Difference between revisions of "State religion" - New World Encyclopedia

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A '''state religion''' (also called an '''official religion''', '''established church''' or '''state church''') is a [[religion|religious]] body or [[creed]] officially endorsed by the [[state]]. The term ''state church'' is associated with [[Christianity]], and is sometimes used to denote a specific national branch of Christianity such as the Greek Orthodox Church or the Church of England. It is also possible for a [[national church]] to be established without being under state control. In countries where state religions exist, the majority of its residents are usually adherents. A state without a state religion is called a secular state.
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A '''state religion''' (also called an '''official religion''', '''established church''' or '''state church''') is a [[religion|religious]] body or [[creed]] officially endorsed by the [[state]]. In some countries more than one religion or denomination has such standing. There are also a variety of ways such endorsement occurs. The term ''state church'' is associated with [[Christianity]], and is sometimes used to denote a specific national branch of Christianity such as the [[Greek Orthodox Church]] or the [[Church of England]]. State religions exist in some countries because the national identity has historically had a specific religious identity as an inseparable component. It is also possible for a [[national church]] to be established without being under state control as the [[Roman Catholic Church]] is in some countries. In countries where state religions exist, the majority of its residents are usually adherents. A population's allegiance towards the state religion is often strong enough to prevent them from joining another religious group. There is also a tendency for religious freedom to be curtailed to varying degrees where there is an established religion. A state without a state religion is called a secular state. The relationship between [[Church and State|church and state]] is complex and has a long history.
  
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Nevertheless, the population's allegiance towards the state religion is often strong enough to prevent them from joining competing religious groups for fear of sanction by force. Therefore, the effect of a state religion is analogous to a chartered [[monopoly]] in the domain of religion.  
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The degree and nature of state backing for a denomination or creed designated as a state religion can vary. It can range from mere endorsement and financial support, with freedom for other faiths to practice, to prohibiting any competing religious body from operating and to persecuting the followers of other faiths. It all depends upon the political culture and the level of tolerance in that country. Some countries with official religions have laws that guarantee the [[freedom of worship]], full liberty of [[conscience]], and places of worship for all citizens; and implement those laws more than other countries that do not have an official or established state religion. Many sociologists now consider the effect of a state church as analogous to a chartered [[monopoly]] in religion.
  
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While state religions encourage religious behavior in the lives of their citizens, this behavior is often artificially compelled by legal means and is not based on freedom of choice. In contrast, many modern [[Democracy|democracies]] are based on constitutional models of [[Pluralism|religious pluralism]], in which a variety of religious communities (rather than merely one) are accepted and protected. In such pluralistic models, religions co-exist in relative harmony and peace and there is less of a danger of religious persecution promoted by state authorities. State religions are examples of the government-sanctioned or enforced establishment of religion.
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The lack of a [[separation of church and state|separation]] between religion and state means that religion may play an important role in the public life a country such as [[coronation]]s, [[investiture]]s, legislation, [[marriage]], [[education]] and [[government]]. What might otherwise be purely civil events may be given a religious context with all the spiritual legitimacy that implies. It also means that civil authorities may be involved in the governing of the institution including its [[doctrine]], structure and appointment of its leaders. Religious authority is very significant and civil authorities often want to control it.
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There have also been religious states where the ruler may be believed to be divine and the state has a sacred and absolute authority beyond which there was no appeal. It was to the state that a person belonged, it was state gave a person his or her identity, determined what was right or wrong and was the sole or at least highest legitimate object of a person's loyalty and devotion. The state would have its own rituals, symbols, mythical founder, belief system and personality cult associated with the ruler. Examples of such states were [[ancient Egypt]], the [[pagan]] [[Roman Empire]], [[fascism|Fascist]] [[Germany]] and the [[Soviet Union]].
  
 
==Historical Origins==
 
==Historical Origins==
 
===Antiquity===
 
===Antiquity===
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The concept of state religion was known in ancient times in the empires of [[Egypt]] and [[Sumer]], when every city state or people had its own god or gods. Many of the early Sumerian rulers were priests of their patron city god. Some of the earliest semi-mythological kings may have passed into the pantheon, such as [[Dumuzid]], and some later kings came to be viewed as divine soon after their reigns, like [[Sargon]] the Great of Akkad. One of the first rulers to be proclaimed a god during his actual reign was Gudea of Lagash, followed by some later kings of Ur, such as Shulgi. Often, the state religion was integral to the power base of the reigning government, such as in Egypt, where Pharaohs were often thought of as embodiments of the god [[Horus]].  
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State religions were known in ancient times in the empires of [[Egypt]] and [[Sumer]] and ancient Greece when every city state or people had its own god or gods. The religions had little ethical content and the main purpose of worship was to petition the gods to protect the city or the state and make it victorious over its enemies. There was often a powerful personality cult associated with the ruler. Sumerian kings came to be viewed as divine soon after their reigns, like [[Sargon]] the Great of Akkad. One of the first rulers to be proclaimed a god during his actual reign was [[Gudea of Lagash]], followed by some later kings of [[Ur]]. The state religion was integral to the power base of the reigning government, such as in [[ancient Egypt]], where [[Pharaoh]]s were often thought of as embodiments of the god [[Horus]].  
  
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In the [[Persian Empire]], [[Zoroastrianism]] was the state religion of the Sassanid dynasty which lasted until 651 C.E., when Persia was conquered by the forces of [[Islam]]. However, Zoroastrianism persisted as the state religion of the independent state of Hyrcania until the 15th century.
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In the [[Persian Empire]], [[Zoroastrianism]] was the state religion of the [[Sassanid dynasty]] which lasted until 651 C.E., when Persia was conquered by the armies of [[Islam]]. However, [[Zoroastrianism]] persisted as the state religion of the independent state of [[Hyrcania]] until the fifteenth century.
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The tiny kingdom of Adiabene in northern Mesopotamia converted to Judaism around 34 C.E.
 
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Many of the ancient Greek city-states also had a 'god' or 'goddess' associated with their particular cities. For example, the city of [[Athens]] had [[Athena]], [[Sparta]] had [[Artemis]], [[Delos]] had [[Apollo]] and Artemis, and [[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]] had [[Zeus]].
 
  
 
===China===
 
===China===
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In [[China]], the [[Han Dynasty]] (206 B.C.E. – 220 C.E.) advocated [[Confucianism]] as the ''de facto'' state religion, establishing tests based on Confucian texts as an entrance requirement into government service. The Han emperors appreciated the societal order that is central to [[Confucianism]]. Confucianism would continue on as the state religion until the [[Sui Dynasty]] (581-618 C.E.), when it was replaced by [[Mahayana Buddhism]]. Neo-Confucianism returned as the ''de facto'' state religion sometime in the 10th century. Note however, there is a debate over whether Confucianism (including Neo-Confucianism) is a religion or merely an ethical system.
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In [[China]], the [[Han Dynasty]] (206 B.C.E. – 220 C.E.) made [[Confucianism]] the ''de facto'' state religion, establishing tests based on Confucian texts as an entrance requirement to government service. The Han emperors appreciated the social order that is central to Confucianism. Confucianism would continue to be the state religion until the [[Sui Dynasty]] (581-618 C.E.), when it was replaced by [[Mahayana Buddhism]]. Neo-Confucianism returned as the ''de facto'' state religion sometime in the tenth century. Note however, there is a debate over whether Confucianism (including Neo-Confucianism) is a religion or merely a system of [[ethics]].
  
 
===The Roman Empire===
 
===The Roman Empire===
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The [[Roman Empire]], at its height, centralized and consolidated the State religion system. In Rome, the office of ''Pontifex Maximus'' came to be reserved for the emperor, who was often—declared a 'god' posthumously, or sometimes during his reign. Failure to worship the emperor as a god was at times punishable by death, as the Roman government sought to link emperor worship with loyalty to the Empire. Many Christians and Jews were subject to persecution, torture and death in the Roman Empire, because it was against their beliefs to worship the emperor.
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The State religion of the [[Roman Empire]] was Roman polytheism, centralized around the emperor. With the title ''Pontifex Maximus,'' the emperor was honored as a 'god' either posthumously or during his reign. Failure to worship the emperor as a god was at times punishable by death, as the Roman government sought to link [[emperor worship]] with loyalty to the Empire. Many Christians were [[persecution|persecuted]], tortured and killed because they refused to worship the emperor.  
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In 311 C.E., Emperor Galerius, on his deathbed, declared a religious indulgence to Christians throughout the Roman Empire, focusing on the ending of anti-Christian persecution. Constantine I and Licinius, the two ''Augusti'', by the [[Edict of Milan]] of 313 C.E., enacted a law allowing religious freedom to everyone within the Roman Empire. Furthermore, the Edict of Milan cited that Christians may openly practice their religion unmolested and unrestricted, and provided that properties taken from Christians be returned to them unconditionally. Although the Edict of Milan allowed religious freedom throughout the empire, it did not abolish nor disestablish the Roman state cult (Roman polytheistic paganism). The Edict of Milan was written in such a way as to implore the blessings of the deity.
 
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Constantine called up the [[First Council of Nicaea]] in 325 C.E., although he was not a baptized Christian until years later. Despite enjoying considerable popular support, Christianity was still not the official state religion in Rome, although it was in some neighboring states such as [[Armenia]] and [[Aksum]].
 
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Roman religion (Neoplatonic Hellenism) was restored for a time by [[Julian the Apostate]] from 361 to 363 C.E. Julian does not appear to have reinstated the persecutions of the earlier Roman emperors.
 
  
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The Christian lifestyle was generally admired and Christians managed government offices with exceptional honesty and integrity—a problem for the Empire. [[Catholic|Roman Catholic]] Christianity, as opposed to Arianism and [[Gnosticism]], was declared to be the state religion of the [[Roman Empire]] on February 27, 380 C.E. by the decree ''De Fide Catolica'' of Emperor [[Theodosius I]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Theodosian Code XVI.i.2 |url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/theodcodeXVI.html |work=Medieval Sourcebook: Banning of Other Religions |first=Paul |last=Halsall |year=1997 |month=June |publisher=Fordham University |accessdate= Retrieved August 9, 2008}}</ref> This declaration was based on the idea that an official state religion would bring stability to the empire.  
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In 313 C.E.., [[Constantine I]] and Licinius, the two ''Augusti,'' enacted the [[Edict of Milan]] allowing religious freedom to everyone within the Roman Empire. The Edict of Milan stated that Christians could openly practice their religion unmolested and unrestricted and ensured that properties taken from Christians be returned to them unconditionally. Although the Edict of Milan allowed religious freedom throughout the empire, and did not abolish nor disestablish the Roman state cult, in practice it permitted official favor for Christianity, which Constantine intended to make the new state religion.  
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[[Image:Byzantinischer Mosaizist um 1000 002.jpg|thumb|225px|''Constantine the Great,'' mosaic in [[Hagia Sophia]], [[Constantinople]], c. 1000]]
  
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====From State Religion to Religious State====
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Seeking unity for his new state religion, Constantine summoned the [[First Council of Nicaea]] in 325 C.E.. Disagreements between different Christian sects was causing social disturbances in the empire, and he wanted Christian leaders to come to some agreement about what they believed and if necessary to enforce that belief or expel those who disagreed. This set a significant precedent for subsequent state involvement and interference in the internal workings of the Christian Church.
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However, the official adoption of Christianity as a state religion is also considered by many the be the beginning of the Dark Ages as the Church developed a monopoly on "truth." [[Augustine]]'s ''City of God'' was seen as a justification for those Abel-type pilgrims of faith (the New [[Jerusalem]]) to use, or abuse, and eventually replace the Cain-type city of [[Babylon]]. And Rome was the battleground. The Bible was canonized and Christian writings considered heretical, esoteric (including those of women church leaders) were excluded. Non-Christian writings and science were banned. Those who did not believe the doctrines of the state religion were persecuted. [[Theodosius I]] destroyed pagan temples and converting them to Christian Churches. Such purges may have contributed to the destruction of the [[Library of Alexandria]]. The works of [[Aristotle]] and many of the Greeks were lost to the Christian world for over eight centuries.  
 
  
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In the Holy Roman Empire there was always an uneasy relationship between the temporal and secular rulers, the Kings and Princes, and the sacred and moral order ruled by the Popes and Bishops of the Church. By 800 a.d., the power of the Church was formidable and [[Charlemagne]] sought the blessing of the Pope on his rule. This reversal of power turned State religion into a religious State. In the Middle Ages, Western Kings often served the bidding of the Church and engaged in Crusades against the infidels, whether they profess "false religion" as the [[Albigenses]] and [[Cathars]] or control Holy lands like Jerusalem.
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The Christian lifestyle was generally admired and Christians managed government offices with exceptional honesty and integrity. [[Catholic|Roman Catholic]] Christianity, as opposed to Arianism and [[Gnosticism]], was declared to be the state religion of the [[Roman Empire]] on February 27, 380 C.E. by the decree ''De Fide Catolica'' of Emperor [[Theodosius I]].<ref>"Theodosian Code XVI.i.2" (excerpt from Henry Bettenson, ed., ''Documents of the Christian Church.'' (London: Oxford University Press, 1943) at Paul Halsall.[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/theodcodeXVI.html] ''Medieval Sourcebook'': Banning of Other Religions. (June 1997) ''Fordham University'' Retrieved August 9, 2008</ref> This declaration was based on the expectation that as an official state religion it would bring unity and stability to the empire. Theodosius then proceeded to destroy pagan temples and built churches in their place.
  
 
===Eastern Orthodoxy===
 
===Eastern Orthodoxy===
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In the territories of the Eastern Orthodoxy, the Christianity never acquired temporal power. Political rulers, especially the Tsars in [[Russia]], punished any attempt by religion to intervene in temporal affairs. Religion tended to spiritual life and community worship, and its focus was often on religious saints, relics, and icons and much of its aim was on the blessed afterlife to come.  
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The first country to make Christianity the national religion was [[Armenia]]. It deliberately adopted a version of Christianity which was unorthodox so as to establish and maintain their national distinctiveness and independence. This pattern of a [[national church]] was common in most orthodox countries with many of them becoming the de facto state religion.  
  
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===Islam===
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Following on from the precedent established by Constantine I, it sometimes appeared in Eastern Christianity that the head of the state was also the head of the church and supreme judge in religious matters. This is called [[caesaropapism]] and was most frequently associated with the [[Byzantium|Byzantine Empire]]. In reality the relationship was more like an interdependence, or symphony, between the imperial and ecclesiastical institutions. Ideally it was a dynamic and moral relationship. In theory the emperor was neither doctrinally infallible nor invested with priestly authority and many times the emperor failed to get his way.  
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[[Islam]], which was born in the [[Middle Ages]], initially served as a critique of the Christianity of its time. From the beginning it promoted a religious state, rather than a state religion. The idea of the ''dar al-islam'' (territory of peace) was similar to Augustine's ''City of God'', whereas the ''dar al-harb'' was the territory of war and chaos. Islam initially embraced science, the humanities and the arts, which had been largely lost in the Christian West. And, in the early Middle Ages Islam was generally more tolerant of other beliefs and ideas, being a religion based on five actions—Shahadah, Salat, Fasting, Charity, and Pilgrimmage—rather than doctrine.  
 
  
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Were it not for the protection of remaining ancient texts and knowledge that reached St. [[Thomas Aquinas]] through the twelfth-century works of [[Ibn Rushd]] (Averroes), Aristotle may have been lost forever due to a fundamentalist transformation of Islam underway at that time. The jurist [[Al-Ghazali]] had condemned attempts by [[Al-Farabi]] and [[Avicenna]] to synthesize the [[Qur'an]] with [[Greek philosophy]]. While himself a mystic rather than a dogmatist, the [[Islamic fundamentalism]] of today that compares to the Christian Dark Ages is the result of a development of the doctrines of [[Ibn Taymiyyah]] through the [[Wahhabism|Wahhabis]] and their influence on the [[Taliban]] in [[Afghanisatan]]. The destruction of Buddhist shrines and other elements of culture that do not fit the Taliban worldview, resembles the Christian purges of ancient pagan writings and symbols from the sixth century onwards.
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However, it was normal for the Emperor to act as the protector of the church and be involved in its administrative affairs. Constantine was called “the overseer of external” (as opposed to spiritual) church problems by [[Eusebius of Caesarea]]. Emperors chaired church councils, and their will was decisive in appointing of patriarchs and deciding the territory they would have authority over.
  
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==State religions in modern nation-states==
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In [[Russia]] [[caesaropapism]] was more a reality. [[Ivan IV of Russia|Ivan the Dread]] would brook no opposition or criticism from the church and later [[Peter the Great]] abolished the [[patriarchate]] and in 1721 made the church a department of the state.
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Modern [[nation-state]]s are the result of a number of developments in Western civilization which include the renaissance, the reformation, the rise of city-states, the invention of the printing press which made mass education and modern bureaucracy possible, and the rise of a business class with power independent of both the state and the church. These intellectual and economic forces led to the breakdown of the monopoly on thought of the Roman Catholic Church. However, the general concept of a state religion as necessary for social order was still accepted in most of Europe.
 
  
 
===The Protestant Reformation===
 
===The Protestant Reformation===
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The [[Protestant Reformation]] which criticized the dogmas and excesses of the papacy, sought to reform religious truth and make it more compatible with science and humanism  of the period. In [[Germany]], [[Martin Luther]] required the protection of his political ruler, [[Frederick the Wise]], who eventually adopted Luther's [[Reformed Church]] as the state religion on his principality. Throughout Germany, Princes chose which religion would be their state religion. In exchange for protection, Luther and the German Reformation thus ceded more temporal authority to the State leading to the possibility of less of a moral check on political power. Some historians thus blame Luther for the possibility of the eventual rise of [[Hitler]].
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The [[Protestant Reformation]] criticized the dogmas and corruption of the [[papacy]]. In [[Germany]] [[Martin Luther]] required the protection of his political ruler [[Frederick the Wise]]. He and other German princes supported Luther and adopted his reforms as it was a way that they could free themselves from the control of the papacy. In exchange for protection, Luther and the German Reformation thus ceded more temporal authority to the State leading to the possibility of less of a moral check on political power. This arrangement is known as [[Erastianism]]. Some historians thus blame Luther for the possibility of the eventual rise of [[Adolf Hitler]].
  
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In [[Geneva]], however, [[John Calvin]] was able to create a religious state, where the religious leader also held political power. His English followers, the [[Puritans]], later sought to impose such a rule in England through Oliver Cromwell, and in the [[United States]] where they sought to create a New Israel in the New World beginning with the band of Pilgrims on the Mayflower.
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In [[England]] [[Henry VIII]] nationalized the Catholic Church in England creating a state church, the [[Church of England]] to suit his dynastic needs. The 1534 [[Act of Supremacy]] made Henry 'the only head in earth of the Church of England.' During the reign of his son [[Edward VI of England|Edward VI]] a more thoroughgoing Protestantization was imposed by royal rule including the first ''English Prayer Book.'' Under [[Elizabeth I]] the Church was effectively subordinate to the interests of the state. The monarch's title was also modified to 'supreme governor'. The 1593 Act of Uniformity made it a legal requirement for everyone to attend the established church on pain of banishment. Those attending an alternative service were regarded as disloyal and could be imprisoned or banished.
  
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In [[England]] there was the creation of a "state church" by the temporal ruler, [[Henry VIII]], who reformed the Catholic Church to suit his political needs and created the [[Anglican Church]], effectively replacing the Pope with the monarch.
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In reaction to this a [[Puritan]] movement developed within the church which wanted to return to the ecclesial life of the early church. This wing became more [[Separatist]] and later led to the emergence of the Independent and [[Congregationalist]] movements. This culminated in the [[English Revolution]] which shattered the relationship between church and state. Pluralism accompanied the Protectorate of [[Oliver Cromwell]]. The state though still controlled the church and replaced episcopal government with the presbyterian system. The [[Restoration]] saw the attempt to re-establish a single church to provide cement and stability for a deeply disunited and unsettled society. Several laws were passed to enforce attendance at the established church. From the eighteenth century these was gradually relaxed and repealed as it became clear that non-conformists were loyal.
  
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===The rise of the national idea===
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Puritans and other non-conformists who emigrated to America decided that there should be a [[Separation of Church and State in the United States|separation between church and state]].
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The breakdown of Christendom into numerous religious and cultural groups tied to smaller states as the Holy Roman Empire gradually disintegrated led to the rise of the idea of a more secular national identity and reinforced the development of the modern nation state. This idea was carried to a secular extreme in [[France]]. King [[Louis IV]] had gone farther than Henry VIII in England and declared the doctrine of "the Divine Right of Kings," which could be interpreted as meaning anything he wanted was God's will. It was similar the absolute power held by the ancient Roman Emperors. He attempted to create a French nationalism that would effectively trump Catholicism.  
 
  
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The excesses of the regime fomented the French Revolution whose leaders attempted to carry the idea of a secular nation-state further by creating an anti-Catholic regime  based on the slogan "liberty, equality, and fraternity" and the secular cult of the decadi, which worshiped reason, established a new calendar, and promoted the decimal system. That system was inherently anarchic, unstable, and led to the endless killing of one group by the next until [[Napoleon]] seized power as Premier Consul in 1799 and later as Emperor from 1804-1814.
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==The Present Situation in Europe==
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Despite a general consensus among political philosophers in favor of the religious neutrality of the liberal democratic state, nowhere in Europe is this principle fully realized. From Ireland to Russia, Norway to Malta, a bewildering array of patterns of church-state relations reflect different confessional traditions, contrasting histories and distinctive constitutional and administrative practices.<ref>John Madeley & Zsolt Enyedi, (eds.) ''Church and State in Contemporary Europe: the chimera of neutrality.'' (London: Frank Cass Publishers, 2003)</ref>
  
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The [[French Revolution]] had alienated the government from the [[Catholic Church]]. [[Napoleon]] "negotiated" the [[Concordat of 1801]] with the Pope (by physically capturing him) to bring religious and social peace to France. The Concordat essentially subordinated the economic power of the church, putting priests on the payroll of the state, making it possible for Napoleon to control through their pocketbook.
 
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==Disestablishment of Religion==
 
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"Disestablishment" is the process of divesting a church of its status as an organ of the state.
 
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===Netherlands===
 
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The disestablishment of state religion basically followed the independence of states from regimes that had been created and controlled by force. The first case came in the [[Netherlands]], which won its independence from Spain after enduring the [[Eighty Year's War]] to liberate Dutch Calvinists from the [[Spanish inquisition]] with the [[Treaty of Westphalia]] in 1648. However, the Dutch were unable to form their own government without a guarantee of religious tolerance for those who were not Calvinists. However, the Dutch Reformed (Calvinist) Church remained the official religion of the state.
 
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The protection of religious freedom in the Netherlands led to the inpouring of immigrants seeking greater freedom to live as they desired. The population of immigrants in Amsterdam was nearly 50 percent in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Many Jews created their own subsociety with their own laws. [[Huguenots]] from [[France]] and [[Puritans]] from England also flocked to the Netherlands.
 
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The Netherlands quickly became a great seafaring and trading nation, becoming a thoroughly [[capitalist]] society and having the first full-time [[stock exchange]]. It did not take long for it to become a colonial empire, with colonies around the world administered by the [[Dutch East India Company]] and the [[Dutch West India Company]]. In can be argued that the separation of religious and economic power from the state led to flowering of the Dutch civilization.
 
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===The United States===
 
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The colonies in the New World had many established churches on the model of the Europeans who settled there. [[Plymouth Colony|Plymouth]], [[Massachusetts Bay Colony|Massachusetts Bay]], New Haven, and New Hampshire were founded by [[Puritanism|Puritans]] and [[Calvinism|Calvinists]]. New Netherlands was founded by Dutch Reformed Calvinists. The colonies of New York, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia were officially Anglican.
 
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When [[New France]] was transferred to [[Great Britain]] in 1763, the [[Roman Catholic Church]] remained under toleration, but some Huguenots were allowed entrance where they had formerly been banned from settlement by Parisian authorities.
 
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The Colony of Maryland was founded by a charter granted in 1632 to George Calvert, secretary of state to Charles I, and his son Cecil, both recent converts to Roman Catholicism. Under their leadership many English Catholic gentry families settled in Maryland. However, the colonial government was officially neutral in religious affairs, granting toleration to all Christian groups and enjoining them to avoid actions which antagonized the others. Spanish Florida was ceded to [[Great Britain]] in 1763, the British divided Florida into two colonies. Both East and West Florida continued a policy of toleration for the Catholic Residents.
 
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The Province of [[Pennsylvania]] was founded by [[Religious Society of Friends|Quakers]], but the colony never had an established church. West Jersey, also founded by [[Quakers]], prohibited any establishment. [[Delaware]] Colony had no established church. The Colony of [[Rhode Island]] and Providence Plantations, founded by religious dissenters forced to flee the Massachusetts Bay colony, is widely regarded as the first North American polity to grant religious freedom to all its citizens.
 
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After winning independence from [[Great Britain]] the [[United States]] created an official separation of [[Church and State]] the first clause of first amendment to its Constitution: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." This official non-establishment was related to the new federal government only and allowed individual states to make their own decision on all social issues, such as the establishment of religion. However, migration between the states, the great "melting pot" that the United States was becoming, and the great attraction of new spiritual revivals and "awakenings" led to the gradual disestablishment of all state religions in the United States. [[Connecticut]] disestablished religion when it replaced its colonial Charter with the Connecticut Constitution of 1818; [[Massachusetts]] did not disestablish its official church until 1833, more than forty years after the ratification of the First Amendment; and local official establishments of religion persisted even later.
 
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The [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth Amendment]] to the [[Constitution of the United States|US Constitution]], ratified in 1868, makes no mention of religious establishment, but it opened the door the Federal Supreme Court to rule on all social issues previously left to the states and made it possible to forbid states to "abridge the privileges or immunities" of U.S. citizens, or to "deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." This was solidified in the 1947 case of ''Everson v. Board of Education,'' when the Supreme Court held that the Fourteenth Amendment "incorporates" the First Amendment's establishment clause as applying to the states, and thereby prohibits state and local religious establishments.
 
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The exact boundaries of this prohibition, and what was termed a "wall of seperation" are still disputed, and are a frequent source of cases before the [[Supreme Court of the United States|US Supreme Court]] &mdash; especially as the Court must now balance, on a state (equivalent to province) level, the First Amendment prohibitions on government establishment of official religions with the First Amendment prohibitions on government interference with the free exercise of religion.
 
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All current U.S. state constitutions include guarantees of religious liberty parallel to the First Amendment, but eight states ([[Arkansas]], [[Maryland]], [[Massachusetts]], North Carolina, [[Pennsylvania]], [[South Carolina]], [[Tennessee]], and [[Texas]]) also contain clauses that prohibit atheists from holding public office.<ref>{{cite web
 
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|url=http://www.godlessgeeks.com/LINKS/StateConstitutions.htm
 
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|title=State Constitutions that Discriminate Against Atheists
 
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|publisher=www.godlessgeeks.com
 
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|accessdate= Retrieved August 9, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 
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|url=http://www.religioustolerance.org/texas.htm
 
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|title=Religious laws and religious bigotry - Religious discrimination in U.S. state constitutions
 
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|publisher=www.religioustolerance.com
 
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|accessdate= Retrieved August 9, 2008}}</ref>
 
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However, these clauses have been held by the [[United States Supreme Court]] to be unenforceable in the 1961 case of ''Torcaso v. Watkins'', where the court ruled unanimously that such clauses constituted a religious test incompatible with First and Fourteenth Amendment protections.
 
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=== Disestablishment and vitality of religion===
 
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The disestablishment of religion has not led to the decrease of religion as some governments have argued. Rather it has led to increased vitality of religion as people are free to seek answers to immediately pressing problems, and preachers to not succeed in gaining adherents unless their messages are relevant and provide genuine spiritual enrichment. Church attendance in the United States increased dramatically in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and much of the increase has occurred in new religious denominations: [[Baptist]], [[Methodist]], [[Unitarian]], [[Disciples of Christ]], [[United Church of Christ]], [[Jehovah's Witnesses]], [[Christian Science]], and the [[Mormons]], for example. 
 
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The [[United States]] and the [[Netherlands]], where religious freedom has been most widely practiced also became the primary organizers of the [[World Council of Churches]], which is a global Christian organization built from the bottom-up, rather than the traditionally top-down imposed state religions that are more instruments of control than evangelism.
 
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State churches generally maintain the status quo. There is little incentive for clergy, who get paid a salary by a state church to update doctrine or actively recruit adherents. There is a greater likelihood that old, if not ancient, rituals will be considered more sacred as they are closer to the source of the religion. High churches and high masses exemplify this characteristic as power and authority are celebrated with pomp and ritual. Disestablished churches, on the other hand, tend to reflect the contemporary cultures in which they develop and might be criticized for their tendency towards pop culture or cultural relativism. Popular preachers, like today's televangelists, have a great impact on the people in states where religion is disestablished.
 
−
 
−
==The Present Situation in Europe==
 
 
===Great Britain===
 
===Great Britain===
−
In [[Great Britain]], there was a campaign by Liberals, dissenters and nonconformists to disestablish the [[Church of England]] in the late 19th century; it failed in [[England]], but demands for the measure persist to this day. The Church of Ireland was disestablished in 1869 (effective 1871). The Church of England was disestablished in Wales in 1920, the Church in Wales becoming separated from the Church of England in the process. Those who wish to continue with an established church take a position of antidisestablishmentarianism.
+
In [[Great Britain]], there was a campaign by Liberals, dissenters and nonconformists to disestablish the [[Church of England]] in the late nineteenth century. This was mainly because of the privileged position of Anglicans. For example until 1854 and 1856 respectively, only practicing Anglicans could matriculate at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. The disestablishment movement was unsuccessful in part because the repeal of civil disabilities reduced the basis for the sense of injustice. There is now complete freedom of religion in the UK. The conflict between Anglicans and the [[Free Church]] focused on the emerging national educational system. The Free Churches didn't want the state funded schools to be controlled by the Anglican Church. However there still remained the theological and ecclesiological objection to the state's control of the inner life of the church.  
  
−
State religions tend to admit a larger variety of opinion within them than do traditional religious denominations. Denominations encountering major differences of opinion within themselves are likely to split; this option is not open for most state churches, so they tend to try to integrate differing opinions within themselves, the the Catholic Church did by incorporating religious orders. However, several state churches have divided, with the dissidents losing the advantages of state support. This happened with the [[Church of Scotland]], which has split several times in the for doctrinal reasons, including the meaning and acceptability of state support. Attempts by the monarch to impose [[bishop]]s on the church led to the splitting off of the Scottish Episcopal Church. Its largest offshoots from a later disruption were the Free Church of Scotland and later the United Free Church of Scotland. All of these offshoots lost the established status of their parent, but since 1929 the (partially) reunited Church of Scotland has considered itself to be a "national church" rather than an established church, as it is entirely independent of state control in spiritual matters.  
+
The [[Church of Ireland]] was disestablished in 1869 (effective 1871). The Anglican Church was disestablished in [[Wales]] in 1920, the Church in Wales becoming separated from the Church of England in the process. The main objection to disestablishment was articulated by the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] [[Cosmo Lang]]: <blockquote>The question before us is whether in that inward region of the national life where anything that can be called its unity and character is expressed, there is not to be this witness to some ultimate sanction to which the nation looks, some ultimate ideal it proposes. It is in our judgement a very serious thing for a state to take out of that corporate heart of its life any acknowledgment at all of its concern with religion.</blockquote>
 +
[[Image:Queencrown.jpg|right|thumb|The [[coronation]] of Queen Elizabeth II, June 2, 1953. Prince Philip swears his allegiance to his wife and newly crowned sovereign.]]
 +
The state has continued to be involved in the affairs of the Church of England. in the 1928-1929 Prayer Book controversy [[Parliament]] rejected the proposals of the Church Assembly. Since then there have been several steps to make the Church more independent and self-governing. In 2008 the Prime Minister Gordon Brown agreed to always accept the suggestion of the Church on the appointment of Bishops. Currently there is no serious impetus towards disestablishment. The Church of England continues to be intimately involved with the state from the parish government to education, having Bishops sitting in the legislature and the coronation of a monarch. About 36% of primary state schools and 17% of secondary state schools are church schools. The Church of Scotland considers itself to be a "national church" rather than an established church, as it is entirely independent of Parliamentary control in spiritual matters although it maintains links with the monarchy.
  
−
A denomination's status as official religion does not always imply that the jurisdiction prohibits the existence or operation of other sects or religious bodies. It depends upon the government and the level of tolerance the citizens of that country have for each other. Some countries with official religions have laws that guarantee the freedom of worship, full liberty of conscience, and places of worship for all citizens; and implement those laws than other countries that do not have an official or established state religion.
+
The Jewish [[Beth Din]] is recognized under law and its rulings are binding if both sides in a dispute accept its jurisdiction. Under arbitration law Muslim [[Sharia]] courts are also recognized and their rulings can be enforced if both sides seek a ruling. Both the Bet Din and Sharia courts can only make rulings that fall within English Law and citizens always have the right to seek redress in the civil courts. Some elements of Sharia financial law have been incorporated into English Law so that Muslims who cannot pay or receive interest do not have to pay tax twice on property deals.
  
 
===Germany===
 
===Germany===
−
In [[Germany]] there are two official state churches, [[Catholic]] and [[Reformed]]. Reforms under Frederick in Prussia can be compared to Napoleon's [[Concordat of 1801]] in France. The State can fix the salaries of the clergy of the two official denominations as they do for other government employees, and they also have a right to approve a candidate's educational background and political opinions. Clergy in Germany's established religions are among the most vociferous opponents of new religious movements in Europe, like [[Scientology]], because the spread of such religions undermines tax revenue gained from nominal members in one of the official religions that is used to support them.
+
In [[Germany]] there are two official state churches, [[Catholic]] and [[Lutheran Church|Lutheran]]. Reforms under Frederick in Prussia can be compared to Napoleon's [[Concordat of 1801]] in France. The state collects the church tithe through the taxation system and determines the salaries of the clergy of the two official denominations and they also have a right to approve a candidate's educational background and political opinions. Clergy in Germany's established religions are among the most vociferous opponents of new religious movements in Europe, like [[Scientology]], because the spread of such religions undermines tax revenue gained from nominal members in one of the official religions that is used to support them. Catholic priests and Lutheran ministers conduct religious education in state schools for their respective pupils.
 +
 
 +
Religious bodies have to register with the state to be legitimate.
  
 
===Russia===
 
===Russia===
−
In [[Russia]] as well as some of the client states of the [[Soviet Union]], communist ideology, officially atheism and viewed as a quasi-religion itself, repressed traditional [[Christianity]], calling it "the opiate of the masses." Clergy of the Orthodox Churches suffered several purges in which priests were killed and churches destroyed or turned into government warehouses. Unable to expunge Christianity completely, the communist regimes eventually ran the churches with religious leaders who became members of the communist party.  
+
In [[Russia]] all religions were severely persecuted under [[communism]] for seventy years. Tens of thousands of priests were killed and millions of ordinary believers suffered for the faith. After the collapse of communism a 1993 law on religion proclaimed a secular state, guaranteed religious freedom, the separation of religion and state while recognizing the special contribution of [[Russian Orthodox Church|Orthodoxy]] to Russia and respecting the traditional religions of [[Christianity]], [[Islam]], [[Buddhism]] and [[Judaism]]. In 1997 a law was passed that gave a privileged position to the Russian Orthodox Church, maintained the position of the other four religions but restricted the rights of other religions and sects. The Orthodox Church is also becoming more active in the educational system.
−
 
 
−
When Communism regimes collapsed in the 1980s, leaders sought to establish religious pluralism and religious freedom in an attempt to prevent a return a society like that under the Czars. However, under Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin, the Russian Orthodox Church has received federal funding for rebuilding churches, and the lines of establishment are blurred. Under Gorbachev's ''perestroika'' small religions were free to practice and even received some state support to neutralize the power of the Russian Orthodox Church, however under Boris Yeltsin, a law was passed that a religion had to prove 50,000 adherents to get state support, giving them quasi-establishment status and having the effect of suppressing the smaller religious movements.
 
−
 
 
−
Pupils in Belograd, Bryansk, Kaluga, and Smolensk regions are being taught Orthodox Christianity in public schools,<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5301018.stm Religion enters Russian schools,]'' BBC News,'' August, 31, 2006. Retrieved August 28, 2008.</ref> much like Lutheranism is taught in Finland. The fluid situation has been decentralized through the 86 regions and republics, as 10 percent of the population is [[Islam|Muslim]] and Muslim leaders have asked for lessons on Islamic culture to be provided.
 
−
 
 
−
Much of the violence following the break-up of Soviet Union and the collapse of Yugoslavia has been rooted in the attempt by religious and secular national groups fighting over whose identity can be imposed as the official cultural identity of the state.
 
  
 
==Current Global overview==
 
==Current Global overview==
−
===Christian countries===
+
===Christianity===
−
The following states recognize some form of [[Christianity]] as their state or official religion (listed by denomination):
+
The following states give some official recognition to some form of [[Christianity]] although the actual legal status varies considerably:
  
 
====Roman Catholic====
 
====Roman Catholic====
−
Jurisdictions which recognize [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholicism]] as their state or official religion: [[Argentina]], [[Bolivia]], [[Costa Rica]], [[El Salvador]], [[Liechtenstein]], [[Malta]], [[Monaco]], [[Slovakia]], some cantons of [[Switzerland]], and Vatican City.  
+
[[Argentina]], [[Bolivia]], [[Costa Rica]], [[El Salvador]], [[Germany]], [[Liechtenstein]], [[Malta]], [[Monaco]], [[Slovakia]], some cantons of [[Switzerland]], and [[Vatican City]].
  
 
====Eastern Orthodox====
 
====Eastern Orthodox====
−
Jurisdictions which recognize one of the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]]es as a state religion: [[Cyprus]], [[Moldova]], [[Greece]], [[Finland]] along with [[Lutheranism]], [[Russian Federation]] alongside [[Judaism]], [[Islam]], and [[Buddhism]].
+
[[Cyprus]], [[Moldova]], [[Greece]], [[Finland]] and [[Russia]].
  
 
====Lutheran====
 
====Lutheran====
−
Jurisdictions which recognize a [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]] church as their state religion: [[Denmark]], [[Iceland]], [[Norway]], [[Finland]].
+
[[Germany]], [[Denmark]], [[Iceland]], [[Norway]] and [[Finland]].
  
 
====Anglican====
 
====Anglican====
−
Jurisdictions that recognise an Anglican church as their state religion:
 
 
[[England]].
 
[[England]].
  
 
====Reformed====
 
====Reformed====
−
Jurisdictions which recognize a [[Reformed churches|Reformed]] church as their state religion: [[Scotland]], some cantons of [[Switzerland]].
+
[[Scotland]] and some cantons of [[Switzerland]].
  
 
====Old Catholic====
 
====Old Catholic====
−
Jurisdictions which recognize an Old Catholic church as their state religion:
 
 
Some cantons of Switzerland.
 
Some cantons of Switzerland.
  
−
===Islamic countries===
+
===Islam===
−
Countries which recognize [[Islam]] as their official religion. Although these are religious states, rather than state religions: [[Afghanistan]], [[Algeria]] (Sunni), [[Bahrain]], [[Bangladesh]], [[Brunei]], [[Comoros]] (Sunni), [[Egypt]], [[Iran]] (Shi'a), [[Iraq]], [[Jordan]](Sunni), [[Kuwait]], [[Libya]], [[Malaysia]] (Sunni), [[Maldives]], [[Mauritania]] (Sunni), [[Morocco]], [[Oman]], [[Pakistan]] (Sunni), [[Qatar]], [[Saudi Arabia]], [[Somalia]] (Sunni), [[Tunisia]], [[United Arab Emirates]], [[Yemen]].
+
Countries where [[Islam]] is the official religion: [[Afghanistan]], [[Algeria]] (Sunni), [[Bahrain]], [[Bangladesh]], [[Brunei]], [[Comoros]] (Sunni), [[Egypt]], [[Iran]] (Shi'a), [[Iraq]], [[Jordan]](Sunni), [[Kuwait]], [[Libya]], [[Malaysia]] (Sunni), [[Maldives]], [[Mauritania]] (Sunni), [[Morocco]], [[Oman]], [[Pakistan]] (Sunni), [[Qatar]], [[Saudi Arabia]], [[Somalia]] (Sunni), [[Tunisia]], [[United Arab Emirates]], [[Yemen]], and [[Russia]] where it one of four recognized religions.
  
−
===Buddhism as state religion===
+
===Judaism===
−
Governments which recognize [[Buddhism]], either a specific form of, or the whole, as their official religion: [[Bhutan]], [[Cambodia]]<ref>{{Citation
+
[[Israel]] and [[Russia]] where it is one of four recognized religions.
−
|url=http://www.constitution.org/cons/cambodia.htm
 
−
|title=Constitution of Cambodia
 
−
|publisher=constitution.org
 
−
|accessdate= Retrieved August 9, 2008.}} (Article 43)</ref>, Kalmykia<ref>a republic within the [[Russian Federation]] ([[Tibetan Buddhism]] - sole Buddhist entity in Europe)</ref>, [[Sri Lanka]] <ref>([[Theravada Buddhism]]- he constitution accords Buddhism the "foremost place," but Buddhism is not recognized as the state religion.{{Citation
 
−
|url=http://www.priu.gov.lk/Cons/1978Constitution/
 
−
|title=The Constitution of the Republic of Sri lanka
 
−
|chapter=Chapter II &mdash; Buddhism
 
−
|chapter-url=http://www.priu.gov.lk/Cons/1978Constitution/Chapter_02_Amd.html
 
−
|publisher=The Official Website of the Government of Sri Lanka
 
−
|accessdate= Retrieved August 9, 2008.}}</ref>, [[Thailand]], Tibet Government in Exile (Gelugpa school of [[Tibetan Buddhism]]).
 
  
−
===Hinduism as a State religion===
+
===Buddhism===
−
*[[Nepal]] was once the world's only Hindu state, but has ceased to be so following a declaration by the Parliament in 2006.
+
[[Bhutan]], [[Cambodia]], [[Russia]] ([[Kalmykia]] is a Buddhist republic within the [[Russian Federation]]), [[Sri Lanka]], [[Thailand]], Tibet Government in Exile (Gelugpa school of [[Tibetan Buddhism]]).
  
−
===States without any state religion===
+
===Hinduism===
−
These states do not profess any state religion, and are generally secular or laist. Countries which officially decline to establish any religion include: [[Australia]], [[Azerbaijan]], [[Canada]], [[Chile]], [[Cuba]], [[People's Republic of China|China]], [[France]], [[India]], [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], [[Israel]]<ref>[[Israel]] is defined in several of its laws as a democratic Jewish state. However, the term "[[Jew]]ish" is a polyseme that can relate equally to the Jewish people or religion. As of 2007, there is no civil marriage in Israel, although there is recognition of marriages performed abroad.</ref>, [[Jamaica]], [[Japan]]<ref>From the Meiji era to the first part of the Showa era in [[Japan]], ''Koshitsu Shinto'' was established as the national religion. According to this, the [[emperor of Japan]] was an arahitogami, an incarnate divinity and the offspring of goddess [[Amaterasu]]. As the emperor was, according to the constitution, "head of the empire" and "supreme commander of the Army and the Navy," every Japanese citizen had to obey his will and show absolute loyalty until the end of World War II.</ref>, [[Kosovo]]<ref>[http://www.kushtetutakosoves.info/?cid=2,247 Draft Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo] Retrieved August 9, 2008.</ref>, [[Lebanon]]<ref>(although president must always remain a [[Maronite]] Catholic, and prime minister a Sunni Muslim)</ref>, [[Mexico]], [[Montenegro]], [[Nepal]]<ref>(declared a secular state on May 18, 2006, by the newly resumed House of Representatives)</ref>, [[New Zealand]], [[Nigeria]], [[North Korea]], [[Romania]], [[Russia]], [[Singapore]], [[South Africa]], [[South Korea]], [[Spain]], [[Turkey]], [[United States]], [[Venezuela]], [[Vietnam]].
+
[[Nepal]] was once the world's only [[Hindu]] state, but has ceased to be so following a declaration by the Parliament in 2006.
 +
 
 +
===States without an official religion===
 +
These states do not profess any state religion, and are generally secular or laist. Countries which do not have an officially recognized religion include: [[Australia]], [[Azerbaijan]], [[Canada]], [[Chile]], [[Cuba]], [[People's Republic of China|China]], [[France]], [[India]], [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], [[Jamaica]], [[Japan]]<ref>From the Meiji era to the first part of the Showa era in [[Japan]], ''Koshitsu Shinto'' was established as the national religion. According to this, the [[emperor of Japan]] was an arahitogami, an incarnate divinity and the offspring of goddess [[Amaterasu]]. As the emperor was, according to the constitution, "head of the empire" and "supreme commander of the Army and the Navy," every Japanese citizen had to obey his will and show absolute loyalty until the end of World War II.</ref>, [[Kosovo]]<ref>[http://www.kushtetutakosoves.info/?cid=2,247 Draft Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo] Retrieved August 9, 2008.</ref>, [[Lebanon]]<ref>(although president must always remain a [[Maronite]] Catholic, and prime minister a Sunni Muslim)</ref>, [[Mexico]], [[Montenegro]], [[Nepal]]<ref>(declared a secular state on May 18, 2006, by the newly resumed House of Representatives)</ref>, [[New Zealand]], [[Nigeria]], [[North Korea]], [[Romania]], [[Singapore]], [[South Africa]], [[South Korea]], [[Spain]], [[Turkey]], [[United States]], [[Venezuela]], [[Vietnam]].
  
 
===Established churches and former state churches===
 
===Established churches and former state churches===
Line 308: Line 243:
  
 
==Notes==
 
==Notes==
−
{{reflist}}
+
<references/>
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
−
*Berg, Thomas C. (2004). ''The State and Religion in a Nutshell.'' West Group Publishing. ISBN 978-0314148858  
+
*Berg, Thomas C. 2004. ''The State and Religion in a Nutshell.'' West Group Publishing. ISBN 978-0314148858  
−
*Brown, L. Carl. (2001). ''Religion and State.'' Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0231120395  
+
*Brown, L. Carl. 2001. ''Religion and State.'' Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0231120395  
−
*Fox, Jonathan. (2008). ''A World Survey of Religion and the State.'' Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521707589
+
*Fox, Jonathan. 2008. ''A World Survey of Religion and the State.'' Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521707589
−
*Hasson, Kevin Seamus. (2005). ''The Right to Be Wrong: Ending the Culture War Over Religion in America.'' Encounter Books. ISBN 1-59403-083-9
+
*Hasson, Kevin Seamus. 2005. ''The Right to Be Wrong: Ending the Culture War Over Religion in America.'' Encounter Books. ISBN 1594030839
 +
*Madeley, John & Zsolt Enyedi, eds. 2003. ''Church and State in Contemporary Europe: the chimera of neutrality.'' London: Frank Cass Publishers.  ISBN 0714683299
 +
*Weller, Paul. 2005. ''Time For A Change: Reconfiguring Religion, State And Society.'' London: T. & T. Clark. ISBN 978-0567084873
 +
 
  
−
==External links==
 
−
*{{cite journal
 
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| quotes =
 
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| last = McConnell
 
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| first = Michael W.
 
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| authorlink =
 
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| coauthors =
 
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|date=2003
 
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| year =
 
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| month = April
 
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| title = Establishment and Disestablishment at the Founding, Part I: Establishment of Religion
 
−
| journal = William and Mary Law Review, provided by Questia.com
 
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| volume = 44
 
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| issue = 5
 
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| pages = 2105
 
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| doi =
 
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| id =
 
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| url = http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5002019127&er=deny
 
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}} Retrived on June 12, 2008.
 
  
 
[[Category: Philosophy and religion]]
 
[[Category: Philosophy and religion]]

Latest revision as of 19:54, 9 February 2023

Nations with state religions: ██ Theravada Buddhism or Vajrayana Buddhism ██ Islam ██ Shi'a Islam ██ Sunni Islam ██ Orthodox Christianity ██ Protestantism ██ Roman Catholicism

A state religion (also called an official religion, established church or state church) is a religious body or creed officially endorsed by the state. In some countries more than one religion or denomination has such standing. There are also a variety of ways such endorsement occurs. The term state church is associated with Christianity, and is sometimes used to denote a specific national branch of Christianity such as the Greek Orthodox Church or the Church of England. State religions exist in some countries because the national identity has historically had a specific religious identity as an inseparable component. It is also possible for a national church to be established without being under state control as the Roman Catholic Church is in some countries. In countries where state religions exist, the majority of its residents are usually adherents. A population's allegiance towards the state religion is often strong enough to prevent them from joining another religious group. There is also a tendency for religious freedom to be curtailed to varying degrees where there is an established religion. A state without a state religion is called a secular state. The relationship between church and state is complex and has a long history.

The degree and nature of state backing for a denomination or creed designated as a state religion can vary. It can range from mere endorsement and financial support, with freedom for other faiths to practice, to prohibiting any competing religious body from operating and to persecuting the followers of other faiths. It all depends upon the political culture and the level of tolerance in that country. Some countries with official religions have laws that guarantee the freedom of worship, full liberty of conscience, and places of worship for all citizens; and implement those laws more than other countries that do not have an official or established state religion. Many sociologists now consider the effect of a state church as analogous to a chartered monopoly in religion.

The lack of a separation between religion and state means that religion may play an important role in the public life a country such as coronations, investitures, legislation, marriage, education and government. What might otherwise be purely civil events may be given a religious context with all the spiritual legitimacy that implies. It also means that civil authorities may be involved in the governing of the institution including its doctrine, structure and appointment of its leaders. Religious authority is very significant and civil authorities often want to control it.

There have also been religious states where the ruler may be believed to be divine and the state has a sacred and absolute authority beyond which there was no appeal. It was to the state that a person belonged, it was state gave a person his or her identity, determined what was right or wrong and was the sole or at least highest legitimate object of a person's loyalty and devotion. The state would have its own rituals, symbols, mythical founder, belief system and personality cult associated with the ruler. Examples of such states were ancient Egypt, the pagan Roman Empire, Fascist Germany and the Soviet Union.

Historical Origins

Antiquity

State religions were known in ancient times in the empires of Egypt and Sumer and ancient Greece when every city state or people had its own god or gods. The religions had little ethical content and the main purpose of worship was to petition the gods to protect the city or the state and make it victorious over its enemies. There was often a powerful personality cult associated with the ruler. Sumerian kings came to be viewed as divine soon after their reigns, like Sargon the Great of Akkad. One of the first rulers to be proclaimed a god during his actual reign was Gudea of Lagash, followed by some later kings of Ur. The state religion was integral to the power base of the reigning government, such as in ancient Egypt, where Pharaohs were often thought of as embodiments of the god Horus.

In the Persian Empire, Zoroastrianism was the state religion of the Sassanid dynasty which lasted until 651 C.E., when Persia was conquered by the armies of Islam. However, Zoroastrianism persisted as the state religion of the independent state of Hyrcania until the fifteenth century.

China

In China, the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.E. – 220 C.E.) made Confucianism the de facto state religion, establishing tests based on Confucian texts as an entrance requirement to government service. The Han emperors appreciated the social order that is central to Confucianism. Confucianism would continue to be the state religion until the Sui Dynasty (581-618 C.E.), when it was replaced by Mahayana Buddhism. Neo-Confucianism returned as the de facto state religion sometime in the tenth century. Note however, there is a debate over whether Confucianism (including Neo-Confucianism) is a religion or merely a system of ethics.

The Roman Empire

The State religion of the Roman Empire was Roman polytheism, centralized around the emperor. With the title Pontifex Maximus, the emperor was honored as a 'god' either posthumously or during his reign. Failure to worship the emperor as a god was at times punishable by death, as the Roman government sought to link emperor worship with loyalty to the Empire. Many Christians were persecuted, tortured and killed because they refused to worship the emperor.

In 313 C.E., Constantine I and Licinius, the two Augusti, enacted the Edict of Milan allowing religious freedom to everyone within the Roman Empire. The Edict of Milan stated that Christians could openly practice their religion unmolested and unrestricted and ensured that properties taken from Christians be returned to them unconditionally. Although the Edict of Milan allowed religious freedom throughout the empire, and did not abolish nor disestablish the Roman state cult, in practice it permitted official favor for Christianity, which Constantine intended to make the new state religion.

Constantine the Great, mosaic in Hagia Sophia, Constantinople, c. 1000

Seeking unity for his new state religion, Constantine summoned the First Council of Nicaea in 325 C.E. Disagreements between different Christian sects was causing social disturbances in the empire, and he wanted Christian leaders to come to some agreement about what they believed and if necessary to enforce that belief or expel those who disagreed. This set a significant precedent for subsequent state involvement and interference in the internal workings of the Christian Church.

The Christian lifestyle was generally admired and Christians managed government offices with exceptional honesty and integrity. Roman Catholic Christianity, as opposed to Arianism and Gnosticism, was declared to be the state religion of the Roman Empire on February 27, 380 C.E. by the decree De Fide Catolica of Emperor Theodosius I.[1] This declaration was based on the expectation that as an official state religion it would bring unity and stability to the empire. Theodosius then proceeded to destroy pagan temples and built churches in their place.

Eastern Orthodoxy

The first country to make Christianity the national religion was Armenia. It deliberately adopted a version of Christianity which was unorthodox so as to establish and maintain their national distinctiveness and independence. This pattern of a national church was common in most orthodox countries with many of them becoming the de facto state religion.

Following on from the precedent established by Constantine I, it sometimes appeared in Eastern Christianity that the head of the state was also the head of the church and supreme judge in religious matters. This is called caesaropapism and was most frequently associated with the Byzantine Empire. In reality the relationship was more like an interdependence, or symphony, between the imperial and ecclesiastical institutions. Ideally it was a dynamic and moral relationship. In theory the emperor was neither doctrinally infallible nor invested with priestly authority and many times the emperor failed to get his way.

However, it was normal for the Emperor to act as the protector of the church and be involved in its administrative affairs. Constantine was called “the overseer of external” (as opposed to spiritual) church problems by Eusebius of Caesarea. Emperors chaired church councils, and their will was decisive in appointing of patriarchs and deciding the territory they would have authority over.

In Russia caesaropapism was more a reality. Ivan the Dread would brook no opposition or criticism from the church and later Peter the Great abolished the patriarchate and in 1721 made the church a department of the state.

The Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation criticized the dogmas and corruption of the papacy. In Germany Martin Luther required the protection of his political ruler Frederick the Wise. He and other German princes supported Luther and adopted his reforms as it was a way that they could free themselves from the control of the papacy. In exchange for protection, Luther and the German Reformation thus ceded more temporal authority to the State leading to the possibility of less of a moral check on political power. This arrangement is known as Erastianism. Some historians thus blame Luther for the possibility of the eventual rise of Adolf Hitler.

In England Henry VIII nationalized the Catholic Church in England creating a state church, the Church of England to suit his dynastic needs. The 1534 Act of Supremacy made Henry 'the only head in earth of the Church of England.' During the reign of his son Edward VI a more thoroughgoing Protestantization was imposed by royal rule including the first English Prayer Book. Under Elizabeth I the Church was effectively subordinate to the interests of the state. The monarch's title was also modified to 'supreme governor'. The 1593 Act of Uniformity made it a legal requirement for everyone to attend the established church on pain of banishment. Those attending an alternative service were regarded as disloyal and could be imprisoned or banished.

In reaction to this a Puritan movement developed within the church which wanted to return to the ecclesial life of the early church. This wing became more Separatist and later led to the emergence of the Independent and Congregationalist movements. This culminated in the English Revolution which shattered the relationship between church and state. Pluralism accompanied the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell. The state though still controlled the church and replaced episcopal government with the presbyterian system. The Restoration saw the attempt to re-establish a single church to provide cement and stability for a deeply disunited and unsettled society. Several laws were passed to enforce attendance at the established church. From the eighteenth century these was gradually relaxed and repealed as it became clear that non-conformists were loyal.

Puritans and other non-conformists who emigrated to America decided that there should be a separation between church and state.

The Present Situation in Europe

Despite a general consensus among political philosophers in favor of the religious neutrality of the liberal democratic state, nowhere in Europe is this principle fully realized. From Ireland to Russia, Norway to Malta, a bewildering array of patterns of church-state relations reflect different confessional traditions, contrasting histories and distinctive constitutional and administrative practices.[2]

Great Britain

In Great Britain, there was a campaign by Liberals, dissenters and nonconformists to disestablish the Church of England in the late nineteenth century. This was mainly because of the privileged position of Anglicans. For example until 1854 and 1856 respectively, only practicing Anglicans could matriculate at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. The disestablishment movement was unsuccessful in part because the repeal of civil disabilities reduced the basis for the sense of injustice. There is now complete freedom of religion in the UK. The conflict between Anglicans and the Free Church focused on the emerging national educational system. The Free Churches didn't want the state funded schools to be controlled by the Anglican Church. However there still remained the theological and ecclesiological objection to the state's control of the inner life of the church.

The Church of Ireland was disestablished in 1869 (effective 1871). The Anglican Church was disestablished in Wales in 1920, the Church in Wales becoming separated from the Church of England in the process. The main objection to disestablishment was articulated by the Archbishop of Canterbury Cosmo Lang:

The question before us is whether in that inward region of the national life where anything that can be called its unity and character is expressed, there is not to be this witness to some ultimate sanction to which the nation looks, some ultimate ideal it proposes. It is in our judgement a very serious thing for a state to take out of that corporate heart of its life any acknowledgment at all of its concern with religion.

The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, June 2, 1953. Prince Philip swears his allegiance to his wife and newly crowned sovereign.

The state has continued to be involved in the affairs of the Church of England. in the 1928-1929 Prayer Book controversy Parliament rejected the proposals of the Church Assembly. Since then there have been several steps to make the Church more independent and self-governing. In 2008 the Prime Minister Gordon Brown agreed to always accept the suggestion of the Church on the appointment of Bishops. Currently there is no serious impetus towards disestablishment. The Church of England continues to be intimately involved with the state from the parish government to education, having Bishops sitting in the legislature and the coronation of a monarch. About 36% of primary state schools and 17% of secondary state schools are church schools. The Church of Scotland considers itself to be a "national church" rather than an established church, as it is entirely independent of Parliamentary control in spiritual matters although it maintains links with the monarchy.

The Jewish Beth Din is recognized under law and its rulings are binding if both sides in a dispute accept its jurisdiction. Under arbitration law Muslim Sharia courts are also recognized and their rulings can be enforced if both sides seek a ruling. Both the Bet Din and Sharia courts can only make rulings that fall within English Law and citizens always have the right to seek redress in the civil courts. Some elements of Sharia financial law have been incorporated into English Law so that Muslims who cannot pay or receive interest do not have to pay tax twice on property deals.

Germany

In Germany there are two official state churches, Catholic and Lutheran. Reforms under Frederick in Prussia can be compared to Napoleon's Concordat of 1801 in France. The state collects the church tithe through the taxation system and determines the salaries of the clergy of the two official denominations and they also have a right to approve a candidate's educational background and political opinions. Clergy in Germany's established religions are among the most vociferous opponents of new religious movements in Europe, like Scientology, because the spread of such religions undermines tax revenue gained from nominal members in one of the official religions that is used to support them. Catholic priests and Lutheran ministers conduct religious education in state schools for their respective pupils.

Religious bodies have to register with the state to be legitimate.

Russia

In Russia all religions were severely persecuted under communism for seventy years. Tens of thousands of priests were killed and millions of ordinary believers suffered for the faith. After the collapse of communism a 1993 law on religion proclaimed a secular state, guaranteed religious freedom, the separation of religion and state while recognizing the special contribution of Orthodoxy to Russia and respecting the traditional religions of Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Judaism. In 1997 a law was passed that gave a privileged position to the Russian Orthodox Church, maintained the position of the other four religions but restricted the rights of other religions and sects. The Orthodox Church is also becoming more active in the educational system.

Current Global overview

Christianity

The following states give some official recognition to some form of Christianity although the actual legal status varies considerably:

Roman Catholic

Argentina, Bolivia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Germany, Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, Slovakia, some cantons of Switzerland, and Vatican City.

Eastern Orthodox

Cyprus, Moldova, Greece, Finland and Russia.

Lutheran

Germany, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Finland.

Anglican

England.

Reformed

Scotland and some cantons of Switzerland.

Old Catholic

Some cantons of Switzerland.

Islam

Countries where Islam is the official religion: Afghanistan, Algeria (Sunni), Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Comoros (Sunni), Egypt, Iran (Shi'a), Iraq, Jordan(Sunni), Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia (Sunni), Maldives, Mauritania (Sunni), Morocco, Oman, Pakistan (Sunni), Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia (Sunni), Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, and Russia where it one of four recognized religions.

Judaism

Israel and Russia where it is one of four recognized religions.

Buddhism

Bhutan, Cambodia, Russia (Kalmykia is a Buddhist republic within the Russian Federation), Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tibet Government in Exile (Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism).

Hinduism

Nepal was once the world's only Hindu state, but has ceased to be so following a declaration by the Parliament in 2006.

States without an official religion

These states do not profess any state religion, and are generally secular or laist. Countries which do not have an officially recognized religion include: Australia, Azerbaijan, Canada, Chile, Cuba, China, France, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan[3], Kosovo[4], Lebanon[5], Mexico, Montenegro, Nepal[6], New Zealand, Nigeria, North Korea, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, United States, Venezuela, Vietnam.

Established churches and former state churches

Country Church Denomination Disestablished
Albania none since independence n/a n/a
Anhalt Evangelical Church of Anhalt Lutheran 1918
Armenia Armenian Apostolic Church Oriental Orthodox 1921
Austria Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1918
Baden Roman Catholic Church and the Evangelical Church of Baden Catholic and Lutheran 1918
Bavaria Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1918
Brazil Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1890
Brunswick-Lüneburg Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Brunswick Lutheran 1918
Bulgaria Bulgarian Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox 1946
Chile Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1925
Cuba Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1902
Cyprus Cypriot Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox 1977
Czechoslovakia Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1920
Denmark Church of Denmark Lutheran no
England Church of England Anglican no
Estonia Church of Estonia Eastern Orthodox 1940
Finland[7] Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland Lutheran 1870/1919
France[8] Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1905
Georgia Georgian Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox 1921
Greece Greek Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox no
Guatemala Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1871
Haiti Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1987
Hesse Evangelical Church of Hesse and Nassau Lutheran 1918
Hungary[9] Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1848
Iceland Lutheran Evangelical Church Lutheran no
Ireland Church of Ireland Anglican 1871
Italy Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1984
Lebanon Maronite Catholic Church/Islam Catholic/Islam no
Liechtenstein Roman Catholic Church Catholic no
Lippe Church of Lippe Reformed 1918
Lithuania Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1940
Lübeck North Elbian Evangelical Church Lutheran 1918
Luxembourg Roman Catholic Church Catholic ?
Republic of Macedonia Macedonian Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox no
Malta Roman Catholic Church Catholic no
Mecklenburg Evangelical Church of Mecklenburg Lutheran 1918
Mexico Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1874
Monaco Roman Catholic Church Catholic no
Mongolia Buddhism n/a 1926
Netherlands Dutch Reformed Church Reformed 1795
Norway Church of Norway Lutheran no
Oldenburg Evangelical Lutheran Church of Oldenburg Lutheran 1918
Panama Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1904
Philippines[10] Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1902
Poland Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1939
Portugal Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1910
Prussia 13 provincial churches Lutheran 1918
Romania Romanian Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox 1947
Russia Russian Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox 1917
Thuringia Evangelical Church in Thuringia Lutheran 1918
Saxony Evangelical Church of Saxony Lutheran 1918
Schaumburg-Lippe Evangelical Church of Schaumburg-Lippe Lutheran 1918
Scotland[11] Church of Scotland Presbyterian no
Serbia Serbian Orthodox Church Eastern ?
Spain Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1978
Sweden Church of Sweden Lutheran 2000
Switzerland none since the adoption of the Federal Constitution (1848) n/a n/a
Turkey Islam Islam 1928
Uruguay Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1919
Waldeck Evangelical Church of Hesse-Kassel and Waldeck Lutheran 1918
Wales[12] Church in Wales Anglican 1920
Württemberg Evangelical Church of Württemberg Lutheran 1918

Notes

  1. ↑ "Theodosian Code XVI.i.2" (excerpt from Henry Bettenson, ed., Documents of the Christian Church. (London: Oxford University Press, 1943) at Paul Halsall.[1] Medieval Sourcebook: Banning of Other Religions. (June 1997) Fordham University Retrieved August 9, 2008
  2. ↑ John Madeley & Zsolt Enyedi, (eds.) Church and State in Contemporary Europe: the chimera of neutrality. (London: Frank Cass Publishers, 2003)
  3. ↑ From the Meiji era to the first part of the Showa era in Japan, Koshitsu Shinto was established as the national religion. According to this, the emperor of Japan was an arahitogami, an incarnate divinity and the offspring of goddess Amaterasu. As the emperor was, according to the constitution, "head of the empire" and "supreme commander of the Army and the Navy," every Japanese citizen had to obey his will and show absolute loyalty until the end of World War II.
  4. ↑ Draft Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo Retrieved August 9, 2008.
  5. ↑ (although president must always remain a Maronite Catholic, and prime minister a Sunni Muslim)
  6. ↑ (declared a secular state on May 18, 2006, by the newly resumed House of Representatives)
  7. ↑ Finland's State Church was the Church of Sweden until 1809. As an autonomous Grand Duchy under Russia 1809-1917, Finland retained the Lutheran State Church system, and a state church separate from Sweden, later named the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, was established. It was detached from the state as a separate judicial entity when the new church law came to force in 1870. After Finland had gained independence in 1917, religious freedom was declared in the constitution of 1919 and a separate law on religious freedom in 1922. Through this arrangement, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland lost its position as a state church but gained a constitutional status as a national church alongside with the Finnish Orthodox Church, whose position however is not codified in the constitution.
  8. ↑ In France, the Concordat of 1801 made the Roman Catholic, Calvinist and Lutheran churches state-sponsored religions, as well as Judaism.
  9. ↑ In Hungary, the constitutional laws of 1848 declared five established churches on equal status: the Roman Catholic, Calvinist, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox and Unitarian Church. In 1868 the law was ratified again after the Ausgleich. In 1895 Judaism was also recognized as the sixth established church. In 1948 every distinction between the different denominations were abolished.
  10. ↑ Disestablished by the Philippine Organic Act of 1902.
  11. ↑ The Church of Scotland is "established" in the sense that its system of church courts was set up by Parliament, but over the centuries it has resisted interference by secular authorities. The Church of Scotland Act 1921 recognizes its exclusive authority to decide ecclesiastical issues, and the statute incorporates and accepts the Church's Declaratory Articles as lawful.
  12. ↑ The Church in Wales was split from the Church of England in 1920 by Welsh Church Act 1914; at the same time becoming disestablished.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Berg, Thomas C. 2004. The State and Religion in a Nutshell. West Group Publishing. ISBN 978-0314148858
  • Brown, L. Carl. 2001. Religion and State. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0231120395
  • Fox, Jonathan. 2008. A World Survey of Religion and the State. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521707589
  • Hasson, Kevin Seamus. 2005. The Right to Be Wrong: Ending the Culture War Over Religion in America. Encounter Books. ISBN 1594030839
  • Madeley, John & Zsolt Enyedi, eds. 2003. Church and State in Contemporary Europe: the chimera of neutrality. London: Frank Cass Publishers. ISBN 0714683299
  • Weller, Paul. 2005. Time For A Change: Reconfiguring Religion, State And Society. London: T. & T. Clark. ISBN 978-0567084873

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