Editing 2000s (section)

== Religion and irreligion ==
Prominent events and trends during the 2000s:
* Increasing [[Islamophobia]] and Islamophobic incidents during the 2000s associated with the [[September 11 attacks]] or with the increased presence of Muslims in the Western world.<ref>Monshipouri, Mahmood. "The war on terror and Muslims in the west." In ''Muslims in the West after 9/11: Religion, Politics and Law'', p. 46pp.</ref><ref>Achcar, Gilbert. ''The Arabs and the Holocaust: The Arab-Israeli War of Narratives'', p. 283</ref><ref>Zine, Jasmin. ''Canadian Islamic Schools: Unraveling the Politics of Faith, Gender, Knowledge, and Identity'', p. 153</ref>
* In 2000, the Italian Supreme Court ruled that [[Scientology]] is a religion for legal purposes.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cowan |first1=Douglas E. |author-link=Douglas E. Cowan |last2=Bromley |first2=David G. |author2-link=David G. Bromley |chapter=The Church of Scientology |year=2006 |editor1-last=Gallagher |editor1-first=Eugene V. |editor2-last=Ashcraft |editor2-first=W. Michael |title=Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America |place=Westport, CT |publisher=Greenwood Press |volume=5 |pages=169–196 |isbn=978-0-275-98712-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cesnur.org/testi/scie_march2000.htm |title=Italian Supreme Court decision |publisher=Cesnur.org |date=March 23, 2000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130221000131/http://www.cesnur.org/testi/scie_march2000.htm |archive-date=February 21, 2013 |url-status=live |access-date=July 21, 2014}}</ref>
* In 2001, lawsuits were filed in the [[United States]] and [[Ireland]], alleging that some priests had sexually abused minors and that their superiors had conspired to conceal and otherwise abet their criminal misconduct.<ref name="Bruni336">Bruni, p. 336.</ref> In 2004, the [[John Jay Report|John Jay report]] tabulated a total of 4,392 priests and deacons in the U.S. against whom allegations of sexual abuse had been made.
* The [[French law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools]] bans wearing conspicuous religious symbols in French public (i.e. government-operated) primary and secondary schools; and came into effect on September 2, 2004.
* June 27, 2005, – The [[Supreme Court of the United States]] ruled on in a 5–4 decision, that a [[Ten Commandments]] display at the [[McCreary County]] courthouse in [[Whitley City]], [[Kentucky]] and a Ten Commandments display at the [[Pulaski County, Kentucky|Pulaski County]] courthouse—were unconstitutional: ''[[McCreary County v. American Civil Liberties Union]]''
* France created in 2006 the first [[French parliamentary commission on cult activities]] which led to a report registering a number of [[cult]]s considered as dangerous. Supporters of such movements have criticized the report on the grounds of [[Status of religious freedom in France|the respect of religious freedom]]. Proponents of the measure contend that only dangerous cults have been listed as such, and state secularism ensures religious freedom in France.
* November 2009 – [[Minaret controversy in Switzerland]]: A referendum, a constitutional amendment banning the construction of new Mosque minarets was approved, sparking reactions from governments and political parties throughout of the world.
* 2009 – In [[Pope Benedict XVI]]'s third [[encyclical]] [[Caritas in Veritate]], he warns that a purely technocrat mindset where decisions are made only on grounds of efficiency will not deliver true development. Technical decisions must not be divorced from ethics. Benedict discusses bioethics and states that practices such as abortion, eugenics and euthanasia are morally hazardous and that accepting them can lead to greater tolerance for various forms of moral degradation. He turns to another consequence of the technocratic mindset, the viewing of people's personalities in purely psychological terms at the exclusion of the spiritual, which he says can lead to people feeling empty and abandoned even in prosperous societies.