Religion in Scotland and Norway

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arne Bugge Amundsen ◽  
Michael Rosie
Keyword(s):  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Church And State ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Political Union ◽  
Lutheran Church ◽  
Administrative Control ◽  
History Of ◽  
Religion And State ◽  
The Relationship

Religion has played a key part in the development of both Scotland and Norway, in terms of local governance and the organisation of social structure and hierarchies, identity and popular history, yet both countries are now largely secularised. This chapter explores religious denominations and affiliations: Norway’s history of compulsory affiliation with the Lutheran Church, and Scotland’s religious pluralism, where political affiliations often served to reduce religious tensions. The markedly different relationship between Church and State; Scotland’s Reformation being a largely populist movement with conflict and open protest continuing for two centuries contrasting with Norway where few tensions arose and religion and state remained closely interwoven. Monarchical and political union had an impact on religious practise in both countries, with differing levels of ideological and administrative control being negotiated by Church authorities over education systems and welfare in local communities. The chapter touches upon the route of both countries out of and beyond Protestantism towards increasing secularisation, facilitated by the continuing renegotiation of the relationship between Church and State in both countries and the lessening of Church influence on areas such as education.

SUBORDINATION, SEPARATION, AND AUTONOMY: CHINESE PROTESTANT APPROACHES TO THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RELIGION AND STATE

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-164
Author(s):  
Pan-Chiu Lai
Keyword(s):  
Church And State ◽  
The State ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Protestant Churches ◽  
History Of ◽  
Religion And State ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Contemporary Chinese

ABSTRACTIn the history of the religion-state relationship in China, a model of subordination of religion to the state has been dominant for centuries. In recent years, some Chinese Protestant churches have advocated the model of separation of church and state. Through a historical and theological analysis, this study argues that in order to relieve the tensions between Chinese Protestantism and the contemporary Chinese government, a better conceptual alternative is to reconsider the issue in terms of autonomy rather than separation or subordination, and to argue for legally allowing the coexistence of both official and nonofficial churches and grant different degrees of autonomy to each.

The Oxford History of Protestant Dissenting Traditions, Volume II

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Church And State ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Protestant Christianity ◽  
History Of ◽  
Degree Of Acceptance ◽  
Missionary Societies ◽  
Long Eighteenth Century ◽  
British State ◽  
The Relationship

This volume charts the development of protestant Dissent between the passing of the Toleration Act (1689) and the repealing of the Test and Corporation Acts (1828). The long eighteenth century was a period in which Dissenters slowly moved from a position of being a persecuted minority to achieving a degree of acceptance and, eventually, full political rights. The first part of the volume considers the history of various Dissenting traditions inside England. There are separate chapters devoted to Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Baptists, and Quakers—the denominations that traced their history before this period—and also to Methodists, who emerged as one of the denominations of ‘New Dissent’ during the eighteenth century. The second part explores the ways in which these traditions developed outside England. It considers the complexities of being a Dissenter in Wales and Ireland, where the state church was Episcopalian, as well as in Scotland, where it was Presbyterian. It also looks at the development of Dissent across the Atlantic, where the relationship between Church and state was rather more loose. The third part is devoted to revivalist movements and their impact, with a particular emphasis on the importance of missionary societies for spreading protestant Christianity from the late eighteenth century onwards. The fourth part looks at Dissenters’ relationship to the British state and their involvement in campaigns to abolish the slave trade. The final part discusses how Dissenters lived: the theology they developed and their attitudes towards Scripture; the importance of both sermons and singing; their involvement in education and print culture; and the ways in which they expressed their faith materially through their buildings.

Religious Conflict in Brazil

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erika Helgen
Keyword(s):  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Church And State ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Religious Competition ◽  
History Of ◽  
Formed Part ◽  
Brazilian Northeast ◽  
Modern Latin America

This innovative study explores the transition in Brazil from a hegemonically Catholic society to a religiously pluralistic society. The book shows that the rise of religious pluralism was fraught with conflict and violence, as Catholic bishops, priests, and friars organized intense campaigns against Protestantism. These episodes of religious violence were not isolated outbursts of reactionary rage, but rather formed part of a longer process through which religious groups articulated their vision for Brazil's national future. The book begins with a background on Catholic–Protestant relations in the Brazilian Northeast. It suggests a new religious history of modern Latin America that puts religious pluralism at the center rather than at the margins of historical analysis. In doing so it seeks to understand the ways in which religious competition and conflict redefined traditional relationships between church and state, lay and clergy, popular and official religion, and local and national interests.

The Battle Has Already Begun

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Erika Helgen
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Church And State ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Religious Competition ◽  
History Of ◽  
Os Sertoes ◽  
Brazilian Northeast ◽  
Modern Latin America

This chapter provides a background on Catholic–Protestant relations in the Brazilian Northeast. It talks about how the Brazilian Northeast became famous as a place of economic backwardness, political feuds, crippling droughts, popular unrest, and, religious fanaticism following the publication of Euclides da Cunha's Os sertões in 1902. It also looks into da Cunha's account of the Brazilian military's confrontation and eventual destruction of the allegedly fanatical millenarian community of Canudos, which made regional and national elites continuously fearful of the violent potential of northeastern religiosity. The chapter suggests a new religious history of modern Latin America that puts religious pluralism at the center rather than at the margins of historical analysis. It seeks to understand the ways in which religious competition and conflict redefined traditional relationships between church and state, lay and clergy, popular and official religion, and local and national interests.

Are Public Commemorations in Contemporary Japan Post-secular?

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 136-152
Author(s):  
Akira Nishimura
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Religious Participation ◽  
Religious Expression ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
History Of ◽  
Religion And State ◽  
Yasukuni Shrine ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

This paper asks whether public commemorations in contemporary Japan are post-secular or not. More precisely, it investigates the postwar history of the relationship between such commemorations and the principle of keeping religion and government separate, as embodied in the constitution. Referring to several contemporary cases, I provide an overview of the discourses and actual conditions of the separation of religion and state at Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery (Chidorigafuchi Kokuritsu Senbotsusha Boen 千鳥ヶ淵国立戦没者墓苑) and Yasukuni Shrine (Yasukuni Jinja 靖国神社). In conclusion, I point out on one hand that the non-denominational expressions seen in Chidorigafuchi and other facilities show a distinctive kind of religious expression. On the other hand, I underscore that the excessive avoidance of religious participation by government officials derives from the Yasukuni issue and related legal trials. I explain the relationship of those phenomena in terms of two types of secularization: natural secularization and artificial secularization.

Reconceptualizing Church and State: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Separation of Religion and State on Democracy

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Brathwaite ◽  
Andrew Bramsen
Keyword(s):  
Principal Component Analysis ◽  
Empirical Analysis ◽  
Church And State ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Set Covering ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Religion And State ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
State Separation

AbstractThis article argues that the relationship between democracy and the separation of religion and state needs to be reexamined. We argue that previous studies have misconceptualized the impact that a lack of church-state separation can have on democracy, or have taken a narrow focus by concentrating on specific cases. We use principal component analysis and a large-ndata set covering 125 countries to show that the separation of religion and state should be conceptualized multi-dimensionally and that it should be considered a component of democracy. Our findings show that as separation of religion and state increases, the level of democracy also increases.

Isfahan during the Turko-Mongol Period (11th-15th Centuries)

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 253-312
Author(s):  
David Durand-Guédy
Keyword(s):  
Local Communities ◽  
General Context ◽  
Urban Decline ◽  
Local Elites ◽  
History Of ◽  
Special Circumstances ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Synthesis View

AbstractThis article deals with the history of Isfahan during the five centuries between the arrival of the Turks and the beginning of the Safavid period. It attempts to identify the continuities and ruptures from three different perspectives: To what extent can we speak of an urban decline? What was the relationship of the Isfahanis with the imperial rulers? How did the general context impact the makeup and the organisation of the society? It appears that Isfahan demonstrated remarkable resilience over the period, and that it is only beginning with the Timurid period that we can speak of a decline. Likewise, there is remarkable continuity in the ways in which the local elites collaborated with or resisted the imperial players. The role of the Ṣāʿid family, which held the cadial function over four centuries, is emblematic in this respect. Conversely, under special circumstances, the imperial players were able to exert great substantial influence on the local communities, and it is this political backing which explains the strengthening of the Hanafis in the sixth/twelfth century, and that of the Shiis in the following. One of the main accomplishments of this synthesis view of Isfahan history is that it assesses the effects of the Mongol domination relative to that of other periods.

Religious Offences in Italy: Recent Laws Concerning Blasphemy and Sport

2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 182-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Gianfreda
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Church And State ◽  
The Third ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
History Of ◽  
Historical Remarks ◽  
The One ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
The Relationship

Religious offences in Italy, as in many European countries, have a long and complex history that is intertwined with the events in the history of the relationship between church and state and the institutional and constitutional framework of a nation.This article is divided into three parts. The first part aims to offer some historical remarks concerning the rules on the contempt of religion and blasphemy in Italian criminal law from the end of the 19th century to the present day. The second part focuses on changes to the law on vilification introduced in 2006 and the third part deals with the recent developments in blasphemy law in the context of sport.The article shows that, on the one hand, reforms of the offences grouped under vilification of religion are anachronistic and do not stand up against the religious freedom of individuals, yet on the other, despite the traditional rules for the protection of religion being considered obsolete, they are applied in new areas of law, for example sport, and are used to curb bad manners and bad behaviour. The relationship between the new functions of these criminal rules and the traditional ones, however, remains uncertain and fluctuating, and reveals a moralistic approach to religious offences.

Introduction

2017 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Faisal Devji ◽  
Zaheer Kazmi
Keyword(s):  
Church And State ◽  
The Real ◽  
The Status ◽  
History Of ◽  
Litmus Test ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Status Of Women

The relationship between Islam and liberalism has been a subject of scholarly as much as popular debate for at least a century and a half. Its progress sometimes hailed and at other times found wanting, this relationship has been marked by the unchanging and even stereotypical terms in which it has been debated, including issues such as the separation of church and state, the status of women and the rights of non-Muslims. Each of these issues serves as a litmus test to measure the liberalism of Muslim individuals as well as societies, and each is also drawn from the real or imagined history of liberalism in Europe. However, as a historical and variable phenomenon, liberalism does not in fact possess a normative definition but constitutes a family of shifting and overlapping ideas having to do with the freedoms of property and contract, speech and movement, or of rights and representation....

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