TWO out of three Greek Cypriots have never had a close friendship with someone of a different religion, a new study on the religious views of Greek Cypriots revealed yesterday.
The survey, carried out by the European University of Cyprus (EUC) Research Centre on behalf of the Ombudswoman, revealed that Cyprus remains some way off from enjoying a multi-faith existence.
Researcher Nassos Orinos explained that from the 655 sample, those most familiar with other faiths were people that went through higher education, and geographically, people from Paphos, who enjoyed a high level of inward migration.
The majority of those asked believed there was a problem of discrimination in Cyprus against religious minorities. However, the respondents were split in half as to whether enough was being done about it.
Regarding religion in the workplace, half of Greek Cypriots believed being non-Orthodox was a disadvantage when looking for a job, while four out of ten said it was not. Nicosia residents were the most convinced that not being Orthodox was a disadvantage (67 per cent).
The majority of those asked were unaware of the existence of laws against religious discrimination in the workplace. More worryingly, a large number of employers were included in this figure, noted Orinos.
A significant figure, 40 per cent, were in favour of positive discrimination with regard to fixing positions for religious minorities in employment, though the majority, 45 per cent, were not.
The vast majority of respondents said they would not marry a Muslim (86 per cent). A significant majority (61 per cent) would also be troubled if their child married someone with other religious beliefs. Catholics faired much better than other religions in the survey, with only 47 per cent against the idea of marrying a Catholic.
Exactly half of those asked were against making religious education in schools a neutral subject teaching about the equality of all religions, while the majority were also against doing away with religious affiliation questions in employment applications and in ending compulsory prayers in schools and the army.
Around half of Greek Cypriots believe that people cannot be truly happy if they don’t have a religion. This view is shared mostly by older people, and not the young. A large number of people, 63 per cent, believe Orthodox Christianity to be superior to all other religions, revealing the lack of religious comparisons within Cypriot society, said EUC researcher Andry Christoforou.
However, three quarters of the people agreed that there should not be any discrimination against people of other religions regarding housing.
Christoforou highlighted that Greek Cypriots adopted the general stereotypes disseminated by the mainstream media in the West about Islam. A large majority believed the Muslim faith by nature leads to extreme behaviours, violence and terrorist activities. As a result, up to 45 per cent said Muslims should not be given high positions of power in the organisations they work in.
Despite these beliefs, the overwhelming majority (74 per cent) said they would feel comfortable in the presence of people with a different religion or working with them. Also, a large majority disagreed with the view that Muslims, even if they are good people, will not go to heaven. This shows that the majority of Greek Cypriots are less likely to be religiously fanatic but have adopted stereotypical views of Muslims that are connected with violence and extremism.
Regarding the various religions of the world, Greek Cypriots were most negative about Jehovah’s Witness and Muslims, while having mixed feelings about atheists, Buddhists and Hindus, and more positive ones about Catholics, while reserving their warmest feelings for the Orthodox faithful.
One in five would have a problem with a Catholic Church in their neighbourhood or if the teacher of their child was Catholic. However, the large majority would have a problem if their child’s teacher was Muslim or a Jehovah’s witness. The great majority would be fine with having a Muslim as a neighbour, colleague or doctor or as a friend of their children but would not like a mosque to operate in their neighbourhood.
Christoforou noted that people’s views could be more extreme than those recorded due to the phenomenon of the “social desirability bias”, where people are reluctant to acknowledge opinions that are not socially acceptable.
The University of Cyprus Rector, Stavros Zenios, warned that these types of studies were not always so reliable as a result. He welcomed the open acknowledgement of the problem of discrimination in Cyprus and the lack of openness and tolerance.
Zenios warned that Cyprus had to move away from suspicion and ignorance and closer towards European values.
In reference to the recent furore by the teachers’ union over university places reserved for private school students, he asked: “If we can’t accept different graduation degrees at university, how can we accept different religions?”
