State religion

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==Examples==
 
==Examples==
'''Christianity'''
+
===Christianity===
 
* [[Argentina]] (Roman Catholicism)
 
* [[Argentina]] (Roman Catholicism)
 
* [[Denmark]] (Lutheranism)
 
* [[Denmark]] (Lutheranism)
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* [[Vatican City]] (Roman Catholicism... what did you expect?)
 
* [[Vatican City]] (Roman Catholicism... what did you expect?)
  
'''Islam'''
+
===Islam===
 
* [[Afghanistan]]
 
* [[Afghanistan]]
 
* [[Algeria]]
 
* [[Algeria]]
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* Several states of [[Nigeria]]
 
* Several states of [[Nigeria]]
  
'''Buddhism'''
+
===Buddhism===
 
* [[Bhutan]]
 
* [[Bhutan]]
 
* [[Myanmar]]
 
* [[Myanmar]]
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* [[Tibet]]'s government-in-exile
 
* [[Tibet]]'s government-in-exile
  
'''Atheism'''
+
===Atheism===
 
* [[Albania]] (banned all religious practice)
 
* [[Albania]] (banned all religious practice)
* [[Soviet Union|USSR]]
+
* The former [[Soviet Union|USSR]]
 
* [[China]]
 
* [[China]]
 
* [[North Korea]]
 
* [[North Korea]]

Revision as of 02:54, 5 June 2011

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Religion

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A state religion is the endorsement or enforcement of a particular religion by a state.

This can be thought of as two positions; endorsement and enforcement. The former, endorsement, is benign for the most part. England, for example, has Christianity (specifically the Church of England with the Queen at its head) as its official state religion although in practice the country is almost entirely secular. The latter position, that of enforcement, is less benign because it leads to repression of other religions and lack of religion. Even today a number of countries have repressive policies regarding their state religion and severe punishments that may be meted out to those who break them. These are, for the most part, the Islamic fundamentalist states in the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia, Iran and Syria, but also Israel, as a specifically Jewish state, is often counted.

State religions have often been used to uphold nationalist regimes, such as Nazi Germany's use of "Positive Christianity" and the development of "State Shinto" in Imperial Japan. There is also the "Religion of the State" as exemplified in fascist Italy, Communist China, and formerly in the USSR.

It is worthy of note that the UK, with a state religion, has only one in ten or less attending church once a week,[1] while the US without a state religion, has a comparative figure of over 40%.[2]

Contents

Examples

Christianity

Islam

Buddhism

Atheism

Counterexamples

These countries have officially enshrined freedom of religion:

England

The state religion or Established Church of England is "The Church of England" or "Anglican Church" [4], familiarly known as the "C of E", and was founded by Henry VIII to get around the papal ban on his desires for possible manchild bearing spouses.

Some senior clergy actually have the right, by virtue of their job, to sit in the upper house of the legislature (House of Lords). The bishops of the C of E are also (nominally) selected from a shortlist by the monarch (in fact, by the Prime Minister). The other methods of gaining entry to the House of Lords, (originally gained by virtue of their birth) are, of course, perfectly legitimate.

The fact that the religion is officially part of the government gives the clergy an influence out of proportion to the size of their denomination.

The word antidisestablishmentarianism, once the longest word in the OED, was coined to refer to people who were opposed to disestablishing the Church of England.

U.S.A.

Don't be tempted to do it, U.S.A.

Oh shit, see dominionism, and all the crazy people who think it's a good idea!

Video games

In the video game Civilization IV, a state religion increases the happiness of citizens where the religion is found. However, a state religion also sours relationships with any nation with a different state religion, virtually guaranteeing war with non-coreligionists after 200 years, at higher difficulty levels.

Additionally, states which adopt "Free Religion" as their "state religion" enjoy a +10% research bonus. So, abandoning your state religion boosts your scientific productivity. And they say videogames aren't educational.

Religion can also be a good source of gold. Unlike real life...

Not to mention that you only get culture bonuses for each religion present if you don't repress them by adopting a state religion.

See also

Footnotes

  1. BBC report of Christian charity Tearfund's survey
  2. http://www.religioustolerance.org/rel_rate.htm
  3. Technically. The High Court, led by Lionel Murphy, a pissed-off atheist, ruled that the government couldn't declare what was and wasn't a religion, which is why it's one of the countries where Scientology is a tax-exempt religion. Murphy suggested that if they didn't want to give Scientology a free ride, they should stop the tax exemption of religion in general.
  4. http://www.cofe.anglican.org/
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