Religious freedom in the world

Saudi Arabia

International Religious Freedom Report 2006

The country is a monarchy with a legal system based on its interpretation of Islamic law (Shari'a). Islam is the official religion, and the law requires that all citizens be Muslims. The Government does not provide legal recognition or protection for freedom of religion, and it is severely restricted in practice. The public practice of non-Muslim religions is prohibited. As a matter of policy, the Government confirmed that it guarantees and protects the right to private worship for all, including non-Muslims who gather in homes for religious practice; however, this right was not always respected in practice and is not defined in law. source

Iran

WASHINGTON - A “threatening atmosphere” in Iran is causing a deterioration in already restricted religious freedom for nearly all minorities despite repeated expressions of concern by the United Nations, the State Department said Friday.

Baha’is and Sufi Muslims especially and other religious groups not recognized by the Iranian constitution are not free to practice their faiths, the department said in its annual report to Congress on religious freedom around the world.

Eight countries, including Iran, were cited for particularly severe violations of religious freedom. The others were Burma, China, Eritrea, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Vietnam. source

Also, 'Uzbekistan ... singling out some Muslims and Christians for “brutal treatment” on the grounds that they support terrorism. There are instances of abusing Muslims on the basis of no more than wearing a beard'. Also, 'Palestinian Authority colluded with members of gangs to seize land from Christians'.

Also, 'Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Pakistan should be added to the list of the eight most severe violators of religious freedom'.

Sudan, ... 'in the north of the country the government denied building permits for Christian churches and required all students to study Islam.'

'In Pakistan, the report said, reform-minded Muslims were intimidated and Ahmadiyya community continued to barred from practicing their faith.'

Ahmadinejad:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in an interview with Time that he has no problem with Jews in general, but that the "Zionists" who occupy "Palestine" are an illegitimate people and nation.

He calmly suggested that the 5 million so-called "Palestinian refugees" be allowed to return to the area, and then all inhabitants of Greater Israel vote for the government they want. (If that happened, the Arabs would easily outnumber the Jews.) source

Germany:

Germany is returning to Christianity including the Catholic Church. “Receptivity was high in Germany this week to visiting Pope Benedict XVI’s message.” “There are more theologians in the German parliament than in any other Western parliament, including the US Congress. ...

Malta, alongside Germany, Italy, Ireland, Poland, Lithuania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia pushed hard to see some reference to a Christian God in the EU’s constitution. In turn, the United Kingdom, France and Sweden opposed to the idea referencing religious statements in the legal text.
(We may see Sweden turn around on that now that the Leftists are out of office. But the UK and France… how revealing!) (more)

So while parts of the world are looking very bleak when it comes to any form of religious freedom, some nations are turning around and heading toward the light.
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Linked with Islamanazi

Comments

[Debbie]

Of course the first paragraph was about Saudi Arabia, that was just an error on my part, dyslexia, laziness or just tired and didn't wantch what I was doing. Thanks for noticing and letting me know.

[KI]

Thanks for the update

[KI]

I will have to point out that in this post, the first country discussed is Saudi Arabia according to your source not Syria. I don't think there is a better place on earth for religious tolerance other than Syria. Please update your post accordingly.