Too much respect is given to Islam, say a third of Scots; A quarter say too little is shown to Christianity

The St.Andrews R.C. Cathedral in Glasgow, Scotland is featured in this image. Wikimedia Commons/Finlay McWalter

A poll has found that a third of the people in Scotland believe that Islam receives too much respect, while a quarter think that Christianity receives too little.

The Sunday Times survey, conducted by Panelbase, revealed that 33 percent of Scots believe that "society pays too much respect to Islam," while 15 percent say the faith is not respected enough.

When it comes to Christianity, 25 percent of Scots believe that the religion receives too little respect as opposed to sixteen percent of Scots who say that it is respected too much.

Eleven percent of Scots felt that Judaism receives too much respect in contrast to 19 percent who believe it is respected too much.

Labour MSP Anas Sarwar said that society appeared to be becoming less tolerant and more divided.

"There is clearly a lot more work to do to build a society free of all forms of prejudice and hate," Sarwar said.

"We can't leave the fight against sexism, homophobia, racism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, anti-Catholicism and all other forms of prejudice to individual communities. It must be a fight for all of us," the politician added.

The interview of 1,037 Scots was conducted between March 23 and March 28. The findings also revealed that a fifth of Roman Catholics have experienced religious prejudice in the past five years.

Peter Kearney, a spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland, said that the latest figure was a "sad indication of lingering anti-Catholicism in Scotland."

The survey came after the release of a government report which indicated that Catholics have been the biggest hate crime victims than all the religious groups in Scotland combined. It found that 57 percent of the victims of religiously motivated crimes reported in the country have been Catholics.

Elaine Smith, a Labour Member of the Scottish Parliament, complained that while Islamophobia and anti-Semitism have drawn public attention, not much thought had been given when it comes to anti-Catholicism. She lamented that the hate crimes against Catholics have been rising, with a 14 percent increase in just one year.

A Church official had expressed his concern to a committee at a Scottish Parliament about the growing anti-Catholicism in Scotland last year.

"My overriding concern is the culture of fear that runs right through society and which makes people feel at best uncomfortable and at worst totally frightened to be open about their faith," Anthony Horan, director of the bishops' Catholic Parliamentary Office, told the committee, as reported by Catholic Herald.

The Social Attitudes Survey in 2015 found that 15 percent of Scots identified as Catholics while 35 percent identified as members of the Church of Scotland. A little more than half said they were not religious.

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