The Relationship between Church and State around the World

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Religion can be defined as a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe that often contains a moral code that governs the conduct of human affairs according to dictionary.com. Some countries use their religion to form some sort of government or use religion as a way to decide the laws within their land. People often believe that religion should be kept out of government while others think it may create a more effective one.

Places such as the United States, parts of Europe, France, and Turkey have adopted the concept of “separation of church and state” meaning that they prefer to distance the relationship of religion and the national state. According to churchandstate.org.uk, there has been an issue where people seem to confuse the concept of secularist with atheism. They get the idea that just because religion isn’t used within the government that they support an anti-religious development. In fact, the concept is seeking to eliminate discrimination on the basis of religion, and to promote democracy while protecting religions minorities. For example, on the highly debated topic of abortion, the United States is clashing between the idea of “pro-choice” and “pro-life.” Many of those on the side of “pro-life” use the argument that in their religion such as Christianity, it is morally wrong to abort a fetus and that those who perform the practice are “playing God” and taking away an innocent life. On the “pro-choice” side, many argue that the government should not be creating a decision based on religion, but instead women should be able to decide for themselves whether or not they want to practice having abortions. Although the country is torn between the issues, the United States has legalized the...

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http://www.rome.info/facts/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/catholic/catholic_1.shtml

http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_rep_rome_govt.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/catholic/catholic_1.shtml

http://www.cfr.org/afghanistan/taliban-afghanistan/p10551?cid=rss-asia-the_taliban_in_afghanistan-100611

http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2004/35396.htm

http://www.cfr.org/experts/china-innovation-cybersecurity/adam-segal/b8863

http://www.cfr.org/china/religion-china/p16272

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/112450/Chinese-Communist-Party-CCP

http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/profiles/India/Religion

http://countrystudies.us/india/38.htm

[1] Government of India Ministry of Home Affairs: Religious Composition. http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/India_at_glance/religion.aspx.

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