Persecution Watch: The World

A recent study from the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion and Public Life found "Nearly a third of the world’s people live in nations where practicing religion freely is becoming increasingly difficult," reports CNN.

This news, which comes from data gathered between 2006-2009, will come as no surprise to readers of this blog.

From CNN, a snippet:

“The increasing levels of social hostilities is a definite trend that needs to be watched carefully,” said Brian Grim, the primary researcher for the study.

Grim said the Pew Center’s report on 198 countries found those that were already restrictive or abusive in the previous report continued their decline. Those that were tolerant became more so. The study found that 101 governments used force against religious groups or individuals.

He said Christians and Muslims, who make up more than half of the world’s population, were harassed in the most number of countries, though that did not reflect the intensity of the persecution.

The Middle East and North Africa had the largest proportion of nations where curbs on religion went up, the study found. Nearly a third of those nations imposed greater restrictions. It was particularly bad in Egypt, the study said [more].

Now if CNN would just catch up with the recent report from Aid to the Church in Need that demonstrates 3/4 of all religious persecution is directed towards Christians.