The separation of church and state is the distance in the relationship between organized religion and the nation state.
The concept of separation has been adopted in a number of countries, to varying degrees depending on the applicable legal structures and prevalent views toward the proper role of religion in society. A similar but typically stricter principle of laïcité has been applied in France and Turkey, while some socially secularized countries such as Norway, Denmark and the United Kingdom have maintained constitutional recognition of an official state religion. The concept parallels various other international social and political ideas, including secularism, disestablishment, religious liberty, and religious pluralism. Whitman (2009) observes that in many European countries, the state has, over the centuries, taken over the social roles of the church, leading to a generally secularized public sphere.
The degree of separation varies from total separation mandated by a constitution, to an official religion with total prohibition of the practice of any other religion, as in the Maldives.
Read more about Separation Of Church And State: In Various Countries, Religious Views, Friendly and Hostile Separation
Famous quotes containing the words separation of, separation, church and/or state:
“There is nothing that I shudder at more than the idea of a separation of the Union. Should such an event ever happen, which I fervently pray God to avert, from that date I view our liberty gone.”
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)
“Reunion after long separation is even better than one’s wedding night.”
—Chinese proverb.
“Let us pray for the whole state of Christ’s Church Militant here in earth.”
—Book Of Common Prayer, The. Holy Communion, “Prayer for the Church Militant,” (1662)
“A state ... arises, as I conceive, out of the needs of mankind; no one is self-sufficing, but all of us have many wants.”
—Plato (c. 427–347 B.C.)