Rise in Social Hostilities Involving Religion Around the World

The Pew Research Center has been tracking and measuring the regulation of religion around the world for almost two decades now, and earlier this month they released their latest update.

The headline is that from 2022 to 2023 there was a sizeable increase in social hostilities involving religion around the world (notice that there is a lag in the release of their data, which is why they are reporting on 2023). The full pdf report is here, but you can read the detailed summary here.

The report shows updates to their two indices: the Social Hostilities Index and the Government Restrictions Index. According to the former, the number of countries that were classified as having a "High" or "Very High" level of social hostilities increased from 45 (out of 198 countries) in 2022 to 55 in 2023. The median classification did not change, which means that the increase in hostility happened in countries that already have been having higher-than-average levels of social hostility.

You do not need to read the full report, but definitely read the entire detailed summary linked above. This will give you a brief but good introduction to the kinds of hostilities and regulations that religious people around the world face. Then, after reading the detailed summary, you can check out the full report if you are interested.

By the time you are done reading, you should:

• Understand the difference between the Social Hostilities Index (SHI) and the Government Restrictions Indices (GRI).
• Know the trends in both indices since 2007.
• Know of the types of regulation and hostilities that have been experienced in several countries.

Later in the course you will learn much more about how religious practice is hindered around the world.

The End of Germany's Surveillance of Scientologists

Germany has engaged in surveillance of the Church of Scientology since for the past 30 years, but that surveillance came to an end in May 2026. See the report on the Religion Clause website. You can also see the report from the Church of Scientology here.

The surveillance began in the 1990s after the Berlin Wall fell and East and West Germany were reunified. This was a tumultuous time, and people with political power were open to hearing accusations that certain groups of people or institutions--like the Church of Scientology--were a threat to the new country. This surveillance continued for three decades despite no clear evidence to support the accusations that Scientologists worked to undermine the German constitution. During the 30 years of surveillance, Scientologists gained new protections (or at least a lessoning of targeted discrimination) in many countries. It just took Germany much longer than the others to admit that Scientologists were not the threat like detractors of the group claimed them to be.

Though perhaps it is too much to say that the German government "admitted" that Scientologists were not a threat. Interestingly, the German government did not actually acknowledge that their surveillance efforts were misguided. Instead, they explained that other matters are more deserving of their limited resources. In effect, the German government is claiming to use a cost-benefit analysis and now calculated that the opportunity cost of continuing the surveillance had become too high. This leaves open the theoretical possibility that the surveillance may be reinstated in the future if the cost-benefit analysis changes, but it seems unlikely. With very little to show from their efforts over 30 years, the lack of an admission of wasted effort seems more like a way for the government to save some face rather than a strong stance against Scientology.

To be clear, I am not endorsing Scientology. Instead, I am merely raising your awareness of the kinds of legal discrimination that happens against minority religious groups. Having religious freedom in a country means that even "unfamiliar," "different," or "strange" religious groups have their rights protected just as much as long-established religious groups. Religious freedom continues to be a negotiated matter for many religious groups in many countries."

Gabi the AI Monk

On Wednesday, May 6, 2026, a four-foot-tall, humanoid robot named Gabi went through a special ordination to become what may be the world's first robotic monk. See this article at the Smithsonian Magazine. The ceremony, which was held at the (Buddhist) Jogyesa Temple in Seoul, South Korea, was adapted with Gabi's robotic nature in mind, with special vows to save energy by not overcharging and to not harm other robots.

You can see clips of the ordination ceremony here on YouTube.

The obvious context for this development is the adoption of AI and AI-related tools in more and more of our everyday lives. That AI spills over into religious life is not surprising at all, as has been noted here on this blog in many past blog posts (just scroll down in past months and you will see them). In fact, as mentioned in the article, there are also a small number of known cases of robots actively participating in religious rituals, providing religious instruction, performing spiritual care, or actively preaching. However, the ordination of a robotic monk seems to be a new step with some symbolic meaning. I hope we learn more about what functions Gabi will actually fulfill for the temple, and perhaps some of them will be more than perfunctory.

Other relevant context for this development context, which is noted in the article, is that Buddhism is the only major religious tradition that is losing followers worldwide (see this Pew Research article). I do not expect that the incorporation of robots into temple activities will not reverse this trend, but perhaps ift can still help Buddhist temples by lowering some of their operational costs.

That said, given the increased frequency of interactions with AI in many countries, I do expect that robots and other AI tools will find increasing use in religion worldwide. Although most religious practitioners will still prefer human interaction, the number who prefer an AI-mediated interaction with their religious group can only go up. And as AI technology improves, do not be surprised when more religious groups find ways to incorporate AI technology--be it robots or something else--when providing religious services. Some religious groups are always among the earliest adopters of new technologies when they believe that the new technology can help them in their religious missions.

And if you are worried that Gabi may feel alone as the only robotic monk at the Jogyesa Temple, then have no fear: the temple has already incorporated other robots into some of their activities.