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Role of religion in politics
The influence of religion on society
The influence of religion on society
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Recommended: Role of religion in politics
Introduction
The fusion or separation of church (or in greater sense, religion) from the affairs of the state (nation) is an issue whose relative importance in any society cannot be overemphasized. This stems from the impact of having state affairs directly influenced by religious beliefs and practices in the case of the fusion of the state and religion. Better still the separation of the state from the clutches of religious beliefs has the propensity to significantly affect way of life as well as the rate of development in a society.
In my opinion however, I sincerely believe that the church (by extension, religion) should be separated from the secular state. This is especially important in heterogeneous societies where citizens practice different kinds of religions and a choice of any as the official state religion would constitute significant inequality and tension. As evident in the multifaceted history of Europe, the eventual separation of the secular state from the church was inevitable although it took until the eighteenth century for that to effectively take place.
Europe: the Separation of the Church from and the Secular State
The church, specifically the Roman Catholic Church had for several centuries been the focal point of authority in Europe partly due to the spread of Christianity all over Europe early on in the ensuing centuries after the death of Christ Jesus and also because of the enormous power it acquired over time as the dominant religious institution of the day. The church became so powerful that it virtually became the dynastic ruling class in Europe for over fourteen centuries.
However, the vicissitudes of the sixteenth and seventeenth century that started with the “Reformation movement” led by the Ge...
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...like to point out categorically that the separation of the church and state as it emanated in sixteenth century Europe has done more good than harm to Europe and the world at large over the last half a millennium. Modern society as we know it today would be unimaginable if the separation of the state from the church had not taken place. This is especially so in the light of the achievements recorded in the sciences as well as in technology which most definitely would have remain stiffened by the church had it been the state was still under its complete control.
Works Cited
Matthews, Roy and DeWitt Platt The Western Humanities: the Renaissance to the Present. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2001.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state_in_the_United_States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran
A popular notion among many religious conservatives is the rejection of what is commonly referred to as the separation between church and state. They maintain the United States was founded by leaders who endorsed Christian principles as the cornerstone of American democracy, and that the First Amendment prohibition against government establishment was not intended to remove religion from public life. As a result, a number of disputes have made their way through to the courts, pitting those ready to defend the wall of separation, against those who would tear it down. Two recent cases have brought this battle to the forefront of political debate. The first involves an Alabama Supreme Court justice, who, in defiance of a Federal judge, fought the removal of a granite display of the Ten Commandments from the rotunda of the state courthouse. Also, a California man has challenged the constitutionality of the phrase “under God” in an upcoming Supreme Court case involving student recitation of the pledge of allegiance.
5).” “Finally, the Church influenced politics at that time” (Doc. 3).” “The Church unified Europeans and gave every person a sense of how the world worked (Doc.3).” “Ultimately, political leaders only had local power, the Church was the most powerful institution (Doc.3).” These are just some of the things that we’re going on in the politics of the Middle Ages.
The modern state seeks its self-preservation above all else, and history reveals that governments are more than willing to exercise their monopoly on force and coercion in order to cement and defend their authority (5-6). Normally, unified social bodies such as the Church seek to counteract the dominance of the state through their public and political influence. However, when the Church simultaneously abdicates its political connections and powers and interiorizes itself within individual Catholics, it frees the state to exercise its will with little backlash: “Once the church has been individualized and eliminated as Christ’s body in the world, only the state is left to impersonate God”
The First Amendment and Dealing with the Separation of Church and State. Is it unconstitutional for local, state or federal governments to favor one religion over another? another. Then what about the sand? Government can show favoritism toward religion by displaying religious symbols in public places at taxpayer expense, by sponsoring events like Christmas. concerts, caroling, by supporting the teaching of religious ideas, or even by supporting the teaching of creationism in public schools.
Church and State seem to be two words which are entirely inseparable from each other. Religion in politics and the government has been present since the federal government was first put into place. The issue of religion is present in such varied topics as the public school system, presidential elections, right down to the National Anthem. The fact of the matter is, Church and State are very far from being separate in the United States.
In 1789, the First Amendment established that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…” This meant the Federal and State Governments could not be partial or show support for any certain denomination or religious organization. However, throughout the history of the United States the controversial question over the relationship between church and state has always been called into question in establishing a one religion government. The main focus of the inquiry is to decide whether to keep the establishment clause or to tear it down and move towards a theocratic system. One side of the debate is the group against the separation of Church and State, who believe that if America was a more religious nation that it would become more moral as well as bring everyone in agreement with national decision making. Therefore the belief is that the United State would become more unified in an already corrupt system. On the other hand, the side for separation argues that the distance between established religion and national government is inherently necessary to keep maintain: religious tolerance, prevent biases, and prejudices, along with any sort of religious freedom in country that has thousands of different organized religions.
Humanists had been calling for reform in the Catholic Church long before Martin Luther penned his Ninety-Five Theses. Humanism was an intellectual and cultural movement of the Renaissance that emphasized the expansion of mans’ capacities. “[Humanism] was an attempt to discover humankind’s own earthly fulfillment. . . [it] developed an increasing distaste for dogma, and embraced a figurative interpretation of the scriptures and an attitude of tolerance toward all viewpoints” (Sporre 310). This perspective could not differ more from the Church’s strict reliance on tradition. People’s outlook on the world changed, but the Church continued on with what had previously worked. It soon became clear that reform in the Church was not in the foreseeable future, so people decided to take matters into their own hands. As humanism spread throughout Italy and northern Europe, more and more people agr...
Today, if our government needs proof that the separation of Church and State works to secure the freedom of religion, they only need to look at the overabundance of Churches, temples, and shrines that exist in the cities and towns throughout the Untied States. Only a non-religious government, separated from religion could possibly allow such dissimilarity.
Throughout history (of the West), there has always been a tendency to separate the state from religion, it started in the medieval era and is still being favored today in most nations of the world. The scientific revolution of the 16th and 17th century has given a term to the scientific and religious separation called secularization. .
Roper, H. R.. The crisis of the seventeenth century; religion, the Reformation, and social change. [1st U.S. ed. New York: Harper & Row, 19681967. Print.
The protestant reformation of 16th century had both: immediate and long term effects. Thus, we can see that it was a revolution of understanding the essence of religion, and of what God is. The protestant reformation is said to a religious movement. However, it also influenced the economical, political and social life of people. The most global, short term effect of the reformation was the reevaluation of beliefs, and, as a result, the loss of authority of the Holy Roman Empire. The long term effects were: the emergence of new heretical movements, the declining of papacy, thus the reevaluation of people’s view on the church and life values.
The Church’ power was extremely great in the Middle Ages, as they had the most influence over the people, kings and knights. The Church had the ability to stop laws and change laws to their benefit and controlled the religious beliefs of the people. They had the power to sway the kings and send knights to war which sends the message that they were one of the most important institutions in all of Medieval Europe.
The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century is one of the most complex movements in European history since the fall of the Roman Empire. The Reformation truly ends the Middle Ages and begins a new era in the history of Western Civilization. The Reformation ended the religious unity of Europe and ushered in 150 years of religious warfare. By the time the conflicts had ended, the political and social geography in the west had fundamentally changed. The Reformation would have been revolutionary enough of itself, but it coincided in time with the opening of the Western Hemisphere to the Europeans and the development of firearms as effective field weapons. It coincided, too, with the spread of Renaissance ideals from Italy and the first stirrings of the Scientific Revolution. Taken together, these developments transformed Europe.
Their wealth earned them great power and loyalty from the royals and citizens. Their power was used to restrict not only peasant folk but also nobles and the monarch in following the Catholic faith. This influences everyone’s daily life and morals. The Church was similar to a government institution where it sustained its own laws and rights. This provided stability to the land as people have benevolent morals with the assistance of religion.
The role of religion in politics is a topic that has long been argued, and has contributed to the start of wars, schisms (both political and religious), and other forms of inter and intra-state conflict. This topic, as a result of its checkered past, has become quite controversial, with many different viewpoints. One argument, put forth by many people throughout history, is that religion and the government should remain separate to avoid any conflicting interests. This view also typically suggests that there is one, or several, large and organized religions like the Roman Catholic Church, which would be able to use their “divine” authority to sway the politics of a given state by promising or threatening some form of godly approval or disapproval. By leveraging their divine power, individual figures within a religion, as well as the religion as a whole, could gain secular power for themselves, or over others. A second view, which was developed by many theologians through history, suggests that that without religion there would be a general lack of morality in the people and leaders of a given state, which would give way to poor political decisions that would not be in the interest of the people and perhaps even God (or the gods). This argument, however, does not address the fact that morality can exist without religion. In sociology, it is commonly accepted that social norms, which include morality, can result from any number of things. Religion, laws, or the basic desire of survival can all create these norms, so it suffices to say that as a society, our morals reflect our desire to live in relative peace through the creation of laws that serve to help us to survive. The argument of whether or not religion and politics should mix...