. The behavior of Afro-descendants and Caucasian miners in a town in the southern United States was observed, both above and below ground. (Read more)

▪ Affirmative Action

 An Affirmative action is an action or policy favoring those who tend to suffer from discrimination, especially in relation to employment or education; it is also known worldwide as a positive discrimination. Thinking like that it would be right to affirm that this kind of attitude or policy is for the best, isn’t it? Not so fast…

Ten myths about affirmative action:  In recent years, affirmative action has been debated more intensely than at any other time in its thirty-year history. Many supporters view affirmative action as a milestone, many opponents see it as a millstone, and many others regard it as both or neither, as a necessary, but imperfect, remedy for an intractable social disease. Here are some of the most popular myths about affirmative action, along with a brief commentary on each one. (Read more)

▪ Social media prejudice

Is it possible to be preconceived while networking, when we are comfortably set in our couches using smartphones or even during games online? Sadly but indeed it is. The social networking site as we probably know very well today, such as facebook, Instagram, twitter and many others, are formed by human beings, and being imperfect as we are, any tool we possess has the potential of being used as a tool for prejudice.

‘’Social networking as we know creates an "echo chamber" in which a network of like-minded people share controversial theories, biased views and selective news, academics found.
This means that any bias held is simply repeated back to them unchallenged and accepted as a real fact.’’ Says a study by The Telegraph journal. (Read more)

There is also a study about human behavior with and without social Medias: The study compared crowd-sourced and social media recruits to in-lab participants.  Check it out!

▪ Different types of prejudice

Different kinds of prejudice lead to different forms of discrimination. (Read more)

▪ Unconscious bias

Are you preconceived in any way? Do you know what unconscious bias is?

Find out at the videos below.

▪ Prejudice Consequences

Prejudice affects the everyday lives of millions of people across the globe. Prejudice held by individuals unnaturally forces on others who are targets of their prejudice a false social status that strongly influences who they are, what they think, and even the actions they take. Prejudice shapes what the targets of prejudice think about the world and life in general, about the people around them, and how they feel about themselves. Importantly, prejudice greatly influences what people expect from the future and how they feel about their chances for self-improvement, referred to as their life chances. All of these considerations define their very identity as individuals.

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Global Issues: World Hunger

World Hunger

   

   Although the number of undernourished people has dropped by over 20% since 1992 (216 million fewer than in 1990-92) today there are 815 million people who do not have enough to eat. This is more than the 795 million in 2014, although still down from about 900 million in 2000.
   Nearly half of all deaths in children under 5 are attributable to under nutrition. This translates into the unnecessary loss of about 3 million young lives a year.

Read more:

▪ Undernutrition contributes to nearly half of all deaths in children under 5 and is widespread in Asia and Africa

▪ THE STATE OF FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION IN THE WORLD

▪ KNOW YOUR WORLD: FACTS ABOUT HUNGER AND POVERTY

▪ World Hunger Causes

▪ Lack of Micronutrients

Quite a few trace elements or micronutrients—vitamins and minerals—are important for health. Three very important micronutrient deficiencies in terms of health consequences for poor people in developing countries are iron, Iodine and vitamin A. (Read more)

(We do not own any rights for this movie or its characters. All rights are reserved to its creators and those for whom they have given the rights.)

▪ Natural Disasters:

Disasters disrupt agricultural production and livelihoods, driving poverty and hunger. 

(Read More)

(We do not own any rights for this movie or its characters. All rights are reserved to its creators and those for whom they have given the rights.)

▪ Food Wastage

One third of all food produced (1.3 billion tons) is never consumed. This food wastage represents a missed opportunity to improve global food security in a world where one in 8 is hungry. (Read more)

(We do not own any rights for this movie or its characters. All rights are reserved to its creators and those for whom they have given the rights.)

▪ Unstable Market

In recent years, the price of food products has been very unstable. Roller-coaster food prices make it difficult for the poorest people to get nutritious food consistently - which is exactly what they need to do. (Read more)

▪ War and Displacement

Across the globe, conflicts consistently disrupt farming and food production. Fighting also forces millions of people to flee their homes, leading to hunger emergencies as the displaced find themselves without the means to feed themselves. The conflict in Syria is a recent example. (Read more)

(We do not own any rights for this movie or its characters. All rights are reserved to its creators and those for whom they have given the rights.)

Global Issues: Deforestation

Deforestation

   

Deforestation is clearing Earth's forests on a massive scale, often resulting in damage to the quality of the land. Forests still cover about 30 percent of the world’s land area, but swaths half the size of England are lost each year. (National Geographic)

This advertisement was created for WWF’s campaign in order to raise awareness on deforestation.

▪ Deforestation Causes

▪ Mining Coal Industry:

   Strip mining clears trees, plants and topsoil. Mining companies scrape away earth and rocks to get to coal buried near the surface. Mountains may be blasted apart to reach thin coal seams within, leaving permanent scars on the landscape.
   In this way, strip mining destroys landscapes, forests and wildlife habitats. It leads to soil erosion and destruction of agricultural land. (Read more)

(We do not own any rights for this movie or its characters. All rights are reserved to its creators and those for whom they have given the rights.)

▪ Laudering:

   Illegally logged timber in Brazil is being laundered on a massive and growing scale and then sold on to unwitting buyers in the UK, US, Europe and China, Greenpeace claimed.

   "Logging in the Brazilian Amazon is absolutely out of control. The current control system is being used to launder illegal timber," said Marcio Astrini, a campaigner who was part of the two-year investigation. (Read more)

(We do not own any rights for this movie or its characters. All rights are reserved to its creators and those for whom they have given the rights.)

▪ Wildfire Caused by Global Warming

   The effects of global warming on temperature, precipitation levels, and soil moisture are turning many of our forests into kindling during wildfire season.

   Higher spring and summer temperatures and earlier spring snowmelt typically cause soils to be drier for longer, increasing the likelihood of drought and a longer wildfire season, particularly in the western United States.
   These hot, dry conditions also increase the likelihood that, once wildfires are started by lightning strikes or human error, they will be more intense and long-burning.

(Read more)

(We do not own any rights for this movie or its characters. All rights are reserved to its creators and those for whom they have given the rights.)

▪ Effects of Deforestation

▪ Loss of Species:

   Seventy percent of the world’s plants and animals live in forests and are losing their habitats to deforestation, according to National Geographic. Loss of habitat can lead to species extinction. It also has negative consequences for medicinal research and local populations who rely on the animals and plants in the forests for hunting and medicine.

▪ Water Cycle:

   Trees are important to the water cycle. They absorb rain fall and produce water vapor that is released into the atmosphere. Trees also lessen the pollution in water, according to the North Carolina State University, by stopping polluted runoff. In the Amazon, more than half the water in the ecosystem is held within the plants, according to the National Geographic Society.

▪ Soil Erosion:

   Tree roots anchor the soil. Without trees, the soil is free to wash or blow away, which can lead to vegetation growth problems. The WWF states that scientists estimate that a third of the world’s arable land has been lost to deforestation since 1960. After a clear cutting, cash crops like coffee, soy and palm oil are planted. Planting these types of trees can cause further soil erosion because their roots cannot hold onto the soil. "The situation in Haiti compared to the Dominican Republic is a great example of the important role forests play in the water cycle," Daley said. Both countries share the same island, but Haiti has much less forest cover than the Dominican Republic. As a result, Haiti has endured more extreme soil erosion, flooding and landslide issues.


▪ Life Quality

   Soil erosion can also lead to silt entering the lakes, streams and other water sources. This can decrease local water quality and contribute to poor health in populations in the area.