Legal Regulation of Religion in the Third World: Afro-Asian Paradigms
Tahir Mahmood Tuesday, 6 July 2010
Religion has been a powerful social factor throughout human history. At the beginning of a new millennium it remains so, everywhere on the globe. Although anti-religion ideologies have periodically emerged in certain parts of the world, they have miserably failed; religiosity remains the order of the day. The 2005 Gallup International "Voice of the People" survey reported that a large majority—66 percent—of the global population claims to be a "religious person."
Religiosity is especially pronounced in the Third World, where almost all countries are known (in Western terminology) as "transitional" or "developing" societies. Africa leads all regions, where 91 percent claim to be a religious, followed by Latin America (82 percent) and the Middle East (79 percent). Certain countries in South/Southeast Asia also stand out, such as India (87 percent) and the Philippines (90 percent).
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