Race, Ethnicity, Culture, or Religion - Kamryn Mccree

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Being in Morocco has allowed me to have a much closer experience with the religion of Islam, and see how this religion is tied so heavily into the culture. According to the 2020 Morocco International Religious Freedom Report by the US Embassy, the US government estimates that more than 99 percent of the population is Muslim and that, collectively, Jews, Christians, and Baha’is make up less than one percent of the population. Also, the Moroccan Constitution, which was adopted in 2011, recognized Islam as the official religion of the state. These facts indicate that, with Islam being the highly dominant religion, other religions automatically become the out-group within the country. The constitution allows the practice of any religion in the country but, prohibits the coerced conversion of Moroccans from Islam to another religion, which is considered a crime. Though they are the minority, other religions are respected in a sense that there are places of worship for these other religions in the state. In my opinion, Morocco does a good job of making this marginalized group feel more welcomed. However, I feel that as a leader, we could expand the legal protections from not only Islam, but other religions. Also as a leader, there could be educational curriculum reforms to insure accurate and unbiased teachings of other religious practices and decriminalization of religious conversion


U.S. Department of State. (2021, May 12). 2020 Report on International Religious Freedom: Morocco. https://www.state.gov/reports/2020-report-on-international-religious-freedom/morocco/

Hanafi, L. (2020, December). Morocco at the crossroads: Religious freedom and the law. Journal of Constitutional Law in the Middle East and North Africa. https://jcl-mena.org/assets/submissions/3.Morocco-at-the-Crossroads-Religious-Freedom-and-the-Law.pdf

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Comments

  1. Christina CorinMay 14, 2025 at 3:28 PM

    I really like this take; I think your right that there should be equal protections for all religions, but the fact that they exist for Islam is a step in the right direction! I did not know that Islam was delved the official religion of the state; that is so interesting. I would’ve liked you to expand on what you said about how it is heavily tied to culture. You are so right, but a great way to elaborate o that is by talking about the 5 pillars of Islam: faith, prayer, charity, fasting, and pilgrimage.

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