Religious discrimination: One in five Germans do not want Jewish family members

Almost everyone and every fifth German would be reluctant to have people of Jewish faith in family. This is based on a study by Pew Research Institute entitled Christ Being in Western Europe, for which around 25,000 adults had been questioned in 15 countries last year. According to this, 19 percent of respondents in Germany answered question "Would you be willing to accept a Jew as a family member?" with "no". 69 percent said yes. Twelve percent of respondents did not give a clear answer.

By comparison, only three percent of people in Nerlands and Norway have a problem with Jewish family members. Researchers in United Kingdom (23 percent), Italy (25 percent) and Austria (21 percent) were highest no values.

The acceptance of Muslims is particularly low

However, acceptance was still much lower when opinion researchers asked for Muslims. According to study, 33 percent of Germans would not accept Muslim family members. The study also shows that people of Christian faith are more hostile than people without denomination. This is true regardless of wher y are practicing Christians or those who eir never or very seldom go to church service.

There are major differences between different confessional groups in Germany. People of Catholic faith expressed a rar hostile attitude towards Muslims than those with Protestant beliefs. About every second member of Catholic Church (51 percent) replied that it was not willing to accept Muslims as family members. In case of Protestant Protestants, however, this was only about 16 percent.

More and more people are removing mselves from religion

According to study by US Research Institute, number of people who are considered a Christian denomination has decreased in all Western European countries since 2002. However, downward trend was less pronounced in Germany, Italy, France and Nerlands than in Finland, Belgium, Ireland or Portugal. 68 percent of Western Europeans, who no longer identify with a religion, stated that y were "gradually" away from it.

Many said y disagree with Church's views on homosexuality and abortion, or simply stopped believing in religious content. In Spain and Italy, majority also called "scandals relating to religious institutions and leaders" as an important reason that y no longer felt as part of a church or or religious group.

Date Of Update: 30 May 2018, 12:02