RBM rights and religious diversity (RD)

Religious diversity (RD) does not promote the rights of RBMs,  rather reduces the disparity between their rights and those of the religious majority.  Furthermore, a religiously diverse state does not guarantee equal treatment of RBMs; a state with little RD, however, makes equal treatment even more difficult. The most plausible explanation for the negative correlation between RD and the promotion of RBM rights is that social change has not yet been translated into legal change; in other words, increasing RD has not yet resulted in an increase in legal pluralism. Without this transition, RD is perceived as a threat rather than an opportunity.

In conclusion, it is unlikely that an increase in RD will lead to an increase in the promotion of RBM rights  without the adoption of some degree of legal pluralism in the legal systems of EU countries. Instead, increasing RD will lead to a reduction in the rights of the majority religion. The three graphics provide the following indications. Graphic 1 (P-index). RD does not encourage promotion of the rights of RBMs, rather the opposite. In the 8 countries with a rate of RD above the average, 4 have a rate of promotion of RBM rights below the average of the P-index; in the 7 countries with a rate of RD below the average, 4 have a rate of promotion above the average of the P-index. While the difference between the two groups of countries is not substantial, it is clear that the promotion of RBM rights is not dependent on a country's RD rate. Graphic 2 (E-index). Low RD is correlated to high difference in the RBM treatment (this is true in 4 out of 5 cases), while there is no clear correlation between high RD and low difference. Three high-RD countries have a low equal treatment score, while two others have a high score.  Graphic 3 (G-index). There is a strong correlation between low RD and large gap between majority and minority rights (6 countries out of 7). There is also a significant correlation between high RD and small gap between majority and minority rights (4 countries out of 5). RD makes the gap majority-minority rights smaller. Note. Data on RD are taken from Religious Diversity Index. Scores by Country (Pew Research Center. Table: Religious Diversity Index Scores by Country (https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2014/04/04/religious-diversity-index-scores-by-country/)

For more on this topic , see S. Ferrari, Religious Diversity and Promotion of Minority Rights, Do They Really Go Hand in Hand?, in Religions 2026, 17, 649.

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