Religious discrimination
Religious discrimination is treating a person or group differently because of the particular religion they align with or were born into. This includes instances when adherents of different religions, denominations or non-religions are treated unequally due to their particular beliefs, either by the law or in institutional settings, such as employment or housing.
Religious discrimination or bias is related to religious persecution, the most extreme forms of which would include instances in which people have been executed for beliefs that have been perceived to be heretical. Laws that only carry light punishments are described as mild forms of religious persecution or religious discrimination. In recent years, terms such as religism and religionism have also been used, but "religious discrimination" remains the more widely used term.
Even in societies where freedom of religion is a constitutional right, adherents of minority religions sometimes voice their concerns about religious discrimination against them. Insofar as legal policies are concerned, cases that are perceived to be cases of religious discrimination might be the result of interference in the religious sphere by other spheres of the public that are regulated by law.
History
Ancient
Jews faced religious discrimination in the Roman Empire. The low point was the expulsion of Jews from Jerusalem and subsequent paganization of the city during the reign of Emperor Hadrian, which led to the Jewish diaspora.Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire was widespread. Christianity threatened the polytheistic order of the Roman Empire because of the importance of evangelism in Christianity. Under the Neronian persecution, Rome began to discriminate against monotheists who refused to worship the Roman gods. Nero blamed Christians for the Great Fire of Rome. During the Decian persecution, Valerianic persecution, and Diocletianic Persecution, Christians were slaughtered by being thrown to wild beasts, churches were destroyed, priests were imprisoned, and scriptures were confiscated.
Religious discrimination against Christians ended with the Edict of Milan, and the Edict of Thessalonica made Christianity the official religion of the empire. By the 5th century Christianity became the dominant religion in Europe and took a reversed role, discriminating against pagans, heretics, and Jews.
Medieval
In the Middle Ages, antisemitism in Europe was widespread. Christians falsely accused Jews of Jewish deicide, blood libel, and well poisoning, and subjected them to expulsions, forced conversions, and mandatory sermons. In the Papal States, Jews were required to live in poor segregated neighbourhoods called ghettos. Historians note that religious discrimination against Jews tended to increase during negative economic and climatic shocks in Europe, such as when they were scapegoated for causing the Black Death.During the Islamic Golden Age, many Jewish, Christian, Zoroastrian, and Pagan lands came under Muslim rule. As People of the Book, Jews, Christians, and Mandaeans living under Muslim rule became dhimmis with social status inferior to that of Muslims. Although Sharia law granted dhimmis freedom of religion, they were subjected to religious discrimination as second-class citizens and had to pay a jizya tax. They could not proselytize Muslims, marry Muslims, build or repair churches and synagogues without permission, perform loud religious rituals such as the ringing of church bells, carry weapons, or ride horses and camels. These discriminatory laws forced many Christians into poverty and slavery.
During the First Crusade, Christian knights recaptured the Holy Land from Muslim rule, massacring most of the Muslims and Jews in Jerusalem. This led to the creation of Catholic-ruled Crusader states, most notably the Kingdom of Jerusalem. In these kingdoms Jews, Muslims, and Orthodox Christians had no rights, being considered property of the crusader lords.
Modern
In early modern Europe, there was a religious conflict between Catholics and Protestants taking place in many countries. In early modern Britain, the Act of Uniformity 1548 compelled the Church of England to use only the Book of Common Prayer for its liturgy. There were several other Acts of Uniformity as the conflict continued well into the 19th century. When Catholicism became the sole compulsory religion in early modern France during the reign of Louis XIV, the Huguenots had to leave the country en masse.The Act for the Settlement of Ireland 1652 barred Catholics from most public offices and confiscated large amounts of their land, much of which was given to Protestant settlers.
During the decline of the Ottoman Empire in the late modern period, particularly ever since the Great Turkish War, discrimination against religious minorities worsened. The destruction of churches and the expulsion of local Christian communities became commonplace. Tolerance policies were abandoned in Ottoman Albania, in favor of reducing the size of Albania's Catholic population through Islamization.
Antisemitism in the Russian Empire was widespread, as Imperial Russia contained the world's largest Jewish population at the time. Jews were subject to discriminatory laws such as the May Laws, which restricted them from certain locations, jobs, transactions, schools, and political positions. They were also targeted in frequent anti-Jewish riots, called pogroms.
In Asia
[Pakistan]
is a serious issue. Several incidents of discrimination have been recorded with some finding support by the state itself. In a case of constitutionally sanctioned religious discrimination, non-Muslims in Pakistan cannot become prime minister or president, even if they are Pakistani citizens. Pakistan's Blasphemy Law, according to critics, "is overwhelmingly being used to persecute religious minorities and settle personal vendettas". Ahmadiyya Muslims have been subject to significant persecution and are sometimes declared 'non-Muslims'.[China]
or Uighurs are an ethnic and religious minority group in China. Their identity is based on the Islamic religion and has roots in the former East Turkistan culture. They reside in Xinjiang, an autonomous region situated in the west of the country. This group is persecuted by the Chinese government due to its perceived threat to the nation's security and identity. The Chinese government believes that the Uyghurs have separatist, extremist, and terrorist thoughts. It has detained around one million Uyghurs in camps. According to the Chinese government, these camps are created to re-educate the minority Muslims by learning about the negative consequences of extremism. Detainees are punished in these camps. The treatment of the Uyghurs violates their human rights because they are forcibly sent to the camps for an indefinite period of time. The discrimination against the Uyghurs comes in many forms. Some apparent restrictions include banning religious veils or robes in public. The training camps serve to inculcate beliefs that are congruent with the beliefs of the Chinese Communist Party.Subjected to abuse and suppression in China, some Uyghurs who were seeking refuge resettled in different parts of the world. In June 2021, it was reported that the Uyghurs were being detained even outside China. Following the diplomatic relations of China with the UAE, Uyghurs living in Dubai were subjected to arrest, prolonged detention and deportation to China. China allegedly requested for the deportation of Uyghurs from three Arab countries, including the UAE. The global influence of Beijing has even resulted in the expansion of religious discrimination against the Uyghur Muslims who are residing abroad.
[India]
Although the Constitution of India prohibits discrimination based on religion discrimination and religious violence in India are frequent, sometimes even involving the function of government. For example dalit people who are not Hindu, Sikh, or Buddhist are not covered by the Scheduled Castes laws and hence dalit Christians and Muslims do not receive the affirmative action political representation and educational placement, welfare benefits, and hate crimes protections accorded to their fellows. Dalits worshipping the same gods as Hindus were previously considered to be of a different religion and in the early twentieth century the question "Is he a Hindu or Pariah?" had currency.In the Middle East
[Algeria]
and proselytization is punishable by Algerian law. Prison sentences for those that practice Christianity do occur.[Egypt]
Apostasy and proselytizationViolence against the Christian minority is common.
Coptic Christians face many barriers to building and renovating Coptic churches.
[Iraq]
Christian Assyrians in Iraq have suffered from discrimination since Saddam Hussein's Arabization policies in the 1980s.[Morocco]
Apostasy and proselytization is punishable by Moroccan law. Prison sentences for those that leave Islam do occur.[Iran]
Throughout the contemporary history of Iran, ethnic and religious minorities have experienced religious discrimination. Since most of the people of Iran follow the Shia religion, most of the official and unofficial laws of this country are influenced by the Shia religion.Before the 1979 revolution, there were laws in Iran that allowed religious minorities to participate in elections, have representatives in the parliament, and even reach the highest government positions. After the revolution of 1979, the laws regarding religious minorities were changed. In the current constitution of Iran, only followers of Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism and Sunnis are allowed to perform their religious ceremonies in private and they do not have the right to propagate and spread their religion in public places.
Also, Iran's constitution does not recognize other religious minorities such as Baha'is, Buddhists, Hindus, and Atheists. Adherents of these belief systems are not allowed to express their beliefs, but they are deprived of their various rights, including working in government and non-government jobs, etc.
According to the current apostasy laws of Iran, no Muslim has the right to change his religion, and if he changes his religion, they can be punished by prison and execution. After the Islamic Revolution in 1979 until 2023, all important political and security posts and positions in the country have been assigned to the followers of the Shia religion.
Javid Rahman, the UN rapporteur on Iran affairs, criticized the violation of human rights in Iran at the 77th session of the UN General Assembly. He accused the Iranian government of always ignoring the rights of ethnic and religious minorities in the country and involving them in various judicial cases. In this report, he demanded the release of dissident prisoners and the recognition of the rights of religious and political minorities in Iran.
Kameel Ahmady, an anthropologist and developer of the book From Border to Border and his colleagues believes that the legal discriminations in the country's laws regarding ethnic and religious minorities must be removed.
In economic terms, Sunni rural areas lack important infrastructure. It is believed that the majority of the country’s facilities are concentrated in the central provinces. In terms of culture, some ethnic and religious minorities believe that they face restrictions on holding regional festivals and conferences. The national and local media do not cover and represent the cultures and traditions of these regions as the people believe they deserve, and do not provide media services related to the local and regional cultures of Different religions groups. Most Baluchis, as well as some Kurds, have different religious orientations than the state’s official religion. These groups feel that the religious beliefs of government officials lead to the political, cultural, social and economic oppression of indigenous peoples.