Religion

Wallonia, Belgium has had much debate regarding religion lately because they want to fit to everyone’s needs and not discriminate based on faith. Everyone in Belgium has religious freedom and the census has stopped asking people to give their religion since 2002 (Advameg, Inc.). The report that was last taken in 2002 said that about “75% of the population is Roman Catholic, and 25% are Protestant or other” (Advameg, Inc.).  The Muslim population reached a staggering 350,000 in 2002 as well, and is still increasing (Advameg, Inc.).  The Muslim population has quickly spread out through many European countries and they are continually growing in numbers. They have covered such a large part of the population now that Wallonia decided to rename the four major Christian holidays on their calendars and have created more secular names (Kern). For example, they have changed Easter to ‘spring vacation’ and changed Christmas to ‘winter vacation’ (Kern). This change was needed in order to embrace multiculturalism and reduce a lot of the discrimination towards the Muslims in Wallonia. Most citizens had a hard time accepting this change because it would decrease their rights to free speech. Senators wanted to protect the rights and humility of the Muslim population however and made “”Islamophobia" a crime punishable by fines and imprisonment” (Kern).  They even made it clearer that “a person would be guilty if he considers Islam to be violent, threatening or supportive of terrorism… or considers Islam to be a political ideology, used for political and military purposes to establish it hegemony" (Kern). This ideology was mainly created through Muslim senators who do not consider the other religions and how they might be discriminated against.

 

Young extremist Muslims have been rising up and causing trouble and protests in European countries. Here is a picture of some young girls in the Northern region of Belgium (Flanders) who are in protest of the killing of the imam (male prayer leader) in a Muslim mosque. The murder hints at the extremism and the conflict between the Shi’ites and Sunni Muslims. The Muslims try to fit into Belgium, but are now fighting against their own people.

(flandersnews.be)

Works Cited

Advameg, Inc. . Belgium - Religions. n.d. http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Europe/Belgium-RELIGIONS.html#ixzz3SLU8YKIK. 23 February 2015.

flandersnews.be. Thousands of Muslims protest about mosque killing in Brussels. 03 September 2012. http://deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws.english/News/1.1248889. 24 February 2015.

Kern, Soeren. Belgium erasing Christianity for Islam . 30 April 2013. http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3692/belgium-erasing-christianity. 23 February 2015.