Kyle Chandler

5/4/15
Ms. Tavani
World Cultures
Freedom of Religion
Do you ever think of what a country would be like if they didnt have religious
freedom? The first amendment of the United States Constitution says that everyone in the
United States has the right to practice his or her own religion, or no religion at all. However
its not like that at all in Russia. The freedom of religion is Russia is very different than what
it is like here in the United States. They do not have as many rights as us and it hurts their
country a lot. First affects their society. Also it affects their economy.
First, the lack of freedom in Russia affects how their society acts. When a
nations society isnt united, it really messes almost everything up. As Suzan Johnson
Cook, Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, said Religious
freedom is essential for a stable, peaceful, and thriving society As this report makes
clear, much work remains to be done. What this tell us is that without religious freedom
a society gets messed up completely and it is hard for them to advance. People from
out of Russia dont realize what Russians are going through in regards to religion.
Another way society is messed up due to religion is the amount of terrorist attacks in
Russia. There are many anti-Muslim sentiment and discrimination. Also there was an
increase in anti-Semitism, pointing to vandals in Russia painting a swastika on a St.
Petersburg synagogues fence in May 2012, and in July 2012, vandals painting a
swastika on a synagogue wall in Irkutsk. There are many minority religions in Russia.
The government often tries to get rid of them by getting harassed or sometimes even
getting physically abused. That is how lack of freedom effects of the society in Russia
acts.
Secondly, the lack of religious freedom in Russia affects their economy. Across
the World when a country is doing well economically, they almost always allow their
citizens to follow whatever religion that they desire. When a country imposes limitations
on the kinds of religions they are allowed to follow is when fights occur. When these
fights occur, the country now has to spend money on trying to stop it with the use of
weapons, more people, etc. That is how the lack of religious freedom in Russia affects
the way the economy is worked.
When people think of a great country they often think of many things. They may
think of people getting whatever they want because of how wealthy they are. Also, they
may think that a great country is full of happiness. In my opinion I think that one of the
most important characteristics for a country to be great is that they have freedom of
religion. Russia doesnt have freedom of religion and it shows. There society acts up
often in the form of terrorist attacks and also when a country is allowed religious
freedom they often have a better economy.