What is religious discrimination?

 Hello everyone; in this blog entry, I will be talking mainly about particular religious groups that are vulnerable to religious discrimination while generally talking about what religious discrimination is. Furthermore, I will also be answering questions 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,and, 8 from my 30 research questions. 

The main source for this blog will be the Office of Civil Rights of the United States (https://www.commerce.gov/cr/reports-and-resources/discrimination-quick-facts/religious-discrimination) and Equality and Human Rights Commission, Religion or Belief Discrimination (https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/advice-and-guidance/religion-or-belief-discrimination#what) and https://www.history.com/topics/united-states-constitution/freedom-of-religion

Religious discrimination is an act that discriminates against individuals because of their religion. Furthermore, it includes treating individuals differently because of their lack of religious beliefs or practices. Religious practices are not just those required by a church or other religious group but include moral or ethical beliefs as to what is right and wrong that are sincerely held with the strength of traditional religious views. Beliefs may be "religious" in nature, even if no religious group holds such beliefs or religious groups to which others in the workplace belong do not accept such beliefs.

 

There are mainly 2 types of discrimination, Direct and Indirect.

1. Direct discrimination happens when someone treats you worse than another individual in a similar situation because of your religion or belief. For instance, not hiring an individual because of their belief or limiting them because of their beliefs. Another example is when a bank refuses a loan because you're Jewish. 
2. Indirect discrimination happens when an organization has a policy or way of working that applies to everyone but puts you at a disadvantage because of your religion or belief. For instance, you are Jewish and finish early on Fridays to observe the Sabbath. Your manager has changed the weekly team meeting from Wednesday afternoons to Friday afternoons, so you are often absent. 

 By being a victim of religious discrimination, individuals tend to isolate themselves from society and may receive harassment from other individuals. Japan has an "International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination" to protect such individuals from discrimination. 

One high-profile conflict connected to religious discrimination is the assassination of the former prime minister of Japan, Abe Shinzou. According to Al Jazeera, Tetsuya Yamagami, who fatally shot Abe, initially wanted to kill the Unification Church−A South-Korean religious sect leader the 41-year-old blames for his family's financial ruin. But as he thought that it was "impossible" to kill him, he decided to kill Abe, who was "one of the most influential sympathizers" of the Unification Church.

As written above, the main reason Yamagami killed Abe is that he hated the church his mother was a member of. In other words, because of his mother's religion. 

Besides high-profile conflicts, many historical conflicts are related to religion. One famous form of religious discrimination is the discrimination towards Jews during the roman empire. The roman empire was open to many religions except Judaism and Christianity. Because these religions believed there was just one god, they prohibited worshiping other gods. Their members refused to make offerings to Roman gods or participate in Roman religious festivals, which Rome considered a matter of showing loyalty. In 167 BC, Jewish practices such as the Sabbath, Torah reading, and circumcision were banned, while pagan worship was enforced. Another historical example is in the United States. Mormons, led by Joseph Smith, clashed with the Protestant majority in Missouri in 1838. Missouri governor Lilburn Boggs ordered that all Mormons be exterminated or expelled from the state. At Haun's Mill, Missouri, militia members massacred 17 Mormons on October 30, 1838. 

As doing my research, a particular question popped into my mind.

What religious groups are particularly vulnerable to religious discrimination? 

The answer to that is Muslims and atheists. The researchers at Washington University examined reactions to a person's display of religious conviction in their study, which was centered on public schools because they are government-run, community-facing institutions. The researchers not only discovered more prejudice towards religious minorities but also observed that intense manifestations of religion, regardless of religious heritage, were more vulnerable to prejudice. More than 40,000 school principals in 33 states, including Washington, were sent an email as part of the survey, which was carried out in the spring of 2016. The email was disguised as a letter from a local newcomer family. The email signatures of the randomized notes indicated whether the sender was Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, or atheist. They also varied the amount of religious language in the content of the communication. Even while none of the principals' replies were overtly negative, there was a pattern in the silence. A little under half of the emails received a response. However, compared to the control emails, those that indicated atheism or identification with Islam were around 5% less likely to elicit a response. Considering this, you can see that people−Subconsciously– may act discriminative to a certain religion. 

This blog is written by

Yuka Koshizuka

Aoyamagakuin University

Department of English