“Atheists and agnostics can
also suffer from religious persecution. In Indonesia it is in principle illegal
to be an atheist, although this provision is not enforced; but any Saudi
Arabian – all of whom must, by law, be Muslim – who pronounces himself an
atheist faces a real risk of being executed for apostasy.
“Religions, whether large,
such as Christianity, Islam, Hinduism or Buddhism, or small, such as Baha’i,
Jehovah’s Witnesses, or Judaism, all suffer to some degree. The most egregious persecuting states tend to
be either communist, such as North Korea and China; nationalist, such as
Burma/Myanmar and Eritrea; or radical Islamists, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia.
“In some cases, restrictions
on religion come from people who are members of the same general religious
group but who are part of a different subgroup. Thus non-Orthodox Christians in Russia, Greece
and Armenia suffer discrimination from the Orthodox, while Shi’ite Muslims in
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia suffer persecution and even death at the hands of
some of the dominant Sunni groups.
“…violations of religious
freedom worldwide are massive, widespread, and, in many parts of the world,
intensifying.” Paul Marshall (2008)
Source:
https://www.unitarian.org.uk/sites/default/files/2013_200_Aniversary_Unitarian_Toleration_Apr.pdf
Further Information:
Search the Amnesty International UK website using the term "religious discrimination" https://www.amnesty.org.uk
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