The Underprivileged

...one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

The United States of America has been claimed as the land of the free--known for its right to freedom of religion. However, this privilege is not granted worldwide. 

"About seventy percent of the world's population lives in
countries where governments impose high restrictions on religion or
where there were once high levels of religious hostilities in society,
according to a global study by the Pew Research Center's Forum on
Religion and Public Life. Additionally, the study finds that about a
third of the world's population live in countries where restrictions or
hostilities are increasing. There are several intriguing patterns. First,
hostilities substantially increased in countries where restrictions and
hostilities were already high but tended to decrease in countries
where they were already low. Also, rising restrictions were associated
with contradictory constitutional protections for religious freedom
and with the presence of anti-blasphemy laws. Next, Christians and
Muslims, the world's two largest religious groups, were harassed in
the greatest number of countries. But while Jews comprise less than
one percent of the world's population, they were harassed in seventy-five
countries (38%). The Middle East and North Africa saw the
largest increases in government restrictions, but Europe had the
largest proportion of countries in which social hostilities related to
religion rose. Finally, government restrictions in Egypt were
increasing well before the ongoing revolutions known as Arab
Spring. Given such trends, it's unarguable that changes in religious
restrictions are a part of the larger social and political forces shaping
the world today" (Grim 835).

Take a look at these charts:

The question is--how has the religious restrictions (or freedom) affected specific countries and its citizens? As the generations are evolving and people are becoming more educated, around the globe, they are becoming more aware of the importance of religious freedom. However, it is within each country's right to grant how much of the freedom is given; in some cases, very little.

However, I would like to leave you with this thought--should more restrictions be enforced within America? Should less restrictions be enforced in other countries? How effective is the separation of church and state? And more importantly, why does religious freedom matter?

Please take a moment to view this video:

References:

http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ez2.maricopa.edu/ehost/detail?vid=6&sid=76869a46-0a7c-4fa0-b7ba-c0a544e0305a%40sessionmgr104&hid=106&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=83176195
Rising Restrictions on Religion: A Global Overview. Author- Grim, Brian J.
Brigham Young University Law Review. 2012, Vol. 2012 Issue 3, p835-872. 38p. 3 Charts, 3 Graphs.