Religious discrimination in the United States is valuing or treating a person or group differently because of what they do or do not believe. Specifically, it occurs when adherents of different religions (or denominations) are treated unequally, either before the law or in institutional settings such as employment or housing.
Steve Pfaff, a University of Washington professor of sociology said that "Religious bias may be a very serious problem, but it has been studied less than other types of discrimination, such as race- or gender-based discrimination."[1]
Religious discrimination in the history of the United States dates back to 1493 when Pope Alexander passed a Papal Bull/ decree stating non- Christians were not entitled to own land, etc, that being non-Christian they were sub- human, thus vetting and encouraging the colonisation of Americas and virtual annihilation of the native Indian population. Later the first Protestant ChristianEuropean settlers, composed mostly of EnglishPuritans, during the British colonization of North America (16th century),[2][3] directed both towards Native Americans and non-Protestant Catholic European settlers.[2][3] In the United States, the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof".
In a 1979 consultation on the issues, the United States Commission on Civil Rights[4] defined religious discrimination in relation to the civil rights guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Whereas religious civil liberties, such as the right to hold or not to hold a religious belief, are essential for Freedom of Religion (in the United States secured by the First Amendment), religious discrimination occurs when someone is denied "the equal protection of the laws, equality of status under the law, equal treatment in the administration of justice, and equality of opportunity and access to employment, education, housing, public services and facilities, and public accommodation because of their exercise of their right to religious freedom."[5][6]
However, in 1878, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that religious duty is not a suitable defense to a criminal indictment, and that religious activities could be regulated by law.[7]
Antisemitism has long existed in the United States. Most Jewish community relations agencies in the United States draw distinctions between antisemitism, which is measured in terms of attitudes and behaviors, and the security and status of American Jews, which are both measured by the occurrence of specific incidents. FBI data shows that in every year since 1991, Jews were the most frequent victims of religiously motivated hate crimes.[8] The number of hate crimes against Jews may be underreported, as in the case for many other targeted groups.[9]
According to a survey which was conducted by the Anti-Defamation League in 2019, antisemitism is rejected by a majority of Americans, with 79% of them lauding Jews' cultural contributions to the nation. The same poll found that 19% of Americans adhered to the longstanding antisemitic canard that Jews co-control Wall Street,[10] while 31% agreed with the statement "Jewish employers go out of their way to hire other Jews".[11] In 2023, the Biden administration launched[12] the U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, and in 2024, the US State Department (together with 35 other countries) released non-binding global guidelines for countering antisemitism.[13][14][15]
In August 2024, the US Department of Homeland Security announced that it had allocated $454.5 million for the 2024 fiscal year to securing Jewish religious institutions in light of rising antisemitism.[16] This is a $150 million increase from the 2023 budget.[16] According to an August 2024 survey by the Combat Antisemitism Movement, 3.5 million Jews in America have experienced antisemitism since the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. Of the 1,075 American Jews interviewed, 28% claimed to have heard that "Jews care too much about money", 25% heard "Jews control the world", 14% heard "American Jews care more about Israel than about the US", and 13% heard "the Holocaust did not happen" or its "severity has been exaggerated".[17][18]
The survey above is mirrored by FBI's 2023 statistics that antisemitic incidents accounted for 68% of all religion-based hate crimes, a 63% bump vis-à-vis 2022, while the American Jewish Committee (AJC) said that it was "likely much lower" than the actual number as hate crimes had been "widely underreported across the country".[19]
Discrimination against Mormons (members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
Based on the research carried out by the University of Washington, Muslims and atheists in the United States deal with experience religious discrimination more than those of Christian faiths.[1]
According to a Pew Research Center survey carried out in March 2019, "Most American adults (82%) say Muslims are subject to at least some discrimination in the U.S. today". The 2017 survey of Muslim Americans illustrated that "Among U.S. Muslims themselves, many say they have experienced specific instances of discrimination, including being treated with suspicion, singled out by airport security or called offensive names." 63 percent of American adults believed in that being Muslim hurts someone's chances for advancement in American society at least".[20]
The Court investigated the history of religious freedom in the United States and quoted a letter from Thomas Jefferson in which he wrote that there was a distinction between religious belief and action that flowed from religious belief. The former "lies solely between man and his God," therefore "the legislative powers of the government reach actions only, and not opinions." The court considered that if polygamy was allowed, someone might eventually argue that human sacrifice was a necessary part of their religion, and "to permit this would be to make the professed doctrines of religious belief superior to the law of the land, and in effect to permit every citizen to become a law unto himself." The Court believed the First Amendment forbade Congress from legislating against opinion, but allowed it to legislate against action. Therefore, religious duty was not a suitable defense to a criminal indictment, religious activates could be regulated by law.[23]
The No Religious Test Clause of the United States Constitution is found in Article VI, paragraph 3. This has been interpreted to mean that no federal employee, whether elected or appointed, career or political, can be required to adhere to or accept any religion or belief.
However, some state and local jurisdictions have enacted legal restrictions that require a religious test as a qualification for holding public office.[24] For instance in Texas an official may be "excluded from holding office" if he or she does not "acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being." (i.e. God),[24] thus atheists, agnostics, most Satanists, some Unitarian Universalists and New Age followers, who do not believe in a supreme being would be excluded from public office.[24]
The Eagle Feather Law, which governs the possession and religious use of eagle feathers, was officially written to protect then dwindling eagle populations while still protecting traditional Native Americanspiritual and religious customs, of which the use of eagles are central. The Eagle Feather Law later met charges of promoting racial and religious discrimination due to the law's provision authorizing the possession of eagle feathers to members of only one ethnic group, Native Americans, and forbidding Native Americans from including non-Native Americans in indigenous customs involving eagle feathers—a common modern practice dating back to the early 16th century.
Boston University and University of South Dakota
Charges of religious and racial discrimination have also been found in the education system. In a recent example, the dormitory policies at Boston University and The University of South Dakota were charged with racial and religious discrimination when they forbade a university dormitory resident from smudging while praying. The policy at The University of South Dakota was later changed to permit students to pray while living in the university dorms. Another example concerns the Peralta Community College District which threatened to discipline two students when they prayed for a sick professor. The college later rescinded the warnings when threatened with a lawsuit.[25]
Church of Jesus Christ–Christian
In 2004, a case involving five Ohio prison inmates (two followers of Asatru, a minister of the Church of Jesus Christ–Christian, a Wiccan witch and a Satanist) protesting denial of access to ceremonial items and opportunities for group worship was brought before the Supreme Court.[26] The Boston Globe reports on the 2005 decision of Cutter v. Wilkinson[27] in favour of the claimants as a notable case. Among the denied objects was instructions for runic writing requested by an Asatruer.[28] Inmates of the "Intensive Management Unit" at Washington State Penitentiary who are adherents of Asatru in 2001 were deprived of their Thor's Hammer medallions.[29] In 2007, a federal judge confirmed that Asatru adherents in US prisons have the right to possess a Thor's Hammer pendant. An inmate sued the Virginia Department of Corrections after he was denied it while members of other religions were allowed their medallions.[30]
Merrill Lynch
Religious discrimination has also been documented in employment in the United States, such as an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) lawsuit alleging discrimination against an Iranian-Muslim employee by the Merrill Lynch company in the United States.[31]
Cooke et al v. Colorado City, Town of et al
On March 20, 2014, a jury hearing the case of Cooke et al v. Colorado City, Town of et al[32] ruled that the twin towns of Colorado City and Hildale had discriminated against Ronald and Jinjer Cooke because they were not members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS church).[33] The Cookes were awarded $5.2 million for "religious discrimination".[33] The Cooke family moved to the Short Creek Community in 2008 but were refused access to utilities by the town governments.[34] As a result of the ruling, Arizona's Attorney GeneralTom Horne issued a press release stating that he "wants to eradicate discrimination in two polygamous towns" and believes that the court ruling will give him the tools to do it.[35]
↑ U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 1979: Religious discrimination. A neglected issue. A consultation sponsored by the United States Commission on Civil Rights, Washington D.C., April 9–10, 1979
"AJC Warns: Staggering FBI Hate Crimes Data Likely Represents Under-Reporting of Anti-Jewish Hate Crimes". American Jewish Committee. September 23, 2024. Retrieved October 10, 2024. With the FBI reporting that hate crimes against Jews increased a staggering 63% year over year, from 1,124 in 2022 to 1,832 in 2023, AJC recognizes that the actual numbers of incidents is likely greater, as hate crimes are widely underreported across the country. Despite Jews only accounting for 2% of the U.S. population, the community was the target of 68% of religiously motivated hate crimes committed in 2023.
"New FBI Data Reflects Record-High Number of Anti-Jewish Hate Crimes". Anti-Defamation League. September 23, 2024. Retrieved October 10, 2024. Although Jews only make up around 2 percent of the U.S. population, reported single-bias anti-Jewish hate crimes comprised 15 percent of all hate crimes and 68 percent of all reported religion-based hate crimes in 2023, which is consistent with patterns from prior years.
Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against, Jews. This sentiment is a form of racism, and a person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Primarily, antisemitic tendencies may be motivated by negative sentiment towards Jews as a people or by negative sentiment towards Jews with regard to Judaism. In the former case, usually presented as racial antisemitism, a person's hostility is driven by the belief that Jews constitute a distinct race with inherent traits or characteristics that are repulsive or inferior to the preferred traits or characteristics within that person's society. In the latter case, known as religious antisemitism, a person's hostility is driven by their religion's perception of Jews and Judaism, typically encompassing doctrines of supersession that expect or demand Jews to turn away from Judaism and submit to the religion presenting itself as Judaism's successor faith—this is a common theme within the other Abrahamic religions. The development of racial and religious antisemitism has historically been encouraged by the concept of anti-Judaism, which is distinct from antisemitism itself.
A hate crime is crime where a perpetrator targets a victim because of their physical appearance or perceived membership of a certain social group.
A number of organizations and academics consider the Nation of Islam (NOI) to be antisemitic. The NOI has engaged in Holocaust denial, and exaggerates the role of Jews in the African slave trade; mainstream historians, such as Saul S. Friedman, have said Jews had a negligible role. The NOI has repeatedly rejected charges made against it as false and politically motivated.
The history of antisemitism, defined as hostile actions or discrimination against Jews as a religious or ethnic group, goes back many centuries, being called "the longest hatred". Jerome Chanes identifies six stages in the historical development of antisemitism:
Pre-Christian anti-Judaism in Ancient Greece and Rome that was primarily ethnic in nature
Christian antisemitism in antiquity and the Middle Ages that was religious in nature and has extended into modern times
Muslim antisemitism that was—at least in its classical form—nuanced, in that Jews were a protected class
Political, social, and economic antisemitism during the Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment Europe that laid the groundwork for racial antisemitism
Racial antisemitism that arose in the 19th century and culminated in Nazism
Contemporary antisemitism, which has been labeled by some as the new antisemitism
New antisemitism is the concept that a new form of antisemitism developed in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, typically manifesting itself as anti-Zionism. The concept is included in some definitions of antisemitism, such as the working definition of antisemitism and the 3D test of antisemitism. The concept dates to the early 1970s.
The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a civil rights group and Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to the New York Times, is "widely regarded as the dean of American Jewish organizations".
The history of Jews in Sweden can be traced from the 17th century, when their presence is verified in the baptism records of the Stockholm Cathedral. Several Jewish families were baptised into the Lutheran Church, a requirement for permission to settle in Sweden. In 1681, for example, 28 members of the families of Israel Mandel and Moses Jacob were baptised in the Stockholm German Church in the presence of King Charles XI of Sweden, the dowager queen Hedvig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp, and several other high state officials.
In the United States, freedom of religion is a constitutionally protected right provided in the religion clauses of the First Amendment. As stated in the Bill of Rights: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...". George Washington stressed freedom of religion as a fundamental American principle even before the First Amendment was ratified. In 1790, in a letter to the Touro Synagogue, he expressed the government “gives to bigotry no sanction” and “to persecution no assistance." Freedom of religion is linked to the countervailing principle of separation of church and state, a concept advocated by Colonial founders such as Dr. John Clarke, Roger Williams, William Penn, and later Founding Fathers such as James Madison and Thomas Jefferson.
Historians continue to study and debate the extent of antisemitism in American history and how American antisemitism has similarities and distinctions with its European counterpart.
Antisemitism, the prejudice or discrimination against Jews, has had a long history since the ancient times. While antisemitism had already been prevalent in ancient Greece and Roman Empire, its institutionalization in European Christianity after the destruction of the ancient Jewish cultural center in Jerusalem caused two millennia of segregation, expulsions, persecutions, pogroms, genocides of Jews, which culminated in the 20th-century Holocaust in Nazi German-occupied European states, where 67% European Jews were murdered.
Antisemitism has long existed in the United States. Most Jewish community relations agencies in the United States draw distinctions between antisemitism, which is measured in terms of attitudes and behaviors, and the security and status of American Jews, which are both measured by the occurrence of specific incidents. FBI data shows that in every year since 1991, Jews were the most frequent victims of religiously motivated hate crimes. The number of hate crimes against Jews may be underreported, as in the case for many other targeted groups.
Antisemitism in Canada is the manifestation of hatred, hostility, harm, prejudice or discrimination against the Canadian Jewish people or Judaism as a religious, ethnic or racial group.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is a New York–based international non-governmental organization that was founded to combat antisemitism, bigotry and discrimination. ADL is also known for its pro-Israel advocacy. Its current CEO is Jonathan Greenblatt. ADL headquarters are located in Murray Hill, in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The ADL has 25 regional offices in the United States including a Government Relations Office in Washington, D.C., as well as an office in Israel and staff in Europe. In its 2019 annual information Form 990, ADL reported total revenues of $92 million, the vast majority from contributions and grants. Its total operating revenue is reported at $80.9 million.
Antisemitism in France has become heightened since the late 20th century and into the 21st century. In the early 21st century, most Jews in France, like most Muslims in France, are of North African origin. France has the largest population of Jews in the diaspora after the United States—an estimated 500,000–600,000 persons. Paris has the highest population, followed by Marseille, which has 70,000 Jews. Expressions of antisemitism were seen to rise during the Six-Day War of 1967 and the French anti-Zionist campaign of the 1970s and 1980s. Following the electoral successes achieved by the extreme right-wing National Front and an increasing denial of the Holocaust among some persons in the 1990s, surveys showed an increase in stereotypical antisemitic beliefs among the general French population.
British Jews have experienced antisemitism - discrimination and persecution as Jews - since a Jewish community was first established in England in 1070. They experienced a series of massacres in the Medieval period, which culminated in their expulsion from England in 1290. They were readmitted by Oliver Cromwell in 1655. By the 1800s, an increasing toleration of religious minorities gradually helped to eliminate legal restrictions on public employment and political representation. However, Jewish financiers were seen by some as holding disproportionate influence on British government policy, particularly concerning the British Empire and foreign affairs.
The Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council is an interfaith, bipartisan collaboration established by the American Jewish Committee and the Islamic Society of North America in early fall 2016. Its 46 members are business, religious, and political leaders from all over the United States. The council's actions include creating "a coordinated strategy to address anti-Muslim bigotry and antisemitism" and to "protect and expand the rights of religious minorities" in the United States. More recently the council has turned its focus to public policy advocacy targeting the rise in hate crimes based on religion in the United States.
The status of religious freedom in Europe varies from country to country. States can differ based on whether or not they guarantee equal treatment under law for followers of different religions, whether they establish a state religion, the extent to which religious organizations operating within the country are policed, and the extent to which religious law is used as a basis for the country's legal code.
Freedom of religion is recognized as a legal right in Hungary. The Fundamental Law of Hungary establishes the country as being founded on Christian values but guarantees the right to freedom of religion and freedom from religious discrimination. The history of religious freedom in Hungary has varied, with freedom of religion first recognized in 1919 before being restricted by Communist rule in the mid-20th century. Religious rights were restored following the end of Communism in Hungary, but the government under Viktor Orbán has been criticized for its restriction of religious freedoms.
The history of Antisemitism in New Jersey dates to the establishment of the Province of New Jersey. Prior to the passage of the 1968 Fair Housing Act, Jewish people were excluded from living in many white Christian neighborhoods throughout New Jersey due to the use of restrictive covenants and quotas. Between the 1920s and 1950s, quota systems were instituted at universities in New Jersey to limit the number of Jewish people, including at Rutgers University and Princeton University. During the 2010s and 2020s, New Jersey has seen an increase in reported incidents of antisemitic vandalism and violence.
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