Every year ACS
presents a report which talks about freedom of religion in the world and it
underlines the grade of freedom in 196 States.
Although it was
edited by a catholic foundation, it is not limited to denounce violations which
occurred to Christian community, but it shows the situation in all countries
with references to the condition of all different devotees.
It want to denounce
the precarious world situation of religions and the small possibility to
practice a cult without persecutions from other people or government. It
analyses also a political and social situation, in which religious minorities
fight.
In the last two years
the situation don’t improve, for example in China the level of protection of
this right is going down and there is an access from the government to enslave
the different religious community to the control of the state.
In the public opinion
grow the awareness of this theme, thanks to the medias and accessibility of
information. But, how we have seen in the previous posts , this is not always
possible in all the countries, because there is a strong censorship and
fundamental human rights are violated.
In Middle East the
situation is difficult because after the revolutions in 2010, the Arab Springs,
there is the danger of a passage from political to religious dictatorship.
Also in Africa the
Report underlines an increase of Islamic extremism and religious pressures in
some countries as Kenya, Nigeria, Mali and Ciad etc., where some ethnic groups
or minorities fight in continuous civil political and religion wars.
To understand this
phenomenon it is very important to know that freedom of religion and
awareness are not religious principles but laics and they must be
respected as fundamental rights.
freedom of
religion is a right not only for believers but also for all men who defend the principles
of freedom of opinion and expression.
Religions express
fundamental claims, hope, love, fear, they give power “Good to fight against
Evil” and they have an enormous influence in the souls of men, believers and
nonbelievers.
In name of religions
men make wars, destruct cities and kill people but it is not the real thought of
God, it is used only as vehicle by men to conquer or to enforce his power.
So it is impossible
to cut out the religion from mankind: it is the symbol of identity, such as the
culture and the traditions.
I put here a video that is not directly applied to religion, but speaks about the extremism and a possible way to resolve this problem. Why do extremist organizations succeed where democratic movements have a harder time taking hold? How can we do to understand better other cultures and other religion?
In these days the
situation in Southeastern Asia is not safety. The communist government in Vietnam
enacted a law, which puts more controls in the theme of “cult”. The authorities
will have more power to bit and imprisoned all who do not respect their rules
and decisions.
This “Decree 92”
limits and confines the activities of citizens and gives government power to act when they want.
The aim is to check and
overcome religions under political power of this government.
Religious
organizations can register their activities, the places where they practice and
pray, the members to give an “official acknowledge”, but they are not free:
there is always a state monitoring.
Christians and Catholics
continue their battle against the arrest and violation of human rights from
authorities; and communist leadership with policy do not stop the repressions
and violence attacks.
For more information (italian site):
http://www.asianews.it/notizie-it/Continua-la-battaglia-dei-cattolici-vietnamiti-per-la-pace-e-la-libertà-religiosa-26487.html
http://www.asianews.it/notizie-it/Vietnamiti-cattolici-e-non-in-preghiera-per-diritti-civili-e-libertà-religiosa-26286.html
Micol
The live in common between different cults inside the same nation is an important element for evaluating the degree of freedom in a country. Looking at the map that Micol posted, we can see that the situation in some South-eastern Asian countries is fragile.
RispondiEliminaMicol remembered rightly what is happening in Vietnam.
In 2000, governmental authorities conducted some land confiscation, harassments, and pressures against catholic and protestant believers. But also the Buddhist cult is subordinated to an harsh repression: for example Thich Thien Minh is serving a double life sentence for having protested in favour of his right of religious freedom.
All these cases of religious intolerance have been denounced by a resolution, approved by the European Parliament in November 2000 about human rights in Vietnam.
In the end, I want to underline that in some country of the area, the religion is a relevant component of the society: for example monks in Burma are the only category that could really represent a counter-power against the military junta. Limiting freedom of religion, also democracy is reduced.
Michael Massarutto
I believe that freedom of religion and expression must be guaranteed in all countries of the world regardless of whether we are talking about Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism or other types of religion.
RispondiEliminaIf a person doesn't want to adhere to a particular religion, or at the religion of the state such as Greece and Cyprus, can not be forced to choose the religion that is imposed.
The rights to proselytize, atheism or secularism as an ideology, shouldn't be pursued, to the condition that this does not become anti-religious propaganda or anti-Semitism.
The right to religion must be guaranteed to all believers who believe in a higher power, but the ability to have their own beliefs or convictions is a right that every person must have.
A religion must have its own organization, its own place of worship, its own charter and the opportunity to join must be guaranteed to anyone who wants to do it. Schools must give the children and their parents the opportunity to choose whether to attend religion classes and this should not be a requirement for anyone.
This unfortunately doesn't happen everywhere. There is still discrimination and religious wars in many countries of the third world and this is a serious problem for the full realization of man.
Andrea Scapin
Freedom of religion is a very important right of all people. looking at this map on the degree of freedom in 196 countries in the world can be seen as still there are many violations of this right. I believe it is essential to develop within the global society in which we live a solid foundation of understanding and respect for the freedom of religion, expression and opinion. Today it is necessary to try to fight the action of violent repression that frequently manifests itself in different areas such as the Middle East and Africa, especially after the outbreak of the revolution in 2010, the Arab Spring that has generated the formation of religious dictatorships. The Islamic religion in Muslim-majority societies is the main feature of the lives of many believers and is able to mobilize public opinion, such as the young Arabs who say they are ready to die for something more than just terrorism actions, they are ready to make demonstrations violent and intolerant towards those who follow other faiths, opinions or beliefs. In my opinion, extremism, both political and religious are always dangerous, and their success shows the degradation of civil society. When we witness the affirmation of extremism is the path of dialogue is abandoned, their faith or opinion becomes the only element to be difended also with the violence. religious faith should be interpreted in a universal form of dialogue and understanding between people and something superior to humanity, while today we can see that in many cases only feeds hatred and intolerance among people with different faiths and lifestyles. I think it's necessary to create a multinational movement that is actually active in the spread of democratic culture in an effective way, which should not only occur with free elections, because if it is not claimed full freedom of expression, we can’t have free and fair elections and without freedom of belief, there is no right to be part of organizations. Everywhere in the world it is important that there is an education for democratic culture, which must be manifested mainly in civil society in which we live and we are facing.
RispondiEliminaGianmarco Del Giudice