Discrimination against atheists, sometimes calledatheophobia,[1]atheistophobia,[2] oranti-atheism,[3][4] both at present and historically, includespersecution of anddiscrimination against people who are identified asatheists. Discrimination against atheists may be manifested by negative attitudes, prejudice, hostility, hatred, fear, or intolerance towards atheists and atheism or even the complete denial of atheists' existence.[5][6][7] It is often expressed in distrust regardless of its manifestation.[8] Perceived atheist prevalence seems to be correlated with reduction in prejudice.[9] There is global prevalence of mistrust in moral perceptions of atheists found in even secular countries and among atheists.[10]
Because atheism can be defined in various ways, those discriminated against or persecuted on the grounds of being atheists might not have been considered atheists in a different time or place. Thirteen Muslim countries officially punish atheism orapostasy by death andHumanists International asserts that "the overwhelming majority" of the 193member states of the United Nations "at best discriminate against citizens who have no belief in a god and at worst can jail them for offences dubbedblasphemy".[11][12] It has been argued that the most intense persecutions of atheists such as executions and killings may amount togenocide under the legal definition.[13][14][15][16]
Tim Whitmarsh argues atheism existed in theancient world, though it remains difficult to assess its extent given that atheists are referenced (usually disparagingly) rather than having surviving writings. Givenmonotheism at the time was a minority view, atheism generally attackedpolytheistic beliefs and associated practices in references found. The word "atheos" (godless) also was used for religious dissent generally (including the monotheists) which complicates study further. Despite these difficulties, Whitmarsh believes that otherwise atheism then was much the same. While atheists (or people perceived as such) were occasionally persecuted, this was rare (perhaps due to being a small group, plus a relative tolerance toward different religious views).[17] Other scholars believe it arose later in themodern era.Lucien Febvre has referred to the "unthinkability" of atheism in its strongest sense before the sixteenth century, because of the "deep religiosity" of that era.Karen Armstrong has concurred, writing "from birth andbaptism to death and burial in the churchyard, religion dominated the life of every single man and woman. Every activity of the day, which was punctuated by church bells summoning the faithful to prayer, was saturated with religious beliefs and institutions: they dominated professional and public life—even the guilds and the universities were religious organizations. ... Even if an exceptional man could have achieved the objectivity necessary to question the nature of religion and the existence of God, he would have found no support in either the philosophy or the science of his time."[18][19][20] As governmental authority rested on the notion ofdivine right, it was threatened by those who denied the existence of the local god. Those labeled as atheist, including early Christians, Jews and Sufi Muslims, were as a result targeted for legal persecution.[21][22]
During theearly modern period, the term "atheist" was used as an insult and applied to a broad range of people, including those who held opposing theological beliefs, as well as those who had committedsuicide, immoral or self-indulgent people, and even opponents of the belief inwitchcraft.[18][19][23] Atheistic beliefs were seen as threatening to order and society by philosophers such asThomas Aquinas. Lawyer and scholarThomas More said thatreligious tolerance should be extended to all except those who did not believe in a deity or the immortality of the soul.[21]John Locke, a founder of modern notions of religious liberty, argued that atheists (as well as Catholics and Muslims) should not be granted full citizenship rights.[21]
During theInquisition, several of those who were accused of atheism or blasphemy, or both, were tortured or executed. These included the priestGiulio Cesare Vanini who was strangled and burned in 1619 and the Polish noblemanKazimierz Łyszczyński who was executed in Warsaw,[18][24][25] as well asEtienne Dolet, a Frenchman executed in 1546. Though heralded as atheist martyrs during the nineteenth century, recent scholars hold that the beliefs espoused by Dolet and Vanini are not atheistic in modern terms.[20][26][27]
Baruch Spinoza was effectivelyexcommunicated from theSephardic Jewish community ofAmsterdam for atheism, though he did not claim to be an atheist.[citation needed]
During the nineteenth century, British atheists, though few in number, were subject to discriminatory practices.[28] The poetPercy Bysshe Shelley was expelled from the University of Oxford and denied custody of his two children after publishing a pamphlet titledThe Necessity of Atheism.[29] Those not willing to swear Christian oaths during judicial proceedings were unable to give evidence in court to obtain justice until this requirement was repealed by Acts passed in 1869 and 1870.[28]
AtheistCharles Bradlaugh was elected as aMember of the British Parliament in 1880. He was denied the right to affirm rather than swear his oath of office, and was then denied the ability to swear the oath as other Members objected that he had himself said it would be meaningless. Bradlaugh was re-elected three times before he was finally able to take his seat in 1886 when the Speaker of the House permitted him to take the oath.[29]
The killing of leftists in theFrancoist Repression in Spain was justified under the pretext partially of eliminating non-Catholic atheists, which has been argued to make the mass killings amount to genocide in the legal sense.[16]
InGermany during the Nazi era, a 1933 decree stated that "No National Socialist may suffer detriment... on the ground that he does not make any religious profession at all".[30] However, the regime strongly opposed "godlesscommunism",[31][32] and all of Germany's atheist and largelyleft-wingfreethought organizations such as theGerman Freethinkers League (500,000 members)[33] were banned the same year; someright-wing groups were tolerated by the Nazis until the mid-1930s.[34][35] In a speech which he made later in 1933,Hitler claimed that he had "stamped out" the atheistic movement.[30]
During the negotiations which led up to the Nazi-VaticanReichskonkordat of 26 April 1933, Hitler stated that "Secular schools can never be tolerated" because of their irreligious tendencies.[36] Hitler routinely disregarded this undertaking, and theReichskonkordat as a whole, and by 1939, all Catholic denominational schools had been disbanded or converted to public facilities.[37]
By 1939, 94.5% of Germans still called themselvesProtestant orCatholic, while 3.5% were so-called "Gottgläubige" (lit. "believers in God") and 1.5% were without faith.[38] According to historianRichard J. Evans, those members of the affiliationgottgläubig "were convinced Nazis who had left their Church at the behest of the Party, which had been trying since the mid-1930s to reduce the influence of Christianity in society".[39]Heinrich Himmler was a strong promoter of thegottgläubig movement and did not allow atheists into theSS, arguing that their "refusal to acknowledge higher powers" would be a "potential source of indiscipline".[40] Himmler announced to theSS: "We believe in a God Almighty who stands above us; he has created the earth, the Fatherland, and the Volk, and he has sent us the Führer. Any human being who does not believe in God should be considered arrogant, megalomaniacal, and stupid and thus not suited for the SS."[38] TheSS oath (Eidformel der Schutzstaffel), written by Himmler, also specifically denounced atheists, repeating the sentiments above.[41]
Article 18 of theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights is designed to protect the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. In 1993, the UN's human rights committee declared that article 18 of theInternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights "protects theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs, as well as the right not to profess any religion or belief".[42] The committee further stated that "the freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief necessarily entails the freedom to choose a religion or belief, including the right to replace one's current religion or belief with another or to adopt atheistic views". Signatories to the convention are barred from "the use of threat of physical force or penal sanctions to compel believers or non-believers" to recant their beliefs or convert. Despite this, atheists still are persecuted in some parts of the world.[43][44]
Modern theories ofconstitutional democracy assume that citizens are intellectually and spiritually autonomous and that governments should leave matters of religious belief to individuals and not coerce religious beliefs using sanctions or benefits. The constitutions, human rights conventions and the religious liberty jurisprudence of most constitutional democracies provide legal protection of atheists and agnostics. In addition, freedom of expression provisions and legislation separating church from state also serve to protect the rights of atheists. As a result, open legal discrimination against atheists is not common in most Western countries.[21] However, prejudice against atheists does exist in Western countries. A study showed that atheists had lower employment prospects.[8]
In most of Europe, atheists are elected to office at high levels in many governments without controversy.[45] Some atheist organizations in Europe have expressed concerns regarding issues of separation of church and state, such as administrative fees for leaving the Church charged in Germany,[46] and sermons being organized by the Swedish parliament.[47] Ireland requires religious training from Christian colleges in order to work as a teacher in government-funded schools.[48]In the UK one-third of state-funded schools are faith-based.[49] However, there are no restrictions on atheists holding public office.[50] At least four Prime Ministers of the UK have been openly atheists, along with many other senior politicians across all the parties. According to a 2012 poll, 25% of theTurks in Germany believe atheists are inferior human beings.[51][52][importance?] Portugal has elected two presidents,Mário Soares, who was also elected Prime-Minister, andJorge Sampaio, who have openly expressed their irreligion, as well as two agnostic Prime-Ministers,José Sócrates andAntónio Costa. On the contrary, in Greece, the right-wing New Democracy government stated that "the Greek people have a right to know whether Mr.Tsipras is an atheist", even though they granted that "it is his right."[53] In theElder Pastitsios case, a 27-year-old was sentenced to imprisonment for satirizing a popular apocalyptically-minded Greek Orthodox monk, while severalmetropolitans of the Greek Orthodox Church (which is not fully separated from the state) have also urged their flock "not to vote unbelievers into office", even going so far as to warn Greek Orthodox laymen that they would be "sinning if they voted atheists into public office."[citation needed][54]
A 2009 survey showed that atheists were the most hated demographic group in Brazil, among several other minorities polled, being almost on par with drug addicts. According to the research, 17% of the interviewees stated they felt either hatred or repulsion for atheists, while 25% felt antipathy and 29% were indifferent.[55]
Canadiansecular humanist groups have worked to end the recitation of prayers during government proceedings, viewing them as discriminatory.[56][57]Scouts Canada states that while a belief in God or affiliation with organized religion is not a requirement to join, members must have "a basic spiritual belief"[58] and one of the core values is "Duty to God: Defined as, The responsibility to adhere to spiritual principles, and thus to the religion that expresses them, and to accept the duties therefrom."[59]
 | This sectionmay contain anexcessive number of citations. Please helpimprove it byremoving low-quality or irrelevant citations.(September 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Anti-atheism was described as a "key pillar of American religious identity" from the early settlements to today's conspiracy ideologies.[60] Discrimination against atheists in the United States occurs in legal, personal, social, and professional contexts. Many American atheists compare their situation to the discrimination faced by ethnic minorities, andLGBT communities.[61][62][63] "Americans still feel it's acceptable to discriminate against atheists in ways considered beyond the pale for other groups," assertedFred Edwords of theAmerican Humanist Association.[64] The degree of discrimination, persecution, andsocial stigma atheists face in the United States, compared to other persecuted groups in the United States has been the subject of study and a matter of debate.[65][66][67]
In the United States,seven state constitutions include religious tests that would effectively prevent atheists from holding public office, and in some cases being a juror/witness, though these have not generally been enforced since the early twentieth century.[68][69][70] TheU.S. Constitution permits anaffirmation in place of anoath to allow atheists to give testimony in court or to hold public office.[68][71] However, the Supreme Court caseTorcaso v. Watkins (1961) reaffirmed that the U.S. Constitution prohibits states and the federal government from requiring any kind of religious test for public office, in this specific case as a notary public.[68][72][73] This decision is generally understood to also apply to witness oaths.[74]
Several American atheists have used court challenges to address discrimination against atheists.Michael Newdow challenged inclusion of the phrase "under God" in the United StatesPledge of Allegiance on behalf of his daughter, claiming that the phrase amounted to government endorsement of discrimination against atheists.[75] He won the case at an initial stage, but the Supreme Court dismissed his claim, ruling that Newdow did not havestanding to bring his case, thus disposing of the case without ruling on the constitutionality of the pledge.[76][77] Respondents to a survey were less likely to support a kidney transplant for hypothetical atheists and agnostics needing it, than for Christian patients with similar medical needs.[78] As theBoy Scouts of Americadoes not allow atheists as members, atheist families and theACLU from the 1990s onwards have launched a series of court cases arguing discrimination against atheists. In response to ACLU lawsuits,the Pentagon in 2004 ended sponsorship ofScouting units,[79][80] and in 2005 the BSA agreed to transfer all Scouting units out of government entities such as public schools.[81][82]
Despite polling showing that nonbelievers make up an increasingly large part of the population there are only a few public atheists serving as public officials across the nation. Few politicians have been willing to acknowledge their lack of belief in supreme beings, since such revelations have been considered "political suicide",[83][84] and some have identified themselves as atheists only after or towards the end of their terms in office. California RepresentativePete Stark was the first openly atheist member of the United States Congress, publicly identifying himself as such in 2007 despite serving since 1973.[85][86] With this announcement he became the highest ranking openly atheist elected official in the United States. Stark was defeated for reelection in the primary in 2012, the same yearJared Huffman was elected representative for a different California district. Huffman has since been the sole non-theist in the United States House of Representatives, describing himself as ahumanist and stating "I suppose you could say I don't believe in God" in a 2017 interview withThe Washington Post's Michelle Boorstein.[87][88] It is thought that for years, there was only one openly atheist state legislator,Ernie Chambers, who held a seat in theNebraska State Legislature from 1971 to 2009, and again from 2013 to 2021. During the 2010s, some other members of state legislatures have publicly identified themselves as atheists includingJuan Mendez of Arizona,[89][90]Andrew Zwicker of New Jersey,[91] andMegan Hunt of Nebraska.[92]Cecil Bothwell, who has publicly stated he does not believe in gods and that it is "certainly not relevant to public office", was elected on 3 November 2009, to the Asheville, North Carolina city council after he won the third highest number of votes in the city election. Following the election, political opponents of Bothwell threatened to challenge his election on the grounds that the North Carolina Constitution does not allow for atheists to hold public office in the state. However, that provision, dating back to 1868, is unenforceable and invalid because the United States Constitution prevents religious tests for public office.[93] A 2015 Gallup survey found that 40% of Americans would not vote an atheist for president,[94] and in polls prior to 2015, that number had reached about 50%.[95][96]
A 2014 study by the University of Minnesota found that 42% of respondents characterized atheists as a group that did "not at all agree with my vision of American society", and that 44% would not want their child to marry an atheist. The negative attitudes towards atheists were higher than negative attitudes towards African-Americans and homosexuals but lower than the negative attitudes towards Muslims.[97] Many in the U.S. associate atheism withimmorality, including criminal behaviour, extreme materialism, communism andelitism.[98] The studies also showed that rejection of atheists was related to the respondent's lack of exposure to diversity, education and political orientations.[99] Atheists and atheist organizations have alleged discrimination against atheists in the military,[100][101][102] and recently, with the development of theArmy's Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program, atheists have allegedinstitutionalized discrimination.[103][104] In severalchild custody court rulings, atheist parents have been discriminated against, either directly or indirectly. Aschild custody laws in the United States are often based on the subjective opinion of family court judges, atheism has frequently been used to deny custody to non-religious parents on the basis that a parent's lack of faith displays a lack of morality required to raise a child.[105][106]
Prominent atheists and atheist groups have said that discrimination against atheists is illustrated by a statement reportedly made byGeorge H. W. Bush during a public press conference just after announcing his candidacy for the presidency in 1987.[61][107][108][109] When asked by journalist Robert Sherman about the equal citizenship and patriotism of American atheists, Sherman reported that Bush answered, "No, I don't know that atheists should be regarded as citizens, nor should they be regarded as patriotic. This is one nation under God."[61][109][110] Sherman did not tape the exchange and no other newspaper ran a story on it at the time.[61]
George H. W. Bush's son,George W. Bush, responded to a question about the role of faith in his presidency during a 3 November 2004 press conference, "I will be your president regardless of your faith. And I don't expect you to agree with me, necessarily, on religion. As a matter of fact, no president should ever try to impose religion on our society. The great – the great tradition of America is one where people can worship the – the way they want to worship. And if they choose not to worship, they're just as patriotic as your neighbor."[111]
On 16 December 2016, President Barack Obama signed H.R. 1150, an amendment to theFrank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act. It includes protections for "non-theistic beliefs, as well as the right not to profess or practice any religion at all."[112]
Torcaso v. Watkins,367 U.S.488 (1961) was aUnited States Supreme Court case in which the court reaffirmed that theUnited States Constitution prohibits States and the Federal Government fromrequiring any kind of religious test for public office; the specific case with Torcaso was regarding his being an atheist and his work as anotary public.
The constitutions of seven U.S. states ban atheists from holding public office. However, these laws are unenforceable due to conflicting with the First Amendment and Article VI of the United States Constitution:[113][114]
An eighth state constitution affords special protection to theists.
Atheists, and those accused of defection from the official religion, may be subject to discrimination and persecution in many Muslim-majority countries.[123] According to theHumanists International, compared to other nations, 12 countries in Africa, 9 in Asia, and 10 in the Middle East, were given the worst rating for committing "Grave Violations".[124] Atheists and religious skeptics can be executed in at least thirteen nations:Afghanistan,Iran,Brunei,Maldives,Mauritania,Nigeria,Pakistan,Qatar,Saudi Arabia,Somalia,Libya, theUnited Arab Emirates andYemen.[11][125]
According to the most common interpretations of Islam, Muslims are not free to change religion or become an atheist.Leaving Islam and thus becoming anapostate is traditionally punished by death for men and by life imprisonment for women. The death penalty for apostasy is apparent in a range of Islamic states, including Iran,[126][127] Egypt,[128] Pakistan,[128] Somalia,[129] United Arab Emirates,[130] Qatar,[131] Yemen[131] and Saudi Arabia.[128] Although there have been no recently reported executions in Saudi Arabia,[132] a judge in Saudi Arabia has recently recommended that imprisoned bloggerRaif Badawi go before a high court on a charge of apostasy, which would carry the death penalty upon conviction.[133] While a death sentence is rare, it is common for atheists to be charged with blasphemy or inciting hatred.[134] New "Arab Spring" regimes in Tunisia and Egypt have jailed several outspoken atheists.[134]
Since an apostate can be considered a Muslim whose beliefs cast doubt on the Divine, and/orQur'an, claims of atheism andapostasy have been made against Muslim scholars and political opponents throughout history.[135][136][137] Both fundamentalists and moderates agree that "blasphemers will not be forgiven" although they disagree on the severity of an appropriate punishment.[134] In northwesternSyria in 2013 during theSyrian Civil War,jihadists beheaded and defaced a sculpture ofAl-Maʿarri (973–1058 CE), one of several outspoken Arab and Persian anti-religious intellectuals who lived and taught during theIslamic Golden Age.[138][139]
Jordan requires atheists to associate themselves with a recognized religion for official identification purposes.[140]InEgypt, intellectuals suspected of holding atheistic beliefs have been prosecuted by judicial and religious authorities. Novelist Alaa Hamad was convicted of publishing a book that contained atheistic ideas and apostasy that were considered to threaten national unity and social peace.[141][142]
The study of Islam is a requirement in public and private schools for every Algerian child, irrespective of their religion.
Atheist or agnostic men are prohibited from marrying Muslim women (Algerian Family Code I.II.31).[143] A marriage is legally nullified by the apostasy of the husband (presumably from Islam, although this is not specified; Family Code I.III.33).Atheists and agnostics cannot inherit (Family Code III.I.138).
TheConstitution of Bangladesh ensuressecularism and right to religious freedom.[144] Yet, the controversialDigital Security Act (DSA), passed in 2018, provides provisions against blasphemous expressions:
The penalty under Section 2 and 3 of Article 28 of the Digital Security Act is a term of imprisonment not exceeding 5 years or a fine ofBDT 1 million, or both. A person that commits the same offense several times is subject to imprisonment for up to 10 years or a "fine not exceeding Taka 20 lac (BDT 2 Million), or with both."[145]Allegedly, DSA is being used to prosecute any person for atheistic remarks.[146]
Religious Education is a mandatory subject in Bangladeshi public curricula from Grade-3 (Ages 8 to 9 usually), and even though Religious Education is required from Grade-3 onwards, most public and private schools have Religious Education since Grade-1 (Ages 6 to 7 usually), and most children are given Religious Education from a young age, and most children from Muslim households in Bangladesh can read the Qur'an by the time they are 8 or 9. Religion is also a mandatory in order for a student to sit for theirSSCs. Although Atheism is frowned upon, no atheists have ever been given death sentence for apostasy since the birth of the country. Some Bangladeshi atheists have been assassinated by various local Islamic extremist organizations, but the Government has taken strict measures and has since banned the Islamist groups.[147]
Jess Melvin argues that atheists were victims ofgenocide under the legal definition of the term during the 1965–66Anti-PKI extermination campaign (PKI were theCommunist Party of Indonesia) as theIndonesian Army called for the destruction of "atheist" and "unbelievers" collectively for their association withcommunism and, according to Matthew Lippmann and David Nersessian,atheists are covered as a protected group in thegenocide convention under "religious group."[14]
Atheists inIndonesia experience official discrimination in the context of registration of births and marriages, and the issuance of identity cards.[148] In 2012, Indonesian atheistAlexander Aan was beaten by a mob, lost his job as a civil servant and was sentenced to two and a half years in jail for expressing his views online.[149][150] However there is no law that criminalizes, prohibits atheism and atheists except in Aceh.
Since atheism is not a belief nor a religion, non-believers are not given legal status in Iran. Declaration of faith in Islam, Christianity, Judaism or Zoroastrianism is required to avail of certain rights such as applying for entrance to university,[151][152] or becoming a lawyer, with the position of judge reserved for Muslims (and men) only.[153] The Penal Code is also based upon the religious affiliation of the victim and perpetrator, with the punishment oftentimes more severe on non-Muslims.[151][154] Numerous writers, thinkers and philanthropists have been accused of apostasy and sentenced to death for questioning the prevailing interpretation of Islam in Iran.[155][156][157] The Iranian Atheists Association was established in 2013 to form a platform for Iranian atheists to start debates and to question the current Islamic regime's attitude towards atheists, apostasy, and human rights.[158]
According to Nasiri and Faghfouri Azar, the religious nature of the accusations against dissidents during the1981–1982 Iran Massacres, along with the systematic establishment of ad hoc religious tribunals (Islamic Revolutionary Courts) across the country, strongly suggests that the Islamic regime had a deliberate intent to eliminate groups it perceived as anti-Islamic, including the PMOI, Marxists, communists, and other political organisations with non-theistic ideologies.[159] In a landmark UN report from July 2024, The UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in Iran characterised the atrocities committed in 1981 and 1982 as the crime of genocide and crimes against humanities and called for "the establishment of an international accountability mechanism to ensure prompt, impartial, thorough and transparent criminal investigations".[160]
Similarly, Nasiri observes that more than ninety percent of the victims came from the Mojahedin and various Marxist groups.[161] After a series of decrees and statements from Khomeini and other high-ranking clerics, these dissidents were labeled religious outlaws. Marxists, because of their atheistic or non-theistic beliefs, were broadly classified as “apostate” (murtad) or “atheist” (mulhid) communists. Between 1980 and 1983, Khomeini issued multiple decrees and fatwās targeting communists, identifying them as infidels (kafir) and apostate “mini-groups” (gorouhak-haye murtad). The Mojahedin were categorized as Munafiqin, an anti-Islam faction threatening both Islam and clerical authority. Based on these religious classifications, supporters of the Mojahedin and Marxist groups were subjected to systematic extermination.[161] According to Nasiri and Rehman, the explicit theological rationale behind official decrees supporting these killings provide grounds for interpreting them as acts of religious genocide.[161][160]Atheism is prohibited inSaudi Arabia and can come with adeath penalty, if one is charged as an atheist.[162][163][164]
In March 2014, the Saudi interior ministry issued a royal decree branding all atheists as terrorists, which definesterrorism as "calling for atheist thought in any form, or calling into question the fundamentals of the Islamic religion on which this country is based".[165]
Although officially asecular state, the vast majority of Turks are Muslim, and the state grants some special privileges to Muslims and to Islam in the media and private religious institutions. Compulsory religious instruction inTurkish schools is also considered discriminatory towards atheists, who may not want their children to receive any religious education.[166]
Sanal Edamaruku, atheist and founder-president of Rationalist International, had to flee India in 2012, when theCatholic Secular Forum pressed charges against him underSection 295(A) of theIndian Penal Code, which penalises outraging the religious sentiments of any citizen.[167] He is currently in self-exile inFinland to avoid arrest and indefinite jail time.[168]
Regular Freemasonry insists, among other things, that a volume of scripture is open in a working lodge, that every member profess belief in a Supreme Being, and that the discussion of religion is banned.Continental Freemasonry is now the general term for the "liberal" jurisdictions which have removed some, or all, of these restrictions.
"Duty to God" is aprinciple of Scouting worldwide, though it is applied differently in different countries.[169][170] TheBoy Scouts of America (BSA) takes a strong position, excluding atheists andagnostics,[171][172] while theGirl Scouts of the USA takes a more neutral position. TheUnited Kingdom Scout Association has recently[when?] published alternative promises for people of different or no religion, specifying "Atheists, Humanists and people of no specific religion", who make a promise to uphold Scouting values rather than a duty to God.Scouts Canada defines Duty to God broadly in terms of "adherence to spiritual principles" and does not require members to be part of an organized religion, but does require that they have some form of "personal spirituality".[173] In other countries, especially in Europe, some Scouting organizations may besecularist or religiously neutral (such asEclaireuses et Eclaireurs de France,Corpo Nazionale Giovani Esploratori ed Esploratrici Italiani and theBaden-Powell Service Association in the United States[174]).
[...] to openly discriminate against them [atheists], or practice atheophobia.
Without pledging ourselves to any particular Confession, we have restored faith to its pre-requisites because we were convinced that the people needs [sic] and requires [sic] this faith. We have therefore undertaken the fight against the atheistic movement [Gottlosenbewegung], and that not merely with a few theoretical declarations: we have stamped it out.
Free Inquiry magazine, Volume 24, Number 4.
Islamic Shariah law considers conversion to any religion apostasy and most Muslim scholars agree the punishment is death. Saudi Arabia considers Shariah the law of the land, though there have been no reported cases of executions of converts from Islam in recent memory.
{{cite web}}:|first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)Compulsory religious instruction in schools is discriminatory not only against Alevis, as is often emphasized by the EU,195 but also against other non-Sunni Muslims and Sunni Muslims who either do not conform to the Sunni Hanefi faith or do not agree with its official version. It is also discriminatory against atheists, agnostics and secularists, who may not wish their children to receive any religious education.
| Forms | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attributes |
| ||||
| Social |
| ||||
| Religious | |||||
| Race / Ethnicity |
| ||||
| Manifestations |
| ||||
| Discriminatory policies |
| ||||
| Countermeasures |
| ||||
| Related topics |
| ||||
| By group | |
|---|---|
| Methods |
|
| Events |
|
