41 countries ban religion-related groups; Jehovah’s Witnesses, Baha’is among the most commonly targeted
Around a fifth (21%) of the 198 countries evaluated banned at least one religion-related group in 2019, our analysis found.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Around a fifth (21%) of the 198 countries evaluated banned at least one religion-related group in 2019, our analysis found.
79 countries and territories out of the 198 studied around the world (40%) had laws or policies in 2019 banning blasphemy.
Many across Western Europe and the U.S. would be willing to accept Muslims as family or as neighbors. Yet there is no consensus on whether Islam fits into these societies.
The global Muslim population is more concentrated in Islam’s main population centers than the global Christian population is for Christianity.
Reports of anti-Semitic incidents in France rose dramatically in 2018. Yet most French adults do not believe negative Jewish stereotypes and are accepting of Jews.
Across Western Europe, people who say they personally know a Muslim are generally more likely than others to have positive opinions of Muslims and their religion. However, knowing something about Islam – as opposed to personally knowing a Muslim – is less associated with positive feelings of Muslims and Islam.
Nostalgia, ethnocentrism and a belief that Islam is incompatible with a country’s culture and values also factor into nationalist populism in Europe.
Most Christians in Western Europe today are non-practicing, but Christian identity still remains a meaningful religious, social and cultural marker. Read 10 key findings from our new survey.
Neha Sahgal, a lead author of our survey of Christians in Western Europe, discusses how the survey team constructed its questions and analyzed results.
Nationalist and anti-immigrant attitudes in Western Europe have been an issue in a number of recent national elections around the region. But Western Europeans vary by country when it comes to having positive or negative views about immigrants and religious minorities.
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