How much of the world has religious freedom?

Answer 1

This question could be one of those "it depends on who you ask" questions. The reason is that many countries claimreligious freedom and tolerance, yet they often single out a particular religious group for persecution or turn a blind eye toward injustices toward that group. On this subject, can only give the Jehovah's Witness perspective, maybe others here can provide additional information on other religious groups. In 2007, there were 206 lands that claimed religious freedom, and 30 countries that banned one or more religions. Of those countries that claimed to have religious freedom, however, in several countries there are reports of serious persecution. For example consider the following report coming out of Uzbekistan dated March 11, 2008: "...police officers and local officials of Samarkand raided the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses and took 18 congregation members to the police station." One of the victims is a 17-year-old girl who was stripped and fondled by an intoxicated police officer. Ozod Saidov, also 17 years old, had his hair pulled and was hit repeatedly on the head. Muhayyo Abdulhakova, a 14-year-old-girl, was interrogated alone and was threatened with being beaten." Here is a link to the story: http://www.jw-media.org/newsroom/index.htm?content=/region/asia_pacific/uzbekistan/english/releases/intolerance/uzb_e080311.htm In Tajikistn, Jehovah's Witnesses have been singled out and banned, even though that country also claims to enjoy religious freedom. link: http://www.jw-media.org/newsroom/index.htm?content=/region/asia_pacific/tajikistan/english/releases/religious_freedom/taj_e071024.htm There are many other examples of occurances of religious intolerance in recent years in the countries of France, Georgia, South Korea, Armenia, and many, many more, all of which claim to have religious freedom. So again, it depends on who you ask.