So what are the countries where religion is illegal? Insider Monkey recently published an article in which we can find lots of interesting facts about his topic. During centuries there were lots of persecutions based on religious beliefs. For example the rise of totalitarian regimes in the 20th century. In Soviet Russia religion was regarded an “opium for people” and many priests were persecuted during the Soviet Era.
Today religious freedom is part of the human rights and it is accepted widely. Unfortunately there are countries where religion I still illegal. In order to create their list, Insider Monkey has consulted sites like Index on Censorship, which is a nonprofit organization that promotes freedom of expression, and US Department of State’s international Religious Freedom Report. Actually the countries you can find in Insider Monkey’s list can be divided into tow groups. The first group is where the countries are equally intolerant of all religious groups, and the other one that targets selected groups. What they have in common is that all can be regarded a totalitarian state, and consider religion as a threat.
We have picked three counties from Insider Monkey’s list: Eritrea, Iran, and Sudan. In Eritrea there are four religious groups that are allowed. They are Eritrean Orthodox Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Eritrea, the Roman Catholic Church, and Sunni Islam. Jehova’s Witnesses are in a very dire situation, as they refuse to serve in the army, their citizenship is stripped. Their members often have to face prison and they are tortured many times because of refusal to bear arms. Religion is very controversial in this country because despite that religion freedom in the country1s constitution, not all religions in Iran enjoy the same level of protection. While Jews and Christians aren’t outright persecuted banned from practicing their faith, any proselytizing among Muslims is punishable. The members of Baha’I faith are in a different situation, as this group isn’t considered a religious group, but rather a political organization. They are discriminated in connection with school enrollment, and employment. Sudan has one of the strictest Sharia norms in the world today. For example Muslim women are allowed to marry non-Muslims. There are reports of Christian female students sentenced to 20 lashes for wearing trousers.
For any further interesting information, you should read Insider Monkey’s article about the countries where religion is illegal.
