Secular states shown in green. A secular state is a state or country that is officially neutral in matters of religion, neither supporting nor opposing any particular religious beliefs or practices. A secular state also treats all its citizens equally regardless of religion, and does not give preferential treatment for a citizen from a particular religion over other religions. Most often it has no state religion or equivalent. If there is a state religion, this should have only a symbolic meaning, not affecting the ordinary life of its citizens, and especially not making any distiction based on someone's religion. Image File history File links Please see the file description page for further information. ...
Motto of the French republic on the tympanum of a church, in Aups (Var département) which was installed after the 1905 law on the Separation of the State and the Church. ...
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A state is a political association with effective dominion over a geographic area. ...
For other uses, see Country (disambiguation). ...
Nations with state religions: Buddhism Islam Shia Islam Sunni Islam Orthodox Christianity Protestantism Roman Catholic Church A state religion (also called an official religion, established church or state church) is a religious body or creed officially endorsed by the state. ...
A secular state is defined as protecting freedom of religion as pursued in state secularism. It is also described to be a state that prevents religion from interfering with state affairs, and prevents religion from controlling government or exercising political power. Laws protect each individual including religious minorities from discrimination on the basis of religion. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen guarantees freedom of religion, as long as religious activities do not infringe on public order in ways detrimental to society. ...
George Jacob Holyoake (1817-1906), British writer who coined the term secularism. ...
A secular state is not an atheistic state (e.g. Albania under Enver Hoxha), in which the state officially opposes all religious beliefs and practices. In some secular states, there can be a huge majority religion in the population (e.g. Turkey) and in others there may be great religious diversity (e.g. India). Secular states become secular either upon establishment of the state (e.g. United States) or upon secularization of the state (e.g. France). Movements for laïcité in France and for the separation of church and state in the United States of America began the evolution of the present secular states. Historically, the process of secularizing states typically involves granting religious freedom, disestablishing state religions, stopping public funds to be used for a religion, freeing the legal system from religious control, opening up the education system, tolerating citizens who change religion, and allowing political leadership to come to power regardless of religious beliefs.[citation needed] Public holidays that were originally religious holidays and other traditions are not necessarily affected, and public institutions become safe from being used and abused by religion.[citation needed] State atheism is the official rejection of religion in all forms by a government in favor of atheism. ...
This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
Secularization or secularisation is a process of transformation as a society slowly migrates from close identification with the local institutions of religion to a more clearly separated relationship. ...
Motto of the French republic on the tympanum of a church, in Aups (Var département) which was installed after the 1905 law on the Separation of the State and the Church. ...
Constantines Conversion, depicting the conversion of Emperor Constantine the Great to Christianity, by Peter Paul Rubens. ...
Not all legally secular states are completely secular in practice. In France for example, lots of Christian holidays are official vacations for public administration, and teachers in Catholic schools are salaried by the state [1]. For other uses, see Holiday (disambiguation). ...
Many states are often considered secular where the term is not, in fact, completely applicable. Secularism has various grades of intensity. Thus, in the UK, the head of state is required to take the Coronation Oath [2] swearing to uphold the Protestant faith. The UK also maintains positions in its upper house for 26 senior clergymen of the established Church of England known as the Spiritual Peers. [3] It can therefore not be fully considered a secular state. The Lords Spiritual of the United Kingdom, also called Spiritual Peers, consist of the 26 clergymen of the established Church of England who serve in the House of Lords along with the Lords Temporal. ...
The reverse progression can also occur, a state can go from being secular to a theocracy as in the case of Iran where the secularizing state of the Pahlavi dynasts was replaced by the Islamic Republic (list below). Although there are elements such as those in the United States which would exert pressure to make it an officially Christian nation, Turkey an Islamic state, etc., such pressure groups are presumed to have little chance of effecting similar revolutions in any advanced country. The Pahlavi dynasty (in Persian: دودمان پهلوی) of Iran began with the crowning of Reza Shah Pahlavi in 1925 and ended with the Iranian Revolution of 1979, and the subsequent collapse of the ancient tradition of Iranian monarchy. ...
‹ The template below has been proposed for deletion. ...
An advocacy group, interest group or lobbying group is a group, however loosely or tightly organized, doing advocacy: those determined to encourage or prevent changes in public policy without trying to be elected. ...
However since at one time all states had official religions and as the map above shows that situation has essentially been reversed over the last 250 years, it may be said that the global secular trend is toward secularism. In numerical descriptions, such as of a time series of numbers, a secular trend is the long-term upward or downward trend in the numbers, as opposed to a smaller cyclical variation with a periodic and short-term duration. ...
George Jacob Holyoake (1817-1906), British writer who coined the term secularism. ...
List of secular states
The following is an incomplete list of officially secular states as of 2007:
A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ...
Sunni Muslims are the largest denomination of Islam. ...
World map showing the Americas CIA political map of the Americas The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World consisting of the continents of North America[1] and South America with their associated islands and regions. ...
The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ...
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. ...
The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ...
The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ...
The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ...
The Bill of Rights in the National Archives The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is a part of the United States Bill of Rights. ...
World map showing the location of Asia. ...
World map showing the location of Europe. ...
Official standard of Karekin II Catholicos of Armenia The Armenian Apostolic Church (Armenian: Õ€Õ¡Õµ Ô±Õ¼Õ¡Ö„Õ¥Õ¬Õ¡Õ¯Õ¡Õ¶ ÔµÕ¯Õ¥Õ²Õ¥ÖÕ«, Hay Arakelagan Yegeghetzi), sometimes called the Armenian Orthodox Church or the Gregorian Church, is the worlds oldest national church[1] [2] and one of the most ancient Christian communities [3]. // Baptism of Tiridates III. The earliest...
Anthem İstiklâl Marşı(Turkish) Independence March Capital Nicosia Official languages Turkish Government Representative democratic republic1 - President Mehmet Ali Talat - Prime Minister Ferdi Sabit Soyer Sovereignty from Cyprus - Proclaimed November 15, 1983 - Recognition By Turkey Area - Total 3,355 km² (not ranked) 1,295 sq mi - Water (%) 2. ...
Eastern Orthodoxy (also called Greek Orthodoxy and Russian Orthodoxy) is a Christian tradition which represents the majority of Eastern Christianity. ...
Anthem Oj, svijetla majska zoro Oh, Bright Dawn of May Montenegro() on the European continent() — [] Capital (and largest city) Podgorica Official languages Serbian (Ijekavian dialect)1 Demonym Montenegrin Government Republic - President Filip Vujanović - Prime Minister Željko Šturanović Independence due to the dissolution of Serbia and Montenegro - Declared June 3, 2006...
Concordat between the Holy See and Poland was signed on 28 July 1993 between the archbishop and Vatican nuncio to Poland, Józef Kowalczyk and Polish Foreign Minister, Krzysztof Skubiszewski. ...
Anthem Serbia() on the European continent() Capital (and largest city) Belgrade Official languages Serbian 1 Recognised regional languages Hungarian, Croatian, Slovak, Romanian, Rusyn 2 Albanian 3 Government Semi-presidential republic - President Boris Tadić - Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica Establishment - Formation 812 - Kingdom established 1217 - Empire established 1346 - Independence lost to...
For people named Islam, see Islam (name). ...
World map exhibiting a common interpretation of Oceania; other interpretations may vary. ...
List of former secular states - Bangladesh - Proclaimed a secular republic upon independence in 1971, President Hossain Ershad instituted Islam as state religion by the eight amendment to the constitution (passed in June 1988), citing the need to do so to combat any rise in fundamentalist and/or extremist militant movements.
- Iran - Became a secular state in 1925 after Reza Pahlavi was installed as Shah. Islam was re-insituted as state religion in December 1979 following the adoption of a new constitution.
- Iraq (Chapter 1, Article 2 of the 2005 Constitution, constitution is subject to review by the Constitutional Review Committee and a possible public referendum in 2007)
- Madagascar (1960-2007) Constitution with "laïc" removed
- Pakistan - Was a secular state from 1947 until the proclamation of an Islamic republic in 1956.
Hossain Mohammad Ershad (b. ...
Reza Pahlavi (Persian: رضا پهلوی, born October 31, 1960) is the former Crown Prince of Iran, the eldest son of late Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and his Empress Consort, Farah Diba. ...
Notes - ^ Richard Teese, Private Schools in France: Evolution of a System, Comparative Education Review, Vol. 30, No. 2 (May, 1986), pp. 247-259 (English)
- ^ Coronation Oath
- ^ Different types of Lords
- ^ US governmental report (International Religious Freedom Report 2005) (English)
Comparative Education Review, the official publication of the Comparative and International Education Society, investigates education throughout the world and the social, economic, and political forces that shape it. ...
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is a US government agency created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to monitor the status of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief abroad, as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related international instruments...
See also George Jacob Holyoake (1817-1906), British writer who coined the term secularism. ...
Secular education is a term that refers to the system of public education in countries with a secular or separation between religion and state. ...
The intended meaning of the term civil religion often varies according to whether one is a sociologist of religion or a professional political commentator. ...
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