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IMMEDIATE RELEASE, July 15, 2019, Washington, DC: Two billion more people live in countries with high restrictions on religious freedom than did so just a decade ago, according to an analysis by the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation (RFBF) of a report released today by the Pew Research Center.* The dramatic decline in religious freedom impacts not only peace and stability but also slows global economic growth, according to RFBF.

by Brian J. Grim PhD, Religious Freedom & Business Foundation contact@religiousfreedomandbusiness.org

Restrictions on religious freedom can come from two main sources: governments and groups in society (Grim and Finke, 2007).

The just-released Pew Research study finds that governments in 52 of the 198 countries and territories analyzed in 2017 had high or very high restrictions on religion, up from 40 in 2007. At the same time, an even larger number of countries  — 56 — had high or very high social hostilities involving religion coming from groups within societies, up from 39 in 2007.

RFBF’s analysis of Pew’s study finds that 83 countries today have high or very high levels of government restrictions and/or social hostilities, but because some of these countries are very populous, such as China and India, 6.5 billion people — or 85% of the world’s 2019 population of 7.7 billion — live today in countries with high restrictions on religious freedom. This is 2 million more people than in 2007, when 4.5 billion people lived in countries with this same level of restrictions. (Note: Population figures estimated by RFBF; Pew did not provide population figures).

This is a dramatic increase in both the number of countries and the share of the world’s population living in countries with high restrictions on religious freedom. In fact, the spread of religious restrictions and hostilities is outpacing population growth 2-to-1. Between 2007 and 2017, the world population increased by about a billion people, which is half the increase in the number of people living with high or very high religious restrictions.

Economic Impact

The global increase in restrictions on religious freedom between 2007-2017 has economic implications. In particular, since the recovery from the 2008 financial crisis, RFBF finds that GDP growth rates in populous countries where religious restrictions and hostilities decreased grew at about double the rate as in countries where religious restrictions and hostilities substantially increased, as shown in the table below.

These new findings echo those of a 2014 study by researchers at Georgetown University and Brigham Young University who found that religious freedom is one of only three factors significantly associated with global economic growth, controlling for two-dozen different financial, social, and regulatory influences.

“Economies of populous countries where religious restrictions and hostilities decreased grew at double the rate as economies where religious restrictions and hostilities substantially increased.”

For country comparability, RFBF’s new analysis looks only at the 57 economies of countries with populations greater than 20 million people, which accounts for most of the world’s GDP. We divide these 57 countries into thirds according to the amount of change in religious restrictions between 2007 and 2017, as reported in the new Pew study.

GDP growth in the 19 countries that reduced or had very low increases in their overall religious restrictions and hostilities averaged 5.1% per year between 2009-18. It is notable that several of the countries in this category had high religious restrictions and hostilities, but even modest decreases in these were associated with economic dividends.

Conversely, countries with significant increases in religious restrictions and/or hostilities averaged 2.6% annual GDP growth. The United States, the world’s largest economy, is among this group of countries, with a significant increase in social hostilities involving religion. Religious hostilities in the U.S. range from the 2017 deadly anti-Semitic and racist demonstrations in the Virginia city of Charlottesville, to workplace religious discrimination witnessed or experience by 36% of the American workforce, impacting some 50 million people across all faiths, beliefs and denominations — including religious majorities and minorities. Given that the history of religious freedom in the U.S. has created an economy where religion contributes nearly $1.2 trillion in goods and services annually to the U.S. economy, addressing religious freedom challenges in the U.S. is not just a cultural or political issue, but an economic imperative.

The People’s Republic of China, the world’s second largest economy, has seen a significant slowdown in its economic growth over the past decade coinciding with its multi-year national campaign to exercise strict control over religion. This includes not only a campaign to remove crosses from churches and control Christian expression, but authorities have put one million or more mostly Uyghur Muslims into re-education camps purportedly to stamp out the possibility of Islamic radicalization. Such moves threaten China’s economic success according to the 2015 study, The Modern Chinese Secret Sustainable Economic Growth: Religious Freedom & Diversity. Indeed, the active participation of religious minorities in society often boosts economic innovation, as shown by a study in the China Economic Review linking Christianity — adhered to by some 5% or more of China’s population — and the nation’s economic growth. In China during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 70s, religion was completely outlawed. But China is now home to the world’s second-largest religious population after India, according to demographic estimates. Indeed, as argued in a World Economic Forum blog, The Link Between Economic and Religious Freedoms, “ensuring freedom for religious groups in China and elsewhere is a way to stimulate and sustain growth in the decades ahead. It’s something every country can benefit from.”

Religious Freedom, Peace and Sustainable Development

RFBF has looked at various ways religious freedom contributes to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals, including ending poverty (SDG 1), empowering women (SDG 5), and fostering peace (SDG 16). Indeed, a large portion of religious freedom’s instrumental contribution to sustainable development is its attachment to other bundled freedoms and rights as well as the peace dividend religious freedom provides (see The Price of Freedom Denied: Religious Persecution and Conflict in the 21st Century, Cambridge Univ., 2011).

*The Pew Research Center kindly granted Brian Grim advance access to their July 15, 2019, report, “A Closer Look at How Religious Restrictions Have Risen Over the Past Ten Years.” The advance access made this analysis possible. RFBF is deeply grateful to the Pew Research Center. Grim will join Pew Research staff and other experts on July 17th to discuss the report and its implication. Grim will also discuss the economic arguments for advancing religious freedom on July 17 at the Ministerial hosted by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Quantifying Religious Freedom: A 10-Year Global Analysis of Pew Research
Open to Public, RSVP Required
Time: 1:30-3:00pm
Organization(s): Christianity Today & Institute for Global Engagement
Location: Second Stage, Marvin Center, George Washington University, Continental Ballroom (3rd Floor), 800 21st St. NW, Washington, DC 20052
Preview: A presentation and analysis of the latest Pew data on governmental and societal restrictions on religion worldwide (new 2019 rankings, plus first-ever 10-year trend analysis), followed by responses from a panel of experts. (RSVP by 10 a.m. Wed preferred, but we will accommodate last-minute arrivals.)
Participants: Brian Grim – Religious Freedom & Business Foundation, Thomas Farr – Religious Freedom Institute, Kristina Arriaga – USCIRF, Julia Bicknell – World Watch Monitor
Discussion Rule: On the Record
RSVP/INFO: ctglobal@christianitytoday.com

The Economic and Security Benefits of Advancing Religious Freedom

• – WHEN: Wed. July 17, 2019, 3:30PM
• – WHERE: U.S. State Department, Burns Auditorium
• – SOLD OUT
• – Program: 2019 Ministerial Schedule

Pew Research studies show that approximately 80 percent of the world’s population currently lives in areas with high restrictions or outright hostilities on religion. These findings are particularly relevant because research indicates that the largest markets for potential growth are in countries where religious freedom is highly restricted – casting a question mark over the long-term economic sustainability.

In addition, religious freedom is a key ingredient in fostering peace and stability, allowing for diverse perspectives to emerge and channel important political or religious issues through non-violent discourse. As studies increasingly demonstrate, governments whose policies and institutions protect and promote religious freedom and other human rights, are less likely to experience terrorism and violent extremism.

This session will focus on two broad areas: 1) how can greater religious freedom support open markets and economic growth? 2) how to encourage countries to promote religious freedom as part of their security efforts to counter violent extremism?

Speakers:

• – Brian J. Grim, Ph.D., president of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation
• – Nilay Saiya, Ph.D., assistant professor at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
• – Moderated by Douglas M. Padgett, Ph.D., State Department

See Brian Grim’s contribution to last year’s Ministerial.

Secretary Pompeo will host the second Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom in Washington on July 16-18. The Ministerial will reaffirm international commitments to promote religious freedom for all and focus on concrete outcomes that produce durable, positive change. A broad range of stakeholders, including senior government representatives, international organization representatives, religious leaders, and civil society activists will convene to discuss challenges, identify concrete ways to combat religious persecution and discrimination, and ensure greater respect for freedom of religion or belief. This year’s Ministerial seeks to further conversations from last year’s event and recent regional conferences. We expect participation of up to 1000 civil society and religious community representatives, representing every corner of the world.

Day One – Expanding the Conversation on Religious Freedom: On July 16, we will convene civil society, religious leaders and government officials to discuss the opportunities and challenges for promoting and defending religious freedom globally. Through a series of plenary sessions, participants will discuss the necessary building blocks and emerging trends in advancing religious freedom, as well as how religious freedom, international development and humanitarian aid can work together to advance mutual interests.

Day Two – Deep Dive: On July 17, we will host three separate, concurrent discussions for the attendees of Day One to unpack ideas generated during Day One. These sessions will be hosted in three different venues within and in the immediate vicinity of the Harry S. Truman Building to allow for more focused discussions and a greater number of breakout sessions. We will invite topical experts, civil society actors, religious leaders, academics and working-level government officials to discuss topics such as best practices for religious freedom advocacy; limitations in forming, registering and recognizing religious communities; challenges facing religious minorities; combatting the rise of anti-Semitism and anti-Islamic behavior; and countering violent extremism; religious freedom and national security; religious freedom and economic development; cultural heritage protection for religious sites; religious minorities and humanitarian crises; international development aid and religious freedom; and mobilizing faith leaders around peace and development goals.

Day Three – Government Action: On July 18, senior government and international organization representatives will participate in plenary sessions focused on: identifying global challenges to religious freedom; developing innovative responses to persecution on the basis of religion; and sharing new commitments to protect religious freedom for all. Invitations will be extended to likeminded governments that have a demonstrated record of advancing religious freedom and are committed to promoting Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, or governments that have taken significant and meaningful steps to do so. Survivors or close relatives of those who suffered persecution due to their religion or beliefs will share their stories. Government delegations will be encouraged to announce new actions and commitments they will take to protect and promote freedom of religion or belief.

Too often in the peacebuilding process a gap exists between global organizations, businesses and those at the grassroots engaged in work that seeks to address critical issues including conflict, violence and injustice. Today, RFBF president Brian Grim joined in a session that explored strategies for closing this gap and why global organizations are prioritizing grassroots partnerships.

The event was part of a URI (The United Religions Initiative) two-day international conference on interfaith strategies for global peacebuilding at the Hoover Institution on the Stanford University campus.

Participants in the panel include (pictured above):

• ∎ Moderator: Suzanne Eloise Siskel, Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer of the Asia Foundation, and URI President’s Council Member
• Panelists:
• ∎ Kate Cumbo, PhD, Executive Director of the PeaceJam Foundation
• ∎ Rabbi Serena Eisenberg, Regional Director of the American Jewish Committee Northern California
• ∎ Dr. Brian J. Grim, President of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation Reverend
• ∎ Susan O. Hayward, Senior Advisor for Religion and Inclusive Societies at the US Institute of Peace
• ∎ Aqeela Jogee, Vice-President of Programs at Give2Asia

Grim shared how 12 business leaders from across the globe are advancing interfaith understanding, religious freedom and peace through their core business, social investment and philanthropy, advocacy and public policy engagement, and partnerships and collective action. The religious, geographic and business-type diversity of these businesses and leaders shows that the values of interfaith understanding, religious freedom and peace have universal appeal.

These 12 leaders were finalists for the inaugural 2016 Global Business & Interfaith Peace Awards. You can meet them in the video below. He also shared about the “grassroots” initiatives for religious diversity and inclusion in one local (and global) company, Salesforce.

USCIRF Seminar: A Foundational Human Right: Why International Religious Freedom Matters

RFBF President Brian Grim will present the business case for religious freedom (see video summary) at the first-ever Summer Seminar Series for Capitol Hill staff put on by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). Call or email your members of congress to encourage their staff to attend (House – Senate).

All Welcome: This event is free and also open to the public, but interns and young professionals are strongly encouraged to attend. Registration required.

• – Date: Monday, June 24, 2019
• – Time: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
• – Location: Capitol Visitor’s Center (Senate Side Room SVC 203-02) 100 First Street NE Washington, DC 20003
• – RSVP required

U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is holding their first-ever Summer Seminar Series for Capitol Hill staff. The first seminar will be A Foundational Human Right: Why International Religious Freedom Matters. The seminar will take place Monday, June 24 from 2:00-3:00 PM at the Capitol Visitor’s Center- Senate Side Room SVC 203-02 (100 First Street NE Washington, DC 20003). This event is open to the public but interns and young professionals are strongly encouraged to attend.

Featured Speakers

• ∎ Brian Grim, President of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation
• ∎ Frank Wolf, Former Member of the House of Representatives
• ∎ Kristina Arriaga, USCIRF Commissioner

Download event flyer (pdf)

Join us TUESDAY, JUNE 11, 12:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) for a global webinar* with experts on religion and business discussing how their work has been relevant to the business world. Registration required.

Speakers (by webinar order): 

Brian Grim, Ph. D., is president of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation, a corporate trainer on religious diversity & inclusion, and a leading scholar on international religious demography and the socio-economic impact of religious freedom.  He has extensive international experience and is a TEDx speaker and a speaker at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos.

Brian’s recent research finds that religion contributes $1.2 trillion to the U.S. economy annually, more than the combined revenues of companies including Apple, Amazon and Google. He  is recent chair of the World Economic Forum’s faith council and he works closely with the United Nations Business for Peace platform. He is an affiliated scholar at Baylor University, Boston University, Georgetown University, and the Freedom Forum Institute. Brian is a Penn State alumnus and author of numerous works including The Price of Freedom Denied (Cambridge), World Religion Database (Brill), World’s Religions in Figures (Wiley) and Yearbook of International Religious Demography (Brill).

Dr. Brandon Vaidyanathan is Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of Sociology at The Catholic University of America. He holds degrees in Business Administration from St. Francis Xavier University and HEC Montreal, and a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Notre Dame. His research examines organizational cultures in commercial, religious, medical, and scientific institutions, and has been widely published in leading peer-review journals. He is author of Mercenaries and Missionaries: Capitalism and Catholicism in the Global South (Cornell University Press, 2019), and co-author of Secularity and Science: What Scientists around the World Really Think About Religion (Oxford University Press, 2019).

His ongoing research examines well-being in scientific careers and mental health in religious communities. Mercenaries and Missionaries examines the relationship between rapidly diffusing forms of capitalism and Christianity in the Global South. Using more than two hundred interviews in Bangalore and Dubai, Brandon Vaidyanathan explains how and why global corporate professionals straddle conflicting moral orientations in the realms of work and religion. Vaidyanathan concludes that global corporations and religious communities create distinctive cultures, with normative models that powerfully orient people to those cultures—the Mercenary in cutthroat workplaces, and the Missionary in churches. As a result, global corporate professionals in rapidly developing cities negotiate starkly opposing moral commitments in the realms of work and religion, which in turn shapes their civic commitment to these cities.

Joyce S. Dubensky, Esq., Chief Executive Officer: Tanenbaum’s CEO, Ms. Dubensky, has directed its dramatic expansion, adding new initiatives to each of Tanenbaum’s core programs. Her dynamic leadership transformed Tanenbaum from a well-regarded U.S. institution to an internationally recognized thought leader. Ms. Dubensky has overseen many firsts, each a new contribution to the burgeoning field of interreligious understanding: the first toolkit on religious diversity for workplace managers, the first comprehensive guide on the intersections of religion and health care and the first book collecting the compelling life stories of Tanenbaum’s Peacemakers in Action.

Most recently, Tanenbaum and RFBF launched the Corporate Religious Diversity Assessment (CRDA), which offers global companies a resource for internally evaluating their religious diversity, equity and inclusion efforts—and how they align with business goals and freedom of religious belief. Whether companies consider themselves far along in their diversity, inclusion and equity journeys, or just starting, the CRDA is a concrete assessment tool for identifying how far companies have come and steps for moving forward. The CRDA can be found at crdatool.com. Internationally in demand as a speaker and trainer, Ms. Dubensky speaks, trains and conducts workshops on all Tanenbaum programs including on managing issues of religion in the workplace. As an attorney, she created the Legal Department at the United Jewish Appeal-Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York and served as its General Counsel for over ten years. Ms. Dubensky began her legal career with the law firm of Botein Hays Sklar and Herzberg and holds her J.D. from New York University School of Law.

* This webinar is hosted by the Public Scholars Project, a joint initiative of the Public Understanding of Religion Committee of the American Academy of Religion and the Religious Freedom Center of the Freedom Forum Institute. The Public Scholars Project created this webinar series to help scholars hone their skills at communicating with a variety of publics. Our webinars feature scholars and practitioners who can provide tools, resources and recommendations for presenting in a variety of settings (e.g., social media, news, public events and community gatherings) about a range of topics.

Cairo, Egypt: 23 May 2019 – The International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN Migration Organization, and the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation (RFBF) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to kickstart their collaboration.

RFBF is an organization that raises awareness in the global business community about the benefits of religious freedom and labor rights, especially nondiscrimination on the basis of religion or belief. RFBF also engages the business community in joining forces with government and non-governmental organizations in promoting respect for freedom of religion or belief. This mission works in unison with the goals of the IOM in ensuring that no one is left behind and in engaging the private sector to work more collaboratively with migrants.

As part of this partnership, IOM Egypt and RFBF will launch an award for business leaders who maximize migration’s positive impact for Egyptian society and migrants – called the Business & Migration Peace Prize (B&MP Prize). Specifically, considered candidates will be current or past Chief Executive Officers who have demonstrated leadership in championing migration’s positive impact for migrants and Egyptian society, thereby promoting interfaith understanding and peace. Four award categories have been determined, and one outstanding individual will be awarded the overall prize – the B&MP Prize.

This first award ceremony is set to be held on 18 December 2019 on the day of International Migrants day.

“We see this award as motivating actions within the private sector in Egypt and the region to take on more corporate social responsibility and benefit from the diversity offered by migrants” said IOM Egypt’s Chief of Mission, Mr. Laurent De Boeck.

“This is an excellent way to recognize the tremendous business innovation that migrants bring to a country,” said Dr. Brian Grim, RFBF President. “So many of the world’s greatest discoveries and innovations have come from migrants who have the unique desire to innovate and succeed.”

The partnership and prize support the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), namely Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities, Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions and Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals. It is also in line with the objectives of Egypt’s Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS): Vision 2030, particularly its Social Justice Pillar.

For more information, please contact Omar Awwad at IOM Egypt, Tel: +20 1032 049 144; Email: oawwad@iom.int

In a March 2019 Pew Research Center survey, 50 percent or more of U.S. adults say that Muslims (82%), Jews (64%) and Evangelical Christians (50%) face some or a lot of discrimination in our society. This is a significant increase since 2016 for Jews and Christians when fewer than half surveyed said Jews (44%) and Christians (42%) faced discrimination. Perceptions of high levels of discrimination against Muslims remained unchanged from 2016.

Brian Grim, President, Religious Freedom & Business Foundation

— Prepared Comments for Religious Diversity & Inclusion event at Texas Instruments HQ, May 6, 2019

Many people haven’t thought much about the connection between religious freedom and business, but I’ve been thinking about it at least since 1982 when my wife and I worked in the ancient port city of Quanzhou, home to one of China’s oldest mosques built by Muslim business people who first introduced Islam to China more than a thousand years ago. In the 1980s we also worked in Xinjiang, China’s far west, where Nestorian traders first brought Christianity to China along the old Silk Road nearly 1400 years ago.

Then in 1991 working right across the border in what is now Kazakhstan, the USSR was dissolved – in my office building, incidentally – first request of new President was for my faith-based NGO to help them turn the former Communist Party training school into the region’s first western-style business school, KIMEP. At the start of a new country, he saw the connections between faith, freedom and the economy.

More recently I completed a study on the economic impact of religion set free by the freedom found in the United States.

So you could say there’s a lot of spiritual fuel being pumped unto the economy

My current work focuses on highlighting how religious diversity & inclusion – or workplace religious freedom – is an asset to the bottom line.

This work includes the privilege of working with some top experts, like Kent Johnson, who was Senior Council here at Texas Instruments for many years, as well as the Religious Freedom Center of the Freedom Forum Institute in Washington DC.

In this task, religious literacy is important. But I’m not talking about knowledge of religious beliefs and practices. It’s knowledge about how religion impacts the workplace and the marketplace –our coworkers and partners as well as our customers and clients.

Data can help us with this. First, religion is not in decline.

When I led the international data project at the Pew Research Center from 2008-2014, we projected that our planet will have 2.3 billion more religiously affiliated people by 2050 compared with just 0.1 billion more religiously unaffiliated people.

That’s like religion “winning” 23-to-1.

This religious growth is changing the global marketplace. Today, three of the top five economies are Christian-majority.

But in 40 years, only one is projected to be. The other four top economies in 2050 will include countries where Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists and the unaffiliated predominate.

Research shows that this religious growth can be good for the workplace and the bottom lines of businesses – as long as restrictions on freedom of religion or belief are kept low.

In such countries, innovative strength is more than twice as high as in countries where governments and societies don’t respect freedom of religion or belief. So, freedom to believe – or not believe – is good for business, as I’ll come back to in a moment.

But the data on respect for freedom of religion or belief in the U.S. and worldwide are very concerning.

Annual studies that I initiated while at the Pew Research Center find that restrictions on religion and belief are high or very high in 40% of countries.

But because some of these countries (like China) are very populous, some 5.9 billion people (nearly 80% of the world’s population) live in countries with a high or very high level of restrictions on religion.

Since 2009, the number of people living in countries with high religious restrictions and hostilities has increased from 4.8 to 5.9 billion people – that’s an increase of 1.1 billion more people living in countries where freedom of religion or belief is under duress, based on studies from the Pew Research Center.

The restrictions come from two main sources: the actions and policies of governments, and the social hostilities involving religion coming from people and groups in societies.

So, what are examples of social hostilities involving religion?

These include attacks on places of worship, such as the recent murders in a California synagogue and last fall’s massacre in at Pittsburg synagogue.

Social hostilities involving religion include the recent Easter Sunday bombings of churches in Sri Lanka that lefty hundreds dead and as many or more injured. They also include the recent Friday prayer massacres in two New Zealand mosques.

Such hostilities also include attacks motivated by religious hatred to people with no religious beliefs, such as Alexander Aan, an Indonesian who was beaten by a mop for declaring himself and Atheist, and then jailed by police for two years because in Indonesia blasphemy is a crime.

This case shows the frequent close connection between religiously biased laws and social hostilities involving religion.

Now let’s turn to examples government restrictions on freedom of religion or belief.

I’ll give some examples from China, because some of the same policy perspectives it has on religion are paralleled in some of its economic and security policies.

China has been on a several year campaign to not only remove crosses from churches and Christians from churches, but also church buildings from existence, such as the recent demolition of a church in Wenzhou, seen in these 24-hour before-and-after photos.

In China’s far west, up to one million mostly Uygur Muslims have been forced into re-education camps in the government’s attempt to stamp out the possibility of Islamic radicalization.

Two of my four kids were born in this region back in the 1980s, by the way.

Unfortunately, while China has one of the most developed programs of restricting religion and belief, it is far from alone.

The example of Hamza Kashgari, who was a Saudi blogger, shows how government policies in one place can cross borders. He tweeted some doubts about his faith, which is considered blasphemy. He fled to Australia to escape social cries for his beheading, only to be intercepted as he changed planes in Kuala Lumper, Malaysia, and extradited back to Saudi Arabia at the request of the Saudi government. After some jail time helped him overcome his doubts, he was released.

All this research has shown that restrictions on freedom of religion or belief coming from governments and groups in society reinforce each other and is a primary factor causing religions related violence.

All of that is generally bad for business. Specifically, research I did while working with the World Economic Forum shows that high restrictions on freedom of religion or belief damage or even destroy the pillars of global competitiveness.

For example, as I mentioned a few minutes ago, innovative strength is more than twice as high in countries where governments respect freedom of religion or belief.

One indicator of that is whether some of a country’s top entrepreneurs and successful business people stay in a country or leave it.

Bloomberg just published research showing which countries are losing or gaining millionaire through migration, with Australia gaining the most and China losing the most.

How does this compare with the level of government restrictions on religion and belief in a country?

As I mentioned, it’s not surprising that China, the country with the highest government restrictions on religion – as measured by the Pew Research Center – is also losing the highest number of millionaires seeking freer, more secure opportunities elsewhere. And Australia, a country with low government restrictions on religion, is benefiting the most from this migration of talent and resources. While the U.S. has relatively moderate government restrictions, it has high social hostilities, according to the past three annual reports by the Pew Research Center.

One place we see this is in the number of American workers who have experienced or witnessed religious discrimination in their workplace. A recent Tanenbaum survey finds that 36% of American workers, or about 50 million people, have experienced or witnessed some form of religious discrimination or non-accommodation in their workplace.

Despite this, religious diversity and inclusion is not on the minds of many companies.

Companies have rightly paid a lot of attention to other diversity and inclusion issues, such as sexual orientation.

Now, religion is the next big thing businesses need to pay attention to.

In 2018, for instance, there were significantly more workplace discrimination complaints made to the EEOC over religion as complaints over sexual orientation.

The same business case that applies to other characteristics applies to including religion as part of diversity and inclusion initiatives.

So, what are some of the religious diversity and inclusion initiatives of major U.S. and international corporations? I’ll give just a few examples.

As we’ve heard today, this year Texas Instruments’ Diversity Network celebrates 30 years of diversity leadership and trailblazing.

TI was one of the early pioneers of instilling diversity into its corporate culture, embracing the premise that a diverse employee base is likely to facilitate fresh and valuable ideas; and that employees perform at higher levels when they’re permitted to “bring their whole selves to work”.

Today the company has 15 grassroots, employee-led diversity resource groups (see image above) that help foster and support a diverse and inclusive work environment, including faith-oriented groups for Christian, Jewish and Muslim employees.

For the second year running, Bloomberg is hosting Tanenbaum’s Religious Diversity Leadership Summit, cosponsored by DTCC and the Walt Disney Company. The annual summit explores what’s next in addressing religious diversity & inclusion.

Accenture hosted a nation-wide webinar, “Religious Literacy 101 – What does it mean to have an accommodation mindset,” for Accenture employees on the case for being able to bring your whole self, faith and all, to work. Accenture has pioneered in both faith-specific and interfaith Employee Resource Groups.

Tyson Foods, along with many companies across the country, employs chaplains to minister to the needs of their multi-faith team members. Karen Diefendorf, a retire US Army Command Chaplain, leads their chaplain force. Here’s a short video of their work.

Worldwide, a number of companies adhere to a religious or belief-based ethos. For instance, Sanitarium, the most popular breakfast cereal company in Australia, is owned and operated by the Seventh Day Adventist Church. As a practical demonstration of the Church’s doctrinal dedication to health and well-being, Sanitarium is a South Pacific leader in producing healthy products and in organizing community programmes to encourage healthy lifestyles. One such Sanitarium programme is their popular nationwide TRYathlons, which inspire children to get moving in a friendly and supportive environment with an emphasis on enjoying the experience as part of an active lifestyle rather than competition. In fact, breakfast cereals in general have Adventist roots. The parent company of Sanitarium was Sanitas, the original company set up by then-Adventists John Harvey and W.K. Kellogg to manufacture toasted corn flakes as a healthier alternative to the greasy American breakfasts of the day. Yes, and now you know the religious roots of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes!

I’ll conclude with a call out to numerous companies that have signed the Corporate Pledge on Religious Diversity & Inclusion.

In the lunchtime session, we’ll specifically have an opportunity to explore and discuss resources aimed at helping companies fulfill the aspirations of the pledge, which you have a copy of on your chairs. This one minute video is a signing ceremony we held in Korea during the Paralympic Games when we give awards, in partnership with the United Nations Global Compact, for business leaders advancing interfaith understanding and peace.