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How many religious nations are there? I know this sounds like a dumb question because I could just look it up but there are certainly nations that aren’t labeled as a religious states but are influenced by religion. For example Australia is part of the British Royalty isn’t it?
Are the Russian and Chinese governments religious at all ? Do they have a lot of religious cabinet members ?
Even though the U.S. has a lot of religious people we still have separation of church and state. Plus a lot of powerful people in America are open minded and not even religious at all, for example Bill Gates. The Google CEO isn’t i’m sure. So I think a lot of powerful tech companies are not religious. Plus NASA I would assume has a lot of atheists and overall I’d assume that a lot of the powerful scientists around the world are atheists.
What about Europe ? I know some of their religious states actually have high numbers of atheists.
I would consider Brazil a religious state I think.
Same with Mexico.
Mate, I just looked up ‘Theocracy’ on Wikipedia and it was quite interesting. I suggest you check that out. Islamic states that have adopted Sharia Law are:
Yemen, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Mauritania, Oman and Iran.
Do not go to any of these places and start sketching cartoons of their prophet.
The Vatican City is a theocracy and The Tibetan Government in exile could be considered a Buddhist state.
Many other countries have official state religions (e.g. Pakistan’s only recognised religion is Islam).
As for Western countries and the percentages of their populations/governments adhering to certain religious ways, just google whtever nation interests you. India, the world’s largest democracy, is made up of almost a billion Hindu people but it is not a religious state as such, although Hindu ideas would surely permeate politics.
It’s an interesting topic and that’s just my basic understanding but I’m keen to learn more too.
Daniel: For example Australia is part of the British Royalty isn’t it?
You’ve just lost a lot of credibility with that statement, Daniel. I don’t think a country can be part of the Royal Family, although I might prefer it to Charles.
Daniel: For example Australia is part of the British Royalty isn’t it?
You’ve just lost a lot of credibility with that statement, Daniel. I don’t think a country can be part of the Royal Family, although I might prefer it to Charles.
Well I do not think it is credible knowledge anyway. I’d rather study philosophy.
Mate, I just looked up ‘Theocracy’ on Wikipedia and it was quite interesting. I suggest you check that out. Islamic states that have adopted Sharia Law are:
Yemen, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Mauritania, Oman and Iran.
Do not go to any of these places and start sketching cartoons of their prophet.
The Vatican City is a theocracy and The Tibetan Government in exile could be considered a Buddhist state.
Many other countries have official state religions (e.g. Pakistan’s only recognised religion is Islam).
As for Western countries and the percentages of their populations/governments adhering to certain religious ways, just google whtever nation interests you. India, the world’s largest democracy, is made up of almost a billion Hindu people but it is not a religious state as such, although Hindu ideas would surely permeate politics.
It’s an interesting topic and that’s just my basic understanding but I’m keen to learn more too.
Yea, I’m very curious as to what nations are influenced by religious thought. I’m going to guess that China and Russia are not. & I know The United States is not. India is interesting because of the quantity of religious people.
Daniel: For example Australia is part of the British Royalty isn’t it?
You’ve just lost a lot of credibility with that statement, Daniel. I don’t think a country can be part of the Royal Family, although I might prefer it to Charles.
Well I do not think it is credible knowledge anyway. I’d rather study philosophy.
Of course, it is credible knowledge. And to me you have gained credibility. I respect you for proactively educating yourself in an area that isn’t your strength. Asking questions is the best thing you can do. I assume that you were requesting information or clarification, not a personal critique of your intellectual strengths and weaknesses. I know bugger all about philosophy but if I have any questions I will anticipate and value any insights you might supply. The question is… to what extent does religion affect the ruling of various countries around the world? Is that right?
Geography is an interest of mine, so back to the thread.
The Commonwealth of Australia’s government is a Federal Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy. Our head of state is Queen Elizabeth II of The UK, although she is just a figure-head and has nothing to do with the governing of our country. Our own Prime Minister is the leader of the party elected to run the joint.
As for religion, we have no official religion but about 64% of Australians at least nominally adhere to Christianity. Roughly equal parts Protestant and Catholic. I think it’s about 20% now that have specified ‘no religion’ in the census, and a further 10% just didn’t answer the question. BTW the population is about 22 million. Religion still affects the education system (mainly private schooling) and influences (mainly) the consevative party in politics (confusingly titled the Liberal Party).
The Philippines is interesting in that it is the only predominantly Christian (Catholic) country in Asia. Indonesia (one of our closest neighbours) has the largest population of Islamic people in the world - over 200 million I think.
One should also note that the separation of church and state is enshrined in Section 116 of our Constitution. This section prohibits the establishment of any state religion, the imposition of any religious observance, or any religious test on a person’s right to participate in government or hold any office under the Australian Commonwealth. This section not only ensrines religious freedom but also enshrines the freedom from religion. This makes us more secular than the UK which does have a state religion - the Queen is the head of the Church of Engand and cannot be catholic.
Australia has an atheist Prime Minister and our people are much more laid back in matters of religion than people in America. Try getting an atheist elected President of the USA. Ain’t gonna happen.
Die fröhliche Wissenschaft (Rob) - 10 April 2012 07:51 PM
Try getting an atheist elected President of the USA. Ain’t gonna happen.
At least not one who admits to being atheist.
That’s right.
I’m lookig forward to going down to Melbourne for the Global Athiest Conference on Friday. I hope to be able to write a nice little report for PR. I’d love to get some good pics but that will be hard to arrange. It would be nice if our Julia turned up but that might be asking a bit much.
BTW, did you watch Q&A on the ABC on Monday night? I think Dawkins did a good job with old slab-face Cardinal Pell from Sydney. At least the audience thought so. They voted something like 75:25 in favour of Dawkins. Very gratifying.
Die fröhliche Wissenschaft (Rob) - 10 April 2012 08:20 PM
cunjevoi - 10 April 2012 07:58 PM
Die fröhliche Wissenschaft (Rob) - 10 April 2012 07:51 PM
Try getting an atheist elected President of the USA. Ain’t gonna happen.
At least not one who admits to being atheist.
That’s right.
I’m lookig forward to going down to Melbourne for the Global Athiest Conference on Friday. I hope to be able to write a nice little report for PR. I’d love to get some good pics but that will be hard to arrange. It would be nice if our Julia turned up but that might be asking a bit much.
BTW, did you watch Q&A on the ABC on Monday night? I think Dawkins did a good job with old slab-face Cardinal Pell from Sydney. At least the audience thought so. They voted something like 75:25 in favour of Dawkins. Very gratifying.
I did watch it, Rob, and just posted a clip, in fact.
Can’t wait to hear Dawkins speak at the covention this weekend.
Would’ve been good to see Hitchens V Pell. Or perhaps a bit unfair?
Yes, Hitch would have stiched up the Cardinal even more thoroughly than Dawkins did.
Don’t get me wrong, Darkins is great but I think even he wiould admit that he doesn’t have the eloquence and breadth that Hitch had. Where will we ever find another Hitch? I imagioe that Dawkins will have some very nice things to say about Hitch at the Conference.
Its strange. The US is distinguished by explicit terms of separation in a secular constitution and yet has the most religious rhetoric in its proceedings of virtually any western nation. Many European nations, by contrast, still maintain an official state religion (not mandatory) and yet manage to do the daily business of state without prayers or homages.
Are americans insecure, needing some perpetual validation? I dunno what the reason is but its definitely weird.
Its strange. The US is distinguished by explicit terms of separation in a secular constitution and yet has the most religious rhetoric in its proceedings of virtually any western nation. Many European nations, by contrast, still maintain an official state religion (not mandatory) and yet manage to do the daily business of state without prayers or homages.
Are americans insecure, needing some perpetual validation? I dunno what the reason is but its definitely weird.
Part of it is that there is a sense among the religious core in America that things are getting away from them and that we are about to lose the foundations of our society. Whether or not this is true is actually irrelevant. It is the perception of this that causes people to feel uneasy and insecure, and to become more vocal. They don’t want the America of the 1950’s to vanish, even though it already has. But now it really has, and is touching every aspect of their lives. They feel as though they are still the majority, but that it’s slipping away. Change is happening too fast, and so you are getting this paroxysm of religiousity that is gripping the nation. It’s a stage. Change brings change.
