(RNS) — A report by Pew Research Center on international religious freedom named Egypt, Syria, Pakistan and Iraq as the countries where both government restrictions and social hostility most limit the ability of religious minorities to practice their faith. Governmental attacks and social hostility toward various religions usually “go hand in hand,” said the report, the 15th annual edition of a report that tracks the evolution of government restrictions on religion. “Government restrictions on religion around the world in 2022” (Graphic courtesy of Pew Research Center) The report uses two indexes created by the center in 2007, the Government Restrictions Index and the Social Hostilities Index, to rank countries’ levels of government restrictions on religion and attitudes of societal groups and organizations toward religion. The GRI focuses on 20 criteria, including government efforts to ban a faith, limit conversions and preaching, and preferential treatment of one or many religious groups. The SHI’s 13 criteria take into account mob violence, hostilities in the name of religion and religious bias crimes. The study looks at the situation in 198 countries in 2022, the latest year for which data are available from such agencies as the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, the U.S. Department of State and the FBI. The report also contains findings from independent and nongovernmental organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Anti-Defamation League, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. In total, 24 countries were given high or very high GRI scores (4.5 or higher on a scale of 10) and high or very high SHI scores (higher than 3.6 out of 10). Close behind the four countries that scored very high on both scales were India, Israel and Nigeria. “Countries with ‘high’ or ‘very high’ GRI and SHI scores, 2018-2022” (Graphic courtesy of Pew Research Center) Thirty-two other countries, including Turkistan, Cuba and China, scored high or very high on government restrictions, but low or moderate on social hostility. Most were rated as “undemocratic” and “authoritarian” by The Economist magazine’s Democracy Index. “Such regimes may tightly control religion as part of broader restrictions on civil liberties,” reads the report. Many Central Asian countries and post-Soviet countries fell into that category, noted Samirah Majumdar, the report’s lead researcher. Besides ranking countries where religions were under the most pressure, the team that put together the report, part of the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project, tried to determine “whether countries with government restrictions tend to be places where they also have social hostilities; Do countries with relatively few government restrictions also tend to be places where they have relatively few social hostilities?” explained Majumdar. Majumdar said that the results were inconclusive. “We can’t exactly determine a causal link, but there are some patterns we were able to observe in the different groupings,” she said. “A lot of those countries have had sectarian tensions and violence reported over the years. In some cases, government actions can go hand in hand with what is happening socially in those countries.” Countries with low or moderate scores on both indexes — a GRI no higher than 4.4 out of 10 and an SHI between 0 and 3.5 — usually had populations under 60 million inhabitants. The index factors the same criteria over the years, and the team relies on the same sources, allowing for comparisons from one year to another. From 2021 to 2022, median GRI and SHI scores stayed the same, but in sub-Saharan Africa, the GRI rose from 2.6 to 3.0 out of 10. In Middle Eastern and North African countries, the index went from 5.9 to 6.1. Among the 45 countries that presented high or very high SHI scores, Nigeria was the first of the seven countries with very high levels, a result linked to gang violence against religious groups and violence by militant groups Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa, which rages in the Sahel desert. Iraq, which ranks among the countries with both high GRI and SHI, also finds itself among the countries with the highest social hostilities, and has seen its social hostility score increase. The report attributed this to violence against religious minorities imprisoned by Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces. It also cited a 2024 Amnesty International report on outbreaks of gender-based violence in Iraqi Kurdistan, with many occurrences of women being killed by male family members, sometimes for converting to another religion. “Religious groups faced at least 1 type of physical harassment in almost three-quarters of countries around the world in 2022” (Graphic courtesy of Pew Research Center) According to the report, physical harassment against religious groups by government or social groups peaked in 2022. This category covered acts from verbal abuse to displacements, killings, or damage to an organization’s property. The study highlighted 26,000 displaced people from Tibetan communities in China and continued gang violence targeting religious leaders by Haitian gangs. Overall, the number of countries where physical harassment took place increased to 145 in 2022, against 137 countries in 2021. Christi Harlan talks with Word&Way President Brian Kaylor about her new books Mr. President, The Class Is Yours: Jimmy Carter's Sunday School Lessons in Washington, D.C. and Normal Lives: President Jimmy Carter and His Church. She also discusses Carter's teaching style and humor, as well as the church's history. Note: Don't forget to subscribe to…
Samuel Perry, a professor of sociology at the University of Oklahoma, talks with Word&Way President Brian Kaylor about his new book Religion for Realists: Why We All Need the Scientific Study of Religion. He also discusses issues of religious identity, partisanship, and Christian Nationalism. He previously appeared on episode 46. Note: Don't forget to subscribe…
This episode features a conversation originally recorded in May 2020 for the podcast Baptist Without An Adjective. In it, Word&Way President Brian Kaylor interviewed author and sociologist Tony Campolo. The author of 35 books and a longtime professor at Eastern University, Campolo died on Nov. 19 at the age of 89. This conversation is being…
Grace Ji-Sun Kim, a professor of theology at Earlham School of Religion, talks with Word&Way President Brian Kaylor about her new book When God Became White: Dismantling Whiteness for a More Just Christianity. She also discusses issues of racism, patriarchy, and Christian Nationalism. She previously appeared on episode 145. She writes a Substack newsletter and…
The 74 America's Education News Source Copyright 2024 The 74 Media, Inc Sign up for our free newsletter and start your day with in-depth reporting on the latest topics in education. Education is at a Crossroads: Help Us Illuminate the Path Forward.Donate to The 74 The majority of voters are dissatisfied with the trajectory of K-12 education and support leaving school decisions to local governments, according to a recent national survey. The survey, from right-leaning education advocacy group Yes. Every Kid. Foundation, reveals opinions about local school control, open enrollment and funding from 1,000 registered voters across the nation. The majority of survey respondents support ending assigned school zones — district boundaries that determine which school students attend, depending on their home address. Nearly two-thirds (65%) said they support giving children access to the best public school that works for them, regardless of the neighborhood they live in. About 56% said K-12 education is headed in the wrong direction, a finding that should be an “alarm bell” for policymakers, said Matt Frendeway, vice president of strategy for Yes. Every Kid. One-third (31%) of respondents said education is going in the right direction, while 12% said they didn’t know. “Families don’t feel like things are working,” he said. The results are similar to the findings of other national surveys. An annual Gallup poll found that in 2024, 55% of people said they were dissatisfied with the quality of K-12 education in the U.S. Frendeway said the Yes. Every Kid. survey results suggest that voters want less federal involvement and more flexibility in education. When asked who they trust the most to decide how local education funding is spent, 20% of respondents said their state department of education, 18% said teachers and 15% said parents. About 14% chose their local school board, 12% said individual schools and 12% preferred the federal government. While 74% of respondents said Washington should fund public schools, only 28% said it should decide what schools spend the money on. Districts receive roughly 10% of their funding from Washington, with state and local governments supplying the rest. The money is funneled through programs such as Title I for low-income schools and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which supports special education students. The role of federal funding has recently come under scrutiny, especially with the election of President Donald Trump, who has called for shifting more funding to the states or dismantling the Department of Education altogether. In the Yes. Every Kid. survey, 59% of respondents said they would support ending all federal requirements tied to education funding and instead sending money directly to states to spend. About 62% said they support each state tailoring education programs to the needs of their own student populations. Frendeway said one approach is to increase block grant funding, which is money that comes from the federal government but is administered by state or local governments. “Governors would have more say in how to benefit schools in their state,” he said. “It brings the funds closer to those who need it and deserve it.” Other education groups have warned that dismantling federal funding would devastate local schools by worsening teacher shortages and quality instruction for vulnerable students, according to the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning policy institute. Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Lauren Wagner covers education for the Omaha World-Herald and is a contributor to The 74 We want our stories to be shared as widely as possible — for free. Please view The 74’s republishing terms. By Lauren Wagner This story first appeared at The 74, a nonprofit news site covering education. Sign up for free newsletters from The 74 to get more like this in your inbox. The majority of voters are dissatisfied with the trajectory of K-12 education and support leaving school decisions to local governments, according to a recent national survey. The survey, from right-leaning education advocacy group Yes. Every Kid. Foundation, reveals opinions about local school control, open enrollment and funding from 1,000 registered voters across the nation. The majority of survey respondents support ending assigned school zones — district boundaries that determine which school students attend, depending on their home address. Nearly two-thirds (65%) said they support giving children access to the best public school that works for them, regardless of the neighborhood they live in. About 56% said K-12 education is headed in the wrong direction, a finding that should be an “alarm bell” for policymakers, said Matt Frendeway, vice president of strategy for Yes. Every Kid. One-third (31%) of respondents said education is going in the right direction, while 12% said they didn’t know. “Families don’t feel like things are working,” he said. The results are similar to the findings of other national surveys. An annual Gallup poll found that in 2024, 55% of people said they were dissatisfied with the quality of K-12 education in the U.S. Frendeway said the Yes. Every Kid. survey results suggest that voters want less federal involvement and more flexibility in education. When asked who they trust the most to decide how local education funding is spent, 20% of respondents said their state department of education, 18% said teachers and 15% said parents. About 14% chose their local school board, 12% said individual schools and 12% preferred the federal government. While 74% of respondents said Washington should fund public schools, only 28% said it should decide what schools spend the money on. Districts receive roughly 10% of their funding from Washington, with state and local governments supplying the rest. The money is funneled through programs such as Title I for low-income schools and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which supports special education students. The role of federal funding has recently come under scrutiny, especially with the election of President Donald Trump, who has called for shifting more funding to the states or dismantling the Department of Education altogether. In the Yes. Every Kid. survey, 59% of respondents said they would support ending all federal requirements tied to education funding and instead sending money directly to states to spend. About 62% said they support each state tailoring education programs to the needs of their own student populations. Frendeway said one approach is to increase block grant funding, which is money that comes from the federal government but is administered by state or local governments. “Governors would have more say in how to benefit schools in their state,” he said. “It brings the funds closer to those who need it and deserve it.” Other education groups have warned that dismantling federal funding would devastate local schools by worsening teacher shortages and quality instruction for vulnerable students, according to the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning policy institute. Copyright 2024 The 74 Media, Inc
ELKHART, Ind. (WNDU) – In the season of giving, there are a lot of groups here in Michiana working to help the community. Open Gate Praise and Deliverance Ministries in Elkhart is one of them! Tasha Stott and Sister Malone joined us on WNDU 16 News Now at Noon to tell us all about Open Gate and what they do. You can learn much more by watching the video above! For more information, you can follow Open Gate on Facebook. Open Gate is located at 137 Division Street. Copyright 2024 WNDU. All rights reserved. Forecast News Community Michigan News News Indiana Indiana News News News
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