State religion

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Nations with state religions:      Buddhism      Islam      Shi'a Islam      Sunni Islam      Orthodox Christianity      Protestantism      Roman Catholic Church
Nations with state religions:      Buddhism      Islam      Shi'a Islam      Sunni Islam      Orthodox Christianity      Protestantism      Roman Catholic Church

A state religion (also called an official religion, established church or state church) is a 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. Closely related to state churches are what sociologists call ecclesiae, though the two are slightly different. State religions are examples of the official or government-sanctioned establishment of religion, as distinct from theocracy. It is also possible for a national church to become established without being under state control.

Contents

[edit] Types of state churches

The degree and nature of state backing for 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 sects. In Europe, competition between Catholic and Protestant denominations for state sponsorship in the 16th century evolved the principle cuius regio eius religio ("states follow the religion of the ruler") embodied in the text of the treaty that marked the Peace of Augsburg, 1555. In England the monarch imposed Protestantism in 1533, with himself taking the place of the Pope, while in Scotland the Church of Scotland became the established Kirk in opposition to the religion of the ruler.

In some cases, a state may have a set of state-sponsored religious denominations that it funds; such is the case in Alsace-Moselle in France, following the pattern in Germany.

In some communist states, notably the People's Republic of China, the state sponsors religious organizations, and activities outside those state-sponsored religious organizations are met with various degrees of official disapproval. In these cases, state religions are widely seen as efforts by the state to prevent alternate sources of authority.

[edit] Sociology of state churches

Sociologists refer to mainstream non-state religions as denominations. State religions tend to admit a larger variety of opinion within them than 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.

However, state churches have divided, with the dissidents losing the advantages of state support. The Church of Scotland has split several times in the past for doctrinal reasons, including the meaning and acceptability of state support. Attempts by the monarch to impose bishops on the Kirk led to the splitting off of the non-established Scottish Episcopal Church. Its largest offshoots from a later disruption were the Free Church of Scotland and the United Free Church of Scotland. These offshoots did lose 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 matters spiritual. Legally, it remains established.

Many sociologists now consider the effect of a state church as analogous to a chartered monopoly in religion.

Where state religions exist, it is usually true the majority of residents are officially considered adherents; however, much of this support is little more than nominal; many members of the church rarely attend it. But the population's allegiance towards the state religion is often strong enough to prevent them from joining competing religious groups.

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 all 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.

[edit] Disestablishment

Further information: secular state

Disestablishment is the process of divesting a church of its status as an organ of the state. In England 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 and the Church of England was disestablished in Wales in 1920, the Church in Wales becoming separated from the Church of England in the process - it had formerly effectively been the Church of England and Wales. Those who wish to continue with an established church take a position of antidisestablishmentarianism.

The First Amendment to the US Constitution explicitly forbids the U.S. federal government from enacting any law respecting a religious establishment, and thus forbids either designating an official church for the United States, or interfering with State and local official churches — which were common when the First Amendment was enacted. It did not prevent state governments from establishing official churches. Connecticut continued to do so until she replaced her 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.

The Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, ratified in 1868, makes no mention of religious establishment, but forbids the 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." In the 1947 case of Everson v. Board of Education, the United States Supreme Court held that this later provision incorporates the First Amendment's Establishment Clause as applying to the States, and thereby presumably prohibits state and local religious establishments. The exact boundaries of this prohibition are still disputed, and are a frequent source of cases before the US Supreme Court — especially as the court must now reconcile this post-1947 view with the original First Amendment clause that explicitly prohibits any restraint on the free exercise of religion.

All current U.S. state constitutions include guarantees of religious liberty parallel to the First Amendment, but eight (Arkansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas) also contain clauses that prohibit atheists from holding public office. [1] However, these clauses have been held by the United States Supreme Court to be unenforceable in the 1961 case of Torcaso v. Watkins, when the court ruled unanimously that such clauses constituted a religious test incompatible with First and Fourteenth Amendment protections. [2]

[edit] Christian countries

The following states recognize some form of Christianity as their state or official religion (by denomination):

[edit] Roman Catholic

Jurisdictions which recognize Roman Catholicism as their state or official religion:

[edit] Eastern Orthodox

Jurisdictions which recognize one of the Eastern Orthodox Churches as their state religion:

[edit] Lutheran

Jurisdictions which recognize a Lutheran church as their state religion:

[edit] Anglican

Jurisdictions that recognise an Anglican church as their state religion:

[edit] Reformed

Jurisdictions which recognize a Reformed church as their state religion:

[edit] Old Catholic

Jurisdictions which recognize an Old Catholic church as their state religion:

[edit] Islamic countries

Countries which recognize Islam as their official religion:

[edit] Sunni Islam

[edit] Shi'a Islam

  • Iran (as state-sanctioned religion)

[edit] Buddhism as state religion

Governments which recognize Buddhism as their official religion:

[edit] Hindu countries

  • Nepal was the world's only Hindu state, but in order to negotiate with Maoist rebels they dropped the status as a Hindu state.

[edit] Others

  • Israel is defined in several of its laws as a Democratic Jewish state. However, the term "Jewish" is a polysemy which can equally relate to the Jewish people or the Jewish religion. The debate about the meaning of the term Jewish and its legal and social applications (considering it comes alongside the term "democratic") is one of the most profound issues with which the Israeli society deals. At present Israel cannot be said to have an established religion. However, the State of Israel supports religious institutes, particularly Orthodox Jewish institutes, and recognizes Orthodox Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Druze religious courts as official state courts for personal status matters (see millet system). The structure and goals of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel are governed by the Israeli law, however the law does not say explicitly that this Rabbinate is a state Rabbinate. Non-recognition of other streams of Judaism is the cause of some controversy. As of 2007, there is no civil marriage in Israel.

[edit] Ancient state religions

[edit] Egypt and Sumer

The concept of state religions was known as long ago as 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, like 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.

[edit] Persian empire

Zoroastrianism was the state religion of the Sassanid dynasty which lasted from (226 - 651).

[edit] Greek city-states

Many of the Greek city-states also had a 'god' or 'goddess' associated with that city. This would not be the 'only god' of the city, but the one that received special honors. In ancient Greece the city of Athens had Athena, Sparta had Artemis, Delos had Apollo and Artemis, and Olympia had Zeus.

[edit] Roman Religion and Christianity

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.

In 311, 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, 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.

Constantine called up the Council of Nicea in 325, although he was not a baptised 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.

Roman Religion (Neoplatonic Hellenism) was restored for a time by Julian the Apostate from 361 to 363. Julian does not appear to have reinstated the persecutions of the earlier Roman emperors.

Catholic Christianity, as opposed to Arianism and other heretical and schismatic groups, was declared to be the state religion of the Roman Empire on February 27, 380[3] by the decree De Fide Catolica of Emperor Theodosius I.[4]

[edit] Han Dynasty Confucianism and Sui Dynasty Buddhism

In China, the Han Dynasty (206 BC -- 220 AD) 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 which is a central concept of Confucianism. Confucianism would continue as the state religion until the Sui Dynasty (581-618), when it was replaced by Buddhism. Neo-confucianism returned as the state religion sometime in the 10th century.

[edit] States without any state religion

These states do not profess any state religion. Countries which officially decline to establish any religion include:

[edit] Established churches and former state churches in Europe

Country Church Denomination Disestablished
Albania1 none since independence
Andorra Roman Catholic Church Catholic  ?
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
Brunswick-Lüneburg Evangelical Church of Brunswick Lutheran 1918
Bulgaria Bulgarian Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox 1946
Cyprus Cypriot Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox 1977
Czechoslovakia Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1948
Denmark Church of Denmark Lutheran no
England Church of England Anglican no
Estonia Church of Estonia Lutheran 1940
Finland2 Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland Lutheran 1870/1919
France3 Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1905
Georgia Georgian Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox 1921
Greece Greek Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox no
Hesse Evangelical Church of Hesse and Nassau Lutheran 1918
Hungary4 Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1848
Iceland Lutheran Evangelical Church Lutheran no
Ireland Church of Ireland Anglican 1869
Italy Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1984
Liechtenstein Roman Catholic Church Catholic
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 1797
Malta Roman Catholic Church Catholic no
Mecklenburg Evangelical Church of Mecklenburg Lutheran 1918
Monaco Roman Catholic Church Catholic  ?
Netherlands Dutch Reformed Church Reformed 1795
Norway Church of Norway Lutheran no
Oldenburg Evangelical Church of Oldenburg Lutheran 1918
Paraguay Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1967
Poland Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1918
Portugal Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1976
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 Church of Scotland Presbyterian no
Serbia and Montenegro Serbian Orthodox Church Eastern
Spain Roman Catholic Church Catholic 1978
Sweden Church of Sweden Lutheran January 2000
Switzerland none since the adoption of the Federal Constitution (1848)
Turkey Islam 1928
Waldeck Evangelical Church of the Hesse Electorate and Waldeck Lutheran 1918
Wales5 Church in Wales Anglican 1920
Württemberg Evangelical Church of Württemberg Lutheran 1918

↑Note 1:  In 1967, the Albanian government made atheism the "state religion". This designation remained in effect until 1991.

↑Note 2:  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.

↑Note 3:  In France the Concordat of 1801 made the Roman Catholic, Calvinist and Lutheran churches state-sponsored religions, as well as Judaism.

↑Note 4:  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.

↑Note 5:  The Church in Wales was split from the Church of England in 1920 by Welsh Church Act 1914; at the same time becoming disestablished.

[edit] Former state churches in British North America

[edit] Protestant colonies

[edit] Catholic colonies

Colony Denomination Disestablished1
Connecticut Congregational 1818
Georgia Church of England 17892
Massachusetts Congregational 17803
New Brunswick Church of England
New Hampshire Congregational 17904
Newfoundland Church of England
North Carolina Church of England 17765
Nova Scotia Church of England 1850
Prince Edward Island Church of England
South Carolina Church of England 1790
Upper Canada Church of England 1854
West Florida Church of England N/A6
East Florida Church of England N/A7
Virginia Church of England 1786
West Indies Church of England 1868

↑Note 1:  In several colonies, the establishment ceased to exist in practice at the Revolution, about 1776[citation needed]; this is the date of legal abolition.

↑Note 2:  in 1789 the Georgia Constitution was amended as follows: "Article IV. Section 10. No person within this state shall, upon any pretense, be deprived of the inestimable privilege of worshipping God in any manner agreeable to his own conscience, nor be compelled to attend any place of worship contrary to his own faith and judgment; nor shall he ever be obliged to pay tithes, taxes, or any other rate, for the building or repairing any place of worship, or for the maintenance of any minister or ministry, contrary to what he believes to be right, or hath voluntarily engaged. To do. No one religious society shall ever be established in this state, in preference to another; nor shall any person be denied the enjoyment of any civil right merely on account of his religious principles."

↑Note 3:  From 1780 Massachusetts had a system which required every man to belong to a church, and permitted each church to tax its members, and did not require that it be a Congregational church. This was objected to, as in practice establishing the Congregational Church, and was abolished in 1833.

↑Note 4:  Until 1877 the New Hampshire Constitution required members of the State legislature to be of the Protestant religion.

↑Note 5:  The North Carolina Constitution of 1776 disestablished the Anglican church, but until 1835 the NC Constitution allowed only Protestants to hold public office. From 1835-1876 it allowed allowed only Christians (including Catholics) to hold public office. Article VI, Section 8 of the current NC Constitution forbids only atheists from holding public office.[5] Such clauses were held by the United States Supreme Court to be unenforceable in the 1961 case of Torcaso v. Watkins, when the court ruled unanimously that such clauses constituted a religious test incompatible with First and Fourteenth Amendment protections.

↑Note 6:  Religious Tolerance for Catholics with an Established Church of England were policy in the former Spanish Colonies of East and West Florida while under British rule. East Florida was lost to Spain in 1781.

↑Note 7:  Religious tolerance for Catholics with an established Church of England were policy in the former Spanish Colonies of East and West Florida while under British rule. East Florida was returned to Spain in 1783.

[edit] State of Deseret

The State of Deseret was a provisional state of the United States, proposed in 1849 by Mormon settlers in Salt Lake City. The provisional state existed for slightly over two years, but attempts to gain recognition by the United States government foundered for various reasons. The Utah Territory which was then founded was under Mormon control, and repeated attempts to gain statehood met resistance, in part due to concerns over the principle of separation of church and state conflicting with the practice of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of placing their highest value on "following counsel" in virtually all matters relating to their church-centered lives. The state of Utah was eventually admitted to the union on January 4, 1896, after the various issues had been resolved.[6]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Internal Revenue Service. Tax guide for churches and Religious Institutions. United States Department of the Treasury. Retrieved on 2006-11-23.
  2. ^ Internal Revenue Seervice. Exemption Requirements. United States Department of the Treasury. Retrieved on 2006-11-23.
  3. ^ The Theodosian Code. THE LATIN LIBRARY at Ad Fontes Academy. Ad Fontes Academy. Retrieved on 2006-11-23.
  4. ^ Halsall, Paul (June 1997). Theodosian Code XVI.i.2. Medieval Sourcebook: Banning of Other Religions. Fordham University. Retrieved on 2006-11-23.
  5. ^ Article VI of the North Carolina state constitition
  6. ^ Struggle For Statehood Edward Leo Lyman, Utah History Encyclopedia

[edit] External links

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