State religion
A state religion (also called official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not a secular state, is not necessarily a theocracy. State religions are official or government-sanctioned establishments of a religion, but the state does not need to be under the control of the clergy (as in a theocracy), nor is the state-sanctioned religion necessarily under the control of the state.
Official religions have been known throughout human history in almost all types of cultures, reaching into the Ancient Near East and prehistory. The relation of religious cult and the state was discussed by the ancient Latin scholar Marcus Terentius Varro, under the term of theologia civilis (lit. 'civic theology'). The first state-sponsored Christian church was the Armenian Apostolic Church, established in 301 CE.[28] In Christianity, as the term church is typically applied to a place of worship for Christians or organizations incorporating such ones, the term state church is associated with Christianity as sanctioned by the government, historically the state church of the Roman Empire in the last centuries of the Empire's existence, and is sometimes used to denote a specific modern national branch of Christianity. Closely related to state churches are ecclesiae, which are similar but carry a more minor connotation.
In the Middle East, the majority of states with a predominantly Muslim population have Islam as their official religion, though the degree of religious restrictions on citizens' everyday lives varies by country. Rulers of Saudi Arabia use religious power, while Iran's secular presidents are supposed to follow the decisions of religious authorities since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Turkey, which also has Muslim-majority population, became a secular country after Atatürk's Reforms, although unlike the Russian Revolution of the same time period, it did not result in the adoption of state atheism.
The degree to which an official national religion is imposed upon citizens by the state in contemporary society varies considerably; from high as in Saudi Arabia and Iran, to none at all as in Greenland, Denmark, England, Iceland, and Greece (in Europe, the state religion might be called in English, the established church.)
: From 1862 to 1893 the Church of Hawaii, an Anglican body, was the official state and national church of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
Kingdom of Hawaii
: Article 133 of the 1814 Constitution stipulated the Sovereign Prince should be a member of the Reformed Church; this provision was dropped in the 1815 Constitution.[175] The 1815 Constitution also provided for a state salary and pension for the priesthood of established religions at the time (Protestantism, Catholicism and Judaism). This settlement, nicknamed de zilveren koorde (the silver cord), was abolished in 1983.[176][177][178]
Netherlands
was the world's only Hindu state until 2015, when the new constitution declared it a secular state. Proselytizing remains illegal.[179][180]
Nepal
: the Millet system (Turkish: [millet]; Arabic: مِلَّة) was the independent court of law pertaining to "personal law" under which a confessional community (a group abiding by the laws of Muslim Sharia, Christian Canon law, or Jewish Halakha) was allowed to rule itself under its own laws.
Ottoman Empire
: Spain formelly is a catholic confesional state under Francisco Franco, currently is a non-confesional state.
Spain
had Islam as the official religion during the rule of Omar al-Bashir according to the Constitution of Sudan of 2005.[181] It was declared a secular state in September 2020.[182]
Sudan
sanctioned Buddhism and Confucianism as the state religions.[183][184] Buddhism became an arm of the shogunate, and temples were used to resident registration. Distinctive schools of Japanese Buddhism such as Zen, Pure Land, and Nichiren structured Japanese religious life until the 19th century.[185] Confucian Zhu Xi's teaching became a major intellectual force, and the Four Books became available to virtually every educated person.[186]
