On Separation of Church and State: Beyond Theocratism and Secularism
The Ten Commandments have been around for a long time and are hardly a source of dispute, unless they are a part of statuary associated with an institution of government in the United States. The issue of the separation of church and state has been relevant throughout the history of this country. The Baha'i view offers an alternative way of looking at the subject.
"...[I]n His approach to authority, freedom, and the relation of religion to the state, Baha'u'llah advocates neither the modern Western conception of a complete separation of church and state -- especially its American form -- nor the premodern idea of their absoute identity....Baha'u'llah's teachings on this question...are irreducible to the binary discourse of secularism versus theocratism in either the traditional Muslim or the modern Western contexts. But what is most illogical is the idea that a system of belief that proposes to spiritualize order and governance should totally separate the realm that is the source of spirit from any relation to the order that institutionalizes it."
Nader Saiedi, Logos and Civilization
4 comments:
It seems that baha’i authors who write on this issue always forget the separation of State and Church in European countries. European countries have different models of separation between State and Church:
--> England has a state religion; the Monarch is the Head of the Church and the Chamber of the Lords includes Bishops.
--> Germany’s constitution gives certain privileges to Catholic and Protestant Churches; other religious communities follow a generic religious law.
--> Denmark’s constitution considers the Evangelic Luteran Church as the National Church that should have State support.
--> Finland’s constitution also supports the Luteran Church.
--> French constitution considers religious communities as any other civilian association (in practice, the State ignores religion);
--> Spain is no longer a Catholic State, and has no official religion. Religious communities are rules by a specific law. There is a cooperative model (the State supports certain religious activities)
--> Portugal also has no official religions and a specific religious freedom law. The State supports several religious activities.
In all the above mentioned countries there is religious freedom, and different models of separation and cooperation between State and Church.
The only European country where there is no open religious freedom is Greece. There, the Orthodox Church has special privileges, including the possibility of stopping the government from recognizing other religious communities. Mount Athos is a part of Greece territory and is not under the jurisdiction of the Greek State, but of the Orthodox Church.
Very good information, Marco. Europe provides many more examples beyond the American one, which is why having the benefit of the European perspective is so valuable. The author of Logos and Civilization is based in the United States.
Your blog provides a valuable window for obtaining a European perspective. What other Baha'i blogs in Europe do you find especially insightful?
I don't know many blogs by European baha'is. but check this one: Barnabas Quotidianus (http://www.leithjb.net/blog/).
It is a good baha'i blog from the United Kingdom.
Thank you, Marco. His site is very well-written, a true blog in the personal journal sense.
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