The State and Religion

The proposition that the State should be separated from the Church is well accepted by students of democracy in the West. Huntington ((1996) The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order , New York: Simon & Schuster) went so far as to claim that the separation of Church and State was a salient feature of Western Civilization, which explains why Western countries tend to be democracies, while democracy in other cultures is rare. Huntington's claim obviously presumes that the State is separated from the Church in Western democracies. A closer look at the relationships between State and Church in these countries, however, reveals considerable financial and institutional linkages between the two institutions. Democratic states in the West subsidize religious organizations and religious schools, allow or even sometimes compel religious instruction in public, supposedly secular schools, and enact laws, which advance religious agendas. This article documents and discusses these state--church relationships. It goes on to recommend the implementation of a complete separation of Church and State.