Religious Discrimination In The United States

Among the minorities, people with an Islamic religious viewpoint are treated differently throughout America. A dark day in United States history,

Following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Muslims everywhere began to be wrongfully persecuted and attacked. They have also since been denied equality in the workplace as “Americans with Muslim names have a harder time finding a job” and “American Muslims have experienced increased job discrimination since 2001” (Epstein 53). Without the ability to find a job, not only are Muslims effected in their daily lives, they are also unable to find a source of income, hindering them from supporting their families. Muslim religion can also cause further disturbances because there are several “law-abiding Muslims who are unfairly targeted and punished simply because they are Muslim” (qtd. in Epstein 52). This exemplifies the idea

Following the terror attacks in The Unites States in 2001, there has been an increase in Islamophobia in the Western World. Following 9/11, respondents indicate that levels of implicit or indirect discrimination in The United States rose by 82,6% and experiences of over discrimination by 76,3% (http://jiv.sagepub.com/content/21/3/317.short). A combination of how Arabs and Muslims are portrayed in the media, with the increase of organized terrorist groups and refugees since the Arabic Spring, makes this a big political challenge today. This bibliography is written to get an overview of why Islamophobia has increased and the challenges that comes with the rise of Islamophobia.

The prejudice experienced by Catholic Americans can be traced as far back as the sixteenth century. Roman Catholicism was the dominating religion throughout most of Europe and the Catholic Church held great wealth, social, and political standing. The loyalty of the people to Rome and the Papacy at that time seemed to be unyielding until an Augustinian friar, named Martin Luther, rejected some of the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and began to spread his own message of God’s will in the form of Lutheranism. Luther believed the Holy Roman Catholic Empire was corrupted

From the segregation and discrimination of African American’s to threats towards Muslims. Sadly discrimination in the United States is still happening today. These people that are affected are not equal to the other people who aren’t getting discriminated against. Studies show that it racism and discrimination is a big problem and it’s getting worse. “In a new nationwide poll conducted by CNN and the Kaiser Family Foundation, roughly half of Americans -- 49% -- say racism is "a big problem" in society today” (Shoichet, CNN). Discrimination is a big problem and it’s only getting worse. Racial tensions are on the rise. The Muslim community has been repeatedly harassed and attacked because of their religion. “They have been harassed, fired from jobs, denied access to public places, and otherwise discriminated against because they wear hijab” (ACLU). Society sees them as future terrorist because terrorist in the Middle East claim to be Muslim. Society plays a big role in discrimination. “Racism is inevitable in any society” (Shoichet, CNN). There is always going to be racism is society. It’s going to happen to different people. That doesn’t mean that it should be brushed over or ignored. Society can manipulate other people into thinking that what they say is correct. “They perpetuate certain ways of seeing the world and peoples within that world” (Jiwani, Racism and the media). Society can change the way some people

The notion of having a nation where any religion can practice freely was one of the many reasons that which America was founded on. This belief brought people together, but today is tearing many people apart. Patel states that, “…in America, people will have their identities respected, their freedom protected and their safety secured (pg.14).” Many people in America do have the luxury of their belief being appreciated and tolerated in America, but for vast majority of people this is not the case. Specifically in this novel Patel discusses this discrimination towards Muslims in America. Though he does recognize that it is not just Muslims who experience discrimination, all religions have. It can be argued though, that Muslims have

For the entirety of the United States’ existence, freedom of religion has been a guiding principle for the nation. Despite, or perhaps because of, the deep, varied religious heritage of many Americans, America was the first country in history to abolish religious qualifications for civic engagement. However, paradoxically, the United States also has a history of discrimination based on religion, as seen in historical bigotry towards Catholics, some Protestant sects, Jews, Atheists, Mormons, Muslims, and other marginalized groups. Indeed, a common theme in American history, continuing to this day, is the conflict between America’s secular ideal and its often faith-dominated reality. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, religious

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has been the center of much attention throughout modern history, whether it be about the polygamists, the Book of Mormon, or Joseph Smith seeing God, or the restored priesthood. Though the church is known to have these forms of controversies, we see through history that no organization or group is free from mistakes and criticism. Throughout history in general, there has always been some sort of religious contention around the globe. A large point of contention then and even now is the factor of race in religion and the certain rules and restrictions implemented into the religion regarding race.

In a region where Christianity and Catholicism is the dominant religion, people that do not affiliate themselves with religion, such as atheists or agnostics, are often frowned upon by the followers of God. Many people don’t realize that the discrimination of these people in America is very real and is a serious issue. All over the states, thousands of people are being looked down on by their acquaintances solely due to their lack of religious beliefs. This shouldn’t have to be an issue in the “land of the free”. People need to be more aware of the growing concern about the treatment of non-religious people in America.

September 11th holds many hard and upset feelings around the world today. The harsh actions of Muslim extremists unfortunately completely changed the way Muslims are treated, especially in the United States. These events, exacerbated islamophobia. Unfortunately, “the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, connect Muslims and Islam to terrorism within the geographical borders of the United States.” (Byng) Although it has been over a decade since the attack, many still feel racist and discriminatory attitudes towards Muslims. Muslims are the targeted minority in the United States, “the 9/11 terrorist attacks shifted the social and political context for Muslims in the United States. Terrorism within the geographical borders of the United States carried out by Muslims places an identity at the center of national and global politics.” (Byng) The blame of the horrible terrorist attacks, rather than be placed on terrorists or religious extremist, has been placed on Islam in America. After September 11th, hate crimes towards Muslims skyrocketed, “the most dramatic change noted by the report was a more than 1,600 percent increase in reported hate crimes against Muslims -- a jump from 28 hate incidents in 2000 to 481 last year.”

There are many religious and racial persecutors presently. The number of victimizers is rising given many recent occurings. Events in France are impacting us here in the United States of America, 7,661 kilometers away. I am a Muslim and these events have impacted me, my family, and many other followers of Islam. Disasters such as bombings and shootings fuel ill-treatment towards certain races by giving racists evidence to back up their hateful claims.

In 2007, according to the Federal Bureau Investigation of the Nation’s law enforcement agencies “there were 9,535 victims of hate crimes; of these victims17.1 percent were victimized because of a bias against a religious belief which totaled to be 1,628 victims of an anti-religious hate crime” (1). Almost ten thousand people were victims of hate crimes alone in 2007. That is something to be alarmed about because part of living in the U.S.A as minority is to have freedom to do and be anything you want and yet we find that you really don’t have that freedom because you get attacked for practicing that freedom. The increasingly rate of hate crimes is soaring that many states like New York, New Jersey and California now have the highest

A current cultural conflict taking place in America today is religious. Many Americans discriminate against the Islamic faith and there have been countless acts of mistreatment of Muslims in the work place, at school, in public, and in the media. Negative feelings and acts toward Muslims have become so prevalent that in 1991 the Runnymede Trust Report coined a term for it. The report defined the “unfounded hostility toward Muslims, and therefore fear or dislike of all or most Muslims” as “Islamophobia” (Defining “Islamophobia”). There has always been some religious cultural conflict with Muslims in the United States, but since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, conflict has escalated significantly.

There is discrimination everywhere at anytime, anywhere in the world. Discrimination can occur in many ways due to different opinions and perspectives. One of them occurs by religion of different people. Religious discrimination is to treat someone differently with others in a bad way due to their religion or beliefs.There are lots of religious discrimination around the world. People should be against religious discrimination because it keeps people from harassment on their religious beliefs, prevent less wars happening, and people will correct their stereotypes on others.

Imagine a world in which you are prohibited from traveling to another country, even though you are guaranteed the basic right to practice your religion. Remember how over fifteen years ago, people that shared nothing but your religion committed acts of terrorism, and people still hold you responsible. Picture an era where you and your people were persecuted, but now reciprocators of the oppressors are marching freely without a second thought. You can stop imagining now. Because this is the world we live in. A society of religious intolerance. It is defined as, “not respecting the fundamental human right of other people to hold religious beliefs that are different from your own” (“Religious Intolerance Introduction”). Around the world in six predominantly Muslim countries, citizens are forbidden from coming to America because of an executive order issued by the US. Likewise, on September 11th, 2001, a group of Muslim terrorists hijacked a plane, killing thousands. In present day, people only connected to them by their religion are still being judged for actions they didn’t perform. Another situation in which bigotry occurred was in World War II. The Nazi Party attempted to gain control of many European and Asian countries, all the while trying to rid the world of races and religions they saw as inferior. Now the Neo-Nazis have the right to march freely and spread their hateful messages. Religious intolerance is a pressing issue, causing harrassment, inequality, violence, and