2. Read the text again. Structure the information in the form of a mind map. Use your mind map to summarise the text.

* Appendix 1 p. 145

Unit 3. Relations between politics and religion

1. Read the text and answer the questions.

1. What are the relationships between politics and religion like? Are they the same in different countries? Give examples.

2. What are the main religion-state relationships archetypes?

3. How can the relationship between politics and religion be controlled?

4. What institutions have emerged as a result of religion-politics interaction?

Contemporary states exhibit great variation in the formal relationships between religion and politics. Some level of interweavement of religion and politics in the modern state is the rule, while a strict institutional separation between the two is the exception. Most states entertain complex relationships between religion and politics, in that they, for instance, allow for religious instruction in public schools, provide public subsidies for private religious schools, recognise religious holidays as state holidays, provide welfare through (or in partnership with) religious institutions, grant tax breaks to religious organisations, allocate to religious institutions and authorities time in public broadcasting, and maintain or subsidise buildings and venues used or owned by religious institutions. These arrangements are prevalent in most societies, irrespective of the majority religion - they can be found around the world, whether the majority religion is Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Christian, or otherwise. Some states even recognise an official state religion; this is the case among long-standing democracies such as Denmark, Finland, Greece, Norway, and the United Kingdom, as well as non-democratic regimes, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Within the great variance of religion-state relationships, it is useful to identify some archetypes. At one extreme of the continuum of institutional religion-state relations stands strict separation of religion and state, such as is de jure in the United States. Since 1947, the U.S. Supreme Court interprets the Establishment Clause as constituting a “wall of separation” between religion and state. At the other extreme of the continuum stand regimes that highly regulate religion, such as theocratic and atheist regimes. The Islamic Republic of Iran presents an example wherein religious and political authority is merged, the legal system purports to be Islamic, conversion away from Islam is punishable by death, and religious institutions (e.g., mosques, seminaries, religious schools) are highly regulated by the state. Albania between 1967 and 1989 is an example of an atheist regime, where all religions, religious organisations, and religious practice were prohibited; religious schools were closed, religious authorities persecuted. Between these extremes of strict separation on the one hand and high regulation of religion by the state on the other are several archetypes that present mixed systems.

The state is the principal authority structuring relations between religion and politics. Because state policies aim at the allocation of goods and resources as well as the solution of social conflicts, they also tend to involve some regulation of religious affairs. This is done through constitutional provisions and legislation. Because nondemocratic regimes tend to regulate society and societal affairs more intensively than democratic regimes do, this also applies to religion: nondemocratic regimes often exhibit higher levels of regulation of religion than democracies. Due to requirements of certain rights standards in democratic politics in the realm of civil rights, human rights, and religious freedom, there are limits with regard to how much democratic regimes can regulate religion before violating or undermining their democratic foundations. Too much regulation of religion necessarily involves the violation of human or civil rights (for instance, tying citizenship to a particular religious affiliation; recognising only certain religions and not others; limiting the rights of certain religions to organise, practice, and assemble).

Apart from the relationship between politics and religion elucidated above, religion plays a political role in contemporary states through two formal institutions: religious law and religious political parties.