Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Davjohn (talk | contribs) at 03:52, 15 March 2004. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

A state religion (also called an established church or state church) is a religious body or creed officially endorsed by the state. The term state church is most closely associated with Christianity, although it is sometimes used in the context of other faiths as well. Closely related to state churches are what sociologists call ecclesiae, though the two are slightly different.

The degree of state endorsement of a state religion varies, from mere endorsement and financial support, with freedom for other faiths to practice, to prohibiting any competing church from operating and persecuting the followers of other churches. In Europe, competition between Catholic and Protestant denominations for state sponsorship in the 16th century evolved the principle cuius regio eius religio embodied in the text of the treaty that marked the Peace of Augsburg, 1555..

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. An exception to this is the Church of Scotland which has split several times in the past for doctrinal reasons. Its largest surviving offshoots are the Free Church of Scotland and the United Free Church of Scotland. These offshoots have lost the established status of their parent.

State religions tend to enjoy the allegiance of the majority of their country; however much of this support is little more than nominal, with many members of the church rarely attending it. But the population's allegiance towards the state religions is often strong enough to prevent them from joining competing religious groups. Sociologists put this forward as an explanation for the religious differences between the United States and Europe: many sociologists theorise that the continuing vitality of religion in American life, compared to many European countries, is due to the lack of a strong state church (or indeed, any state church at all) during much of American history.

The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States explicitly bans the Federal government from setting up a state church. Until the mid-19th century this amendment was understood as allowing for state governments to create established churches and a number of states did so. With the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment, the prohibition on established churches was interpreted as a general prohibition on state support of religion. The exact boundaries of this prohibition are still disputed and are a frequent source of cases before the Supreme Court of the United States.

In order for a Territory to become a State, that Territory must accept the United States Constitution as "ruling law of the land." The State must, then, create, and pass, it's own Constitution in order to govern itself, but that law must always be subservient to the United States Constitution. No law passed by a State may supercede that body of law. Therefore, after 1789, no state could establish a State Church. Davjohn 03:52, 15 Mar 2004 (UTC)

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

Increasingly, sociologists of religion are using the concept of monopolies in economics as an analogy for state churches.

Catholic Nations

Nations which recognize Catholicism as the official religion:

• Argentina
• Bolivia
• Costa Rica
• El Salvador
• Holy See
• Paraguay

Protestant Nations

Nations which recognize a form of Protestant Christianity as their official religion:

• Vanuatu
• Samoa
• United Kingdom
• Denmark
• Sweden
• Norway
• Iceland
• Finland

Islamic Nations

Nations which recognize Islam as their official religion:

• Afghanistan
• Algeria
• Bangladesh
• Comoros
• Libya
• Mauritania
• Morocco
• Iran
• Iraq
• Jordan
• Malaysia
• Maldives
• Oman
• Pakistan
• Saudi Arabia
• Tunisia

Buddhist Nations

Nations which recognize Buddhism as their official religion:

• Bhutan
• Burma
• Thailand

Hindu Nations

Nations which recognize Hinduism as their official religion:

• Nepal

State Churches & Former State Churches in Europe

In 1967, the Albanian government made atheism the "state religion". This designation remained in effect until 1991.
Finland's State Church was the Church of Sweden until 1809, and the Russian Orthodox Church from 1809 to 1917. After independence in 1917 Finland gave State Church status to both the Church of Finland (successor to the Church of Sweden in Finland) and the Finnish Orthodox Church (successor to the Russian Orthodox Church in Finland).

Former State Churches in British North America