Are there any "Affirmative Action" programs that include religion?

[robert_columbia]

(This question is NOT intended to involve the merits of Affirmative Action programs, or serve as a soapbox for either pro or anti viewpoints)

In the US, Affirmative Action basically means that those who are making hiring and student admission decisions are to look at the race and gender of the people they are evaluating, so as to give minorities and women a better shot. Of course, some white men dislike this because they have to deal with potentially being passed up by a lesser qualified woman or minority due to some historical discrimination that wasn't the white guy's fault to begin with.

Religion is protected under US discrimination laws (i.e. with a few narrow exceptions, a hiring manager selecting a candidate for Sales Lead cannot decide to prefer Muslims over any other religion, but there is a noticible absence of religion being used as a basis for "affirmative action".

Are there any instances of religious affirmative action in the US or in other western countries? I'm guessing that the answer is no, because if there was religious affirmative action in the US, it would be easy to abuse because of the very liquid and vague definition of "religion" that the courts have provided us. Under our current laws, one could probably argue successfully that "Independent Fundamental Baptists who refuse to work on Sunday and bar women from leadership positions" constitutes a separate religion from "Independent Fundamental Baptists who refuse to work on Sunday but permit women to hold leadership positions", which would be a separate religion from "Independent Fundamental Baptists who believe whether or not working on Sunday is entrusted to the good faith of the follower, and permit women to hold leadership positions only if their father or husband is already a leader". If we required companies to have quotas for all of these categories, the result would obviously be absurd. The task of classifying groups of religions in order to make them share quotas would be fraught with difficulty and lawsuits as people objected to their classification. E.g. "I am a Baptist with a doctrinal belief against the use of musical instruments in worship. I refuse to be classified alongside and share a quota with those apostate hellbound Baptists who use guitars."

[Neidhart]

Aren't there such laws in Northern Ireland now?

[Duckster]

Under US federal law, no. For the government to do so would probably run afoul with the First Amendment.

[code_grey]

this article http://www.opinion-maker.org/2010/04/india-affirmative-action-for-muslims-a-hallucination/ indicates that there were some attempts (not sure how successful) to introduce floor quotas for Muslims in India.

Ceiling quotas for Jews in Czarist Russia would be an example of reverse affirmative action, and these can be understood as either religious or ethnicity based.

[UDS]

Aren't there such laws in Northern Ireland now?
The Police Service of Northern Ireland has a policy of trying to draw 50% of its recruits from the Catholic community, which makes up less than 50% of the population. This is a temporary measure, and has the object of raising the proportion of Catholics in the force where, historically, they have been greatly under-represented. Since the policy was adopted the proportion of Catholics in the force has risen from 8% to about 25%, and the target is to get it to 30%. Catholics make up about 40% of the population.

[Indistinguishable]

Ceiling quotas for Jews in Czarist Russia would be an example of reverse affirmative action, and these can be understood as either religious or ethnicity based.
I've heard affirmative action described as reverse discrimination, but this is the first time I've heard discrimination described as reverse affirmative action. So far as mere straight-up institutional religious bigotry goes, the examples surely number in the thousands.

[Schnitte]

According to this (http://www.hindujagruti.org/news/2441.html) and this (http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/4/123574/) news story, there are quotas for Christians at least at individual Indian universities, and in some parliamentary districs in Iraq. That said, I think that using religion as a criterion on which to base affirmative action is susceptible to manipulation. It is much easier to convert to another religion, or claim to have done so, in order to enjoy the benefits of affirmative action than it is, for instance, to claim another ethnic origin. I guess policy makers are aware of this risk when making the decision whether to establish faith-based affirmative action.

[Giles]

According to this (http://www.hindujagruti.org/news/2441.html) and this (http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/4/123574/) news story, there are quotas for Christians at least at individual Indian universities, and in some parliamentary districs in Iraq. That said, I think that using religion as a criterion on which to base affirmative action is susceptible to manipulation. It is much easier to convert to another religion, or claim to have done so, in order to enjoy the benefits of affirmative action than it is, for instance, to claim another ethnic origin. I guess policy makers are aware of this risk when making the decision whether to establish faith-based affirmative action.
However, in these cultures (such as Northern Ireland or India/Pakistan), religion is ethnic origin. It might be easy to convert between Protestantism and Catholicism in the U.S., but I doubt if it's so easy in Northern Ireland. Similarly for converting between Islam, Hinduism and Christianity in India/Pakistan.