Atheists under threat: discrimination against non-religious people on the rise

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Non-religious people face severe discrimination in 85 countries around the world, according to a new report presented this week in the European Parliament.

The International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU), which compiled the report, also notes that, according to the last 12 months, non-believers are actively persecuted in at least seven countries - from India and Malaysia to Sudan and Saudi Arabia. Which regions are doing the worst, and what is behind this trend?

In April in Pakistan, a university student accused of insulting Islam was beaten to death by a crowd of fellow students on campus.

A few weeks earlier, in the Maldives, a blogger known for supporting liberal secularism and ridiculing religion was found stabbed to death in his apartment.

In Sudan, human rights defender Mohamed Dosogi was jailed after asking to officially change the entry on his identity card to indicate in the “religion” column that he is an atheist.

These are just three stories that the International Humanist and Ethical Union cites as an example, warning of the growing wave of discrimination, pressure and attacks on atheists and religious skeptics around the world.

The report of the organization "On Freedom of Thought in 2017" recorded cases of, as the authors write, "severe discrimination" against non-religious people in 85 countries.

In seven of these countries - India, Mauritania, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and the Maldives - non-believers are "actively persecuted," the authors of the report say.

This week, the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU), a London-based organization that brings together more than 120 humanist, atheist and secular groups from more than 40 countries, presented its findings to the European Parliament.

"This alarming trend runs counter to one of the basic human rights that are simply ignored by the authorities," - said in an interview with the BBC IHEU head Gary McLelland.

In the Maldives, atheist Yamiin Rashiid, who ridiculed politicians on his blog, got his throat slit.

Freedom of thought and religion is guaranteed by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and includes the right to freely choose or change denominations, as well as the freedom to express one's religious beliefs - or lack thereof.

"Many countries turn a blind eye to this international norm," McLelland says.

Serious violations

Out of 85 countries recognized by the IHEU experts as unsafe for people who do not consider themselves to be followers of any religion, in 30 the situation is the worst: there have been gross violations recorded over the past 12 months.

It could be extrajudicial killings, government pressure, prosecution of suspected blasphemy or insulting a religion - or even disappearing without a trace.

According to the report, in 12 of the 30 countries, apostasy - changing or abandoning religion - is punishable by death.

Another 55 countries are experiencing other forms of "severe discrimination".

These include, for example, religious control over family and administrative law, fundamentalist education in public schools, or criminal penalties for criticizing any belief protected by law.

Several other states, such as Germany and New Zealand, have fallen into the same category on the grounds that archaic laws on "blasphemy" and similar violations are still in force there, despite the fact that they are rarely applied in practice.

"Many countries with more severe forms of discrimination are predominantly Muslim, or multi-faith countries with highly Islamicized regions, such as northern Nigeria," McLelland said.

"Discrimination is more common where the rules are based on religious principles, and freedom of expression is very limited. The report simply reflects the current situation, and does not make any judgments," he says.

In Bangladesh, sectarian activists protest over the 2013 murder of atheist blogger Niloy Chakrabati.

There are problems in the West too

However, cases of discrimination against non-religious people have been reported in a number of European countries and in the United States of America.

This is especially true in those regions where conservative nationalism and populism are on the rise.

"In the United States, discrimination and hostility towards non-religious people has become commonplace," said Lois Lee, who teaches religious studies at the University of Kent. "In recent polls, atheists have figured among the least trusted groups in the population."

In the highly religious and socially conservative areas of the southeastern United States - the so-called "Bible Belt", it is reported that hostility towards non-religious people is on the rise.

So, for example, in one of the schools in the state of Kentucky, not so long ago, a special investigation was carried out, after which several people immediately complained that its employees were bullying non-Christian schoolchildren.

Lois Lee explains what is happening by the fact that more and more people are now defining their identity through the prism of their religious beliefs - including atheists.

“The perception of identity has partially shifted: people increasingly define themselves by belonging not only to their country or ethnic group, but also to one religion or another,” she explains in an interview with the BBC. “This issue has become more painful - and therefore, it is more often used to discriminate."

Atheists and opponents of religion on the march in Washington

The rise of atheism

Of course, the persecution of atheists around the world is not a new phenomenon.

In 2014, Mohamed Sheikh Ould Mkhaitir, a Mauritanian blogger, was sentenced to death "for apostasy." Only recently was the sentence commuted to two years in prison.

Another blogger, Raif Badawi, has been in prison in Saudi Arabia since 2012 for “insulting Islam through electronic channels,” despite constant calls from the international community to release Badawi.

And in 2013, a Bangladesh law student who posted his secular beliefs online was killed by religious extremists.

The list goes on.

Ural blogger Ruslan Sokolovsky was sentenced to a suspended sentence for "catching Pokemon" in the temple.

However, many observers note that more and more such cases are recorded precisely because, despite the growing popularity of religious views around the world, at the same time, the number of people who identify themselves as not having such is growing.

The Pew Research research center has calculated that by 2060 the number of unaffiliated people (these include atheists, agnostics and those who do not consider themselves to be followers of any particular religion) will be approximately 1.2 billion people (now there are 1, 17 billion). Although, according to the same forecast, this group will not grow as fast as the number of believers.

“Nonbelievers are currently the third largest population group in terms of religious beliefs,” says Lois Lee. “And we don't even have a specific term to describe these people - just through denial.”

“In some countries, governments often perceive atheists as a small group of the population. But it is precisely because of the possible threats that they will have to face that many non-religious people cannot publicly call themselves atheists. Therefore, they are often overlooked, says IHEU CEO Gary McLelland.

In any case, the persecution of non-religious people tends to occur in countries where other serious forms of discrimination are also prevalent. Crimes against atheists are "not isolated incidents, but part of a general regressive pattern."

“As we see in this year's report, human rights tend to be respected or violated collectively,” writes IHEU President Andrew Corpson. “Where non-religious people are persecuted, specific religious minorities (as well as sexual and other minorities) are usually persecuted.. It's not a coincidence."

"Where non-religious minorities are persecuted, religious minorities are usually persecuted as well."

_

How the rating is compiled

_

● The IHEU report ranks countries on 60 characteristics in four broad areas: power and law, education, social interaction and freedom of expression.

● Countries are then classified into five categories based on the severity of incidents involving non-religious people: serious violations, severe discrimination, systematic discrimination, generally satisfactory situation, and countries in which believers and non-believers are equally free.

● The 2017 report notes that in 30 countries at least one of the measured indicators (as a rule, there are more of them) is at the highest level - “gross violations”.

● An additional 55 countries have reported "serious violations".

● Critics of this methodology argue that it may not reflect the exact picture. For example, a secular country with a strict separation of church and state and laws that explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion may be listed as “unsafe” because it only performs poorly in one subcategory (for example, if the state sponsors religious schools or provides church tax breaks). “The reality is different around the world, and the degree of delinquency is very different, so it is very difficult to compare them,” says Dr. Lois Lee.

_