Religious Discrimination is the act of not associating with people belonging to a particular
faith or giving them special treatment. This is to be differentiated with racial discrimination which is based on ethnicity, even if both can be intertwined in some cases.
Today, many western states forbid discrimination based on religion, though this is not always enforced. For example, since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in the United States of America, the EEOC has received more than 800 charge filings alleging religious discrimination by individuals who are or who are perceived to be Muslim, Arabic, Middle Eastern, South Asian or Sikh with the two most common issues being harassment and discharge.
An example of statewise discrimination is non-Muslims bring discriminated against in the few remaining Islamic theocratic states. Jews and Christians have historically had fewer freedoms than Muslim citizens in Muslim states; non-Muslims monotheists have been consigned to the status of dhimmis in some cases. The article on discrimination against non-Muslims in Saudi Arabia discusses this subject in more depth. Marxist states have also discriminated against all religions at some time or another. This continues in North Korea, China and Vietnam, and many former Soviet republics.
Religious students may be said to be discriminated against in some western state schools. For example, names of clubs have been changed due to claims by administrative staff that some part of the name or the symbolism it represents may offend other students, parents, or teachers.
Some others claim that non-religious people (atheists, agnostics, etc.) are subject to the most widespread religious discrimination. During his 1988 Presidential campaign, George H.W. Bush stated that atheists should not be considered patriots or citizens.
