Proclaiming Political Pluralism: Churches and Political Transitions in Africa (Religion in the Age o

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Armenia was the first country which embraced Christianity as the religion of the King, the nobles, and the people. A Global History of Architecture. In the 4th century, King Ezana converted to Christianity and declared Aksum a Christian state—the first Christian state in the history of the world.

Kartli became a Christian state under King Mirian in In the Edict of Thessalonica he expressed the imperial "desire" that all Roman citizens should become Christians, the emperor adjudging all other madmen and ordering them to be designated as heretics, There was thus created the "Christian State. In contrast, the emperor Justinian refashioned the eastern part of the Roman Empire into a strong and dynamic Byzantine Empire, which claimed Bosnia-Hercegovina, among other provinces. The Byzantine Empire became the world's predominant Christian state, based on Roman law, Greek culture, and the Greek language.

Retrieved 11 May Israel and the Family of Nations: The Jewish Nation-state and Human Rights. Thus the Constitution of Costa Rica, which is considered a model of stable democracy in Latin America, states in Article The Roman Catholic and Apostolic Religion is the religion of the State, which contributes to its maintenance, without preventing the free exercise in the Republic of other forms of worship that are not opposed to universal morality or good customs.

Denmark has declared the Evangelical Lutheran church to be that national church par. This declaration implies that the Danish State does not take a neutral stand in religious matters. Nevertheless, freedom of religion has been incorporated in the Constitution.

Christian state

Nielsen , 77 gives a short description of the position of the minority religious communities in comparison to that of the State Church: The other small religious communities, viz. Roman Catholics, Methodists, Baptists and Jews, have the constitutional status of 'recognised communities of faith'. Contrary to the minority religious communities, the Lutheran Church is fully financed by the Danish State.

A Confucian Constitutional Order. The features of the state affect the essence of the state, but the key term is that of historical identity, hence this chapter concentrates on historical identity as the essence of the state, though at times some of the other features will also be referred to. For instance, ancient Greece has now become an Orthodox Christian state.

Gordon 1 January A World Survey of Religion and the State. Liechtenstein's constitution designates the Catholic Church as the state Church and guarantees religious freedom. Article 38 provides protection for the property rights of all religious institutions and states that "the administration of church property in the parishes shall be regulated by a specific law; the agreement of church authorities shall be sought before the law is enacted.

Archived from the original on 27 August Retrieved 4 September Archived from the original on June 16, Retrieved June 16, As King George I of Tonga, Tupou created the "modern" Christian state with the Cross dominating its flag, and with the rigorous constitutional clause regulating observation of the Sabbath.

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The Constitution of Tuvalu in a similar vein constitutes Tuvalu as "an independent State based on Christian principles The State of Vatican City, originally established by the Lateran Pacts of , approximates most faithfully the ideal-typical conception of theocratic Roman Catholic state. The Pope is ex officio simultaneously leader of the Roman Catholic Church as well as Head of State and Head of the Government of the State of the Vatican City; he also possesses de jure absolute authority over the legislative, executive and judicial branches.

Practically all acts and policies of the Vatican City revolve around the interests of the Holy See and, apart from the members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard, virtually all inhabitants of the Vatican City are members of the clergy. The Coming of Global Christianity. On Marx, Engels and Theology. Yet what is intriguing about this argument is that this modern secular state arises from, or is the simultaneous realisation and negation of, the Christian state.

Indeed, it is not the so-called Christian state, that one that recognizes Christianity as its basis, as the state religion, and thus adopts an exclusive attitude to other religions, that is the perfected Christian state, but rather the atheist state, the Patout 1 April War and Its Discontents: Pacifism and Quietism in the Abrahamic Traditions. The religious group is confronted by a pagan state, a Jewish state, a Christian state, an Islamic state, or a secular state.

Gender, Justice, and the Wars in Iraq. Just as Christian just war theory justified the actions of the Christian state, Islamic jihad theory began with the founding of the Islamic state. All the Apostles of the Bible. Government and Politics of the Contemporary Middle East. The Byzantine Empire was both a Greek and a Christian state.

Increasingly, Latin fell into disuse as Greek became both the common and the official language of the empire. The Byzantine Empire was also built on a faith in Jesus that was shared by almost all of its citizens. An enormous amount of artistic talent was poured into the construction of churches, church ceremonies, and church decoration. Spiritual principles deeply permeated Byzantine art. Periods of World History: A Latin American Perspective.

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An Introduction to the Christian Orthodox Churches. Thus Georgia became the world's second Christian state, preceded only by Armenia. Then, in the early 4th century, Ezana, Aksum's ruler, converted to Christianity and proclaimed Aksum a Christian state.

US Department of State. Archived from the original on 12 April Religion and the State: An International Analysis of Roles and Relationships. The government as a whole treats religion well and allows missionaries to freely enter and move around the country. Only the Catholic holy days are recognized as holidays, but the state generally allows people time to celebrate their holy days if they are of another religion. The public schools provide religious education, but parents can opt their children out if they choose.

Religion in the 21st Century. Sweyn brought about Denmark's transition from a tribal civilisation to an early Christian state and furthermore modernised the organisation of the Christian church. Encyclopedia of Global Religion. A majority of Danes, Pastors in the Church of Denmark are civil servants employed by the Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs, which also constitutes the head of administration. The Carolingian Renaissance heightened appreciation within England of the role of king and church in a Christian state. Religious Education in Public Schools: Study of Comparative Law.

The requirement that the collective worship be of a broadly Christian character is satisfied ' Church and State in Contemporary Europe. Greece is the only Orthodox country in the EU. St Vladimir's Seminary Press. Greece therefore is today the only country where the Orthodox Church remains a state church and plays a dominant role in the life of the country.

A History of the Vikings. In becoming a Christian state, then, Iceland had avoided the chaos that was threatened by the secession of the Christian party from Althing and had cemented her friendship with the mother-country of Norway. All public schools have mandatory education in Christianity. Formally, only the Minister of Education has the power to exempt students from this but individual schools usually grant informal exemptions. Rights, Religious Pluralism and the Recognition of Difference: Off the Scales of Justice.

According to Section 2 of the Maltese Constitution from the year , amended in and , the state church of Malta is the Roman Catholic Church. According to the same section it is endowed with a legal right to determine moral rights and wrongs and is privileged in public education: The authorities of the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church have the duty to teach which principles are right and which are wrong.

Religious teaching of the Roman Catholic Apostolic Faith shall be provided in all State schools as part of compulsory education. Facilitating Freedom of Religion or Belief. Norway and National Liberation in Southern Africa. The Champion of World Peace. The Encyclopedia of Christianity. State, church and laity in Norwegian society: University of Hawaii Press.

Tonga, according to its mission friends, exemplified how grace and selfless devotion to the task could transform a feuding array of heathen communities into a unified Christian state. New to New Zealand: Nearly all Tongans are Christian, and about 30 percent belong to the Free Wesleyan Church, the official state church.

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Routledge Handbook of Law and Religion. Recent trends have moved in opposite directions: Article 3, Hellenic Resources network. Retrieved 3 December The Making of the Irish Constitution Official relations of the republic with the Holy See shall be governed by concordats or other bilateral agreements.

The State has no official religion. The Church of Scotland Act formally recognised the Kirk's independence from the state. Uses authors parameter link. Retrieved from " https: Christian states State churches Christian Types of Christian organization Christianity and politics Christian terminology Forms of government Congregationalism. Zimbabwe attained independence from Britain in However, the authoritarian political culture that had existed during the colonial era did not vanish with the introduction of a new government.

Zimbabwe has been marred by violence since to the time during which the religio-political movements emerged. The following conflict and violence flashpoints are cases in point: Political violence, not just from , but stretching back to and beyond has dominated election periods. Political institutions such as the security sector, the judiciary system, economic corruption, land reform programme, have contributed to institutionalisation of direct and structural violence see Harold-Barry Operation Restore Oder, commonly known as Murambatsvina a Shona language word which means get rid of the filth where alleged illegal houses of ordinary people mostly in urban areas were demolished by the government was a crystal clear case of a state turning against its citizens see Tibaijuka The populace, which seemingly appears as rather religious, looked up to the mainline churches but they did not appear to live up to expectations in this regard.

Whither Mainline Denominations and Churches. Scholars such as Phiri advance the thesis that churches ecumenically, denominationally or congregationally intervene in national politics when a vacuum occurs in African political systems, when the state represses civil society organisations. I argue that developments in Zimbabwe show a different trajectory. Churches, in post-independence Zimbabwe, have not provided the required cognitive, emotional and moral guidance in dealing with the legacies of the political past as well as present political challenges to the government. For example, the government censored their discussion document 'The Zimbabwe We Want' developed by these bodies, before it was published, and wooed leaders with invitations to State House Mpofu n.

Bishop Nemapere the head of the team that went to state house to meet the President is quoted as saying 'we know we have a government that we must support, interact with and draw attention to concerns. Those of us who have different ideas about this country must know we have a government which listens Mpofu n. This meeting marked the end of the dialogue as sponsored by the churches and makes one conclude that the Church failed to rise above political patronage' see Tarusarira Mainline church bodies were courted by political elites with gifts.

This resonates with Haynes' observation that mainstream religious organisations often have a mutually beneficial relationship with the state because of their strong desire to keep their religious influence, which can better be done in an environment of good rather than poor relations, and also because of a normative concern with stability as a good thing in itself. The institutional churches in Zimbabwe have therefore not challenged repression and oppression.

This resulted in the emergence of new religio-political movements not focused on fixed and strict structure, authority and tradition, but flexible and fluid structures that can quickly and radically respond to issues of concern in society. But they often rely on the power of 'the statement', on 'the word', and the 'good news' explicit in Christian teaching, as if oratory were all that is important.

This is instead of living out the commitment to social practices, involving commitment to behaviours, values, beliefs, and discursive formations that make peace a reality. Peacemaking and reconciliation should be made a habit, tradition, as well as an ideal, in which reconciliation affects the kinds of social relationships practitioners have and the social actions they perform in order to make a peaceful society. This will include speechifying but implementation of reconciliation by action is primary. Often they practice 'elastic band leadership and leashed leadership' Brewer et al.

The former is understood as leadership that takes followers forwards but is cautious not to 'break the elastic', while the latter keeps a very tight leash on what it sees as the potentially damaging forms of mass populist action loitering just beneath the surface. Elsewhere, I have called these approaches theodicies of legitimation in contrast to theodicies of liberation see Tarusarira ; see also Campbell Pastoral letters regardless of how intellectually sharp and thorny they may be, appears to make the church distant from the people, and only provides interaction between the letter and the reader, or to be a little more fair, between the reader and the bishops, in an impersonal way, but do not provide a dialogical process.

Issues of political instability, conflict and violence require direct interaction to resolve them and not a general approach. Hence I argue that if the pastoral letters are to be effective, they have to be deconstructed to be accessible to the grassroots. Thus Brewer et al. The distinction between negative and positive peace is often traced to Galtung The former refers to the absence of violence, while the latter refers to achievement of fairness, justice and social redistribution.

Christian state - Wikipedia

With respect to the mainline churches, negative peace refers to 'the provision of pastoral care to the affected communities, criticisms of violence, calls for restraint, formulaic statements after each tragedy Brewer et al. Thus despite numerous pastoral letters that were issued violence persisted on the political field Zimudzi In the end the approaches of mainline churches end up shoring up the political system.

This prompted disgruntled Christians, who could not watch the prophetic voice and actions being compromised, to organize themselves outside the jurisdiction of the church structures to pursue broader political objectives. As Herbert argues, the world in the last two decades of the twentieth century has witnessed religions 're-enter' public space as influential discursive and symbolic systems, beyond the control of either traditional religious authoring institutions or states. In Africa, 're-entering' should not be understood as in the case in societies where secularisation has made significant strides, but as increased politically engaged religious activity over time.

As Ellis and ter Haar It would be most accurate to refer to the revival of public religion or revival of religion in the occupation of political space. Given the perceived ineffectiveness or low index of trust of groups like ZCBC, ZCC and EFZ it is not surprising that dissatisfied coreligionists have formed new extra-institutional groups and movements thereby demonstrating that Christianity in Zimbabwe has the potential to transform from being pietistic to challenge the political systems and engage with those at the margins of society and the oppressed. The emergence of these movements should also be viewed within the wider globalisation and now strained secularisation discourse.

It also substantially implies increased interdependence, involving both states and non-states in themes such as economic, developmental, social, political, technological, environmental, gender and human rights inter alia Haynes What happens in one state affects others leading to an interconnected global context of action. For the purposes of this article transnational activity and globalisation are understood as religion expanding explosively, stimulated by secular global processes in contemporary times Rudolph The modus operandi of globalisation involves neoliberal 2 approaches such as civil society and social movement approaches, network society, decentralisation and bottom-up politics as responsive strategies.

In the vein of secularisation the aforementioned themes and strategies are mediated through the use of rationalisation and impersonal criteria to decide, allocate and adjudicate Beyer To mention secularisation is not to assert that Zimbabwe has been secularised. Zimbabwe is a complex situation in which I prefer to talk of secularisation of the state and not of the society. The politically engaged religious movements in question busy themselves with and employ the globally acclaimed issues and strategies respectively within the Zimbabwean context. This raises the question of whether the religious and the secular can be easily and hermetically separated.

Hence developments on the global stage have also influenced the religio-political response to the body politik in Zimbabwe. Globalisation is not only material or techno-economic but also cultural and political involving consciousness, cognitive schema, models of authority, and goals of progress Thomas This implies responding to wider social processes that are rendering former understandings of territory, society and cultural identity problematic Coleman Due to global communication networks Haynes political, social and economical global developments reach various locales faster than before the advent of globalisation, and 'people, cultures, societies and civilisations previously separated are now in regular unavoidable contact Beyer Globalisation smacks of oneness of place and time Beyer leading to a world culture comprised of things, identities and models of action that are pervasive throughout the world Thomas One can therefore not underestimate the transnational influence of events such as the September 11 attacks, the role of religion in fighting apartheid in South Africa, the role of Roman Catholicism in formation of the Solidarity movement in Poland, the Iranian revolution in , inter alia.

Globalisation has therefore served to influence religious organisations to adopt new or renewed agendas. This process should not be viewed as mere adoption of global views but negotiation of global processes and construction of new agendas and processes. Globalisation has drawn actors into extensive networks and layers of regional and international governance, thereby creating a collective weight in the form of global civil society capable of challenging hegemonic discourses Bradley Some of these agendas include internationally acclaimed values such as social development and human rights inter alia.

In addition to the use of information communication and technology to broadcast their messages, these movements have forged international links for resource mobilisation and in a search for solidarity, since 'transnational movements magnify beliefs and grievances expressed at local level' Bradley While globalisation and modernisation puts religion into question, it is the watershed for the transformation of religion from the 'traditional' mainline religion to politically engaged religious movements see Thomas Due to the dialogical interaction of globalisation and religion, traditional religion across the world could not remain the same.

I selected and analysed these religious movements as one dimension within the larger corpus of civil society. I focused on their culture, organisation and their operational environment. The coordinator of ZCA described the organisation as 'a network of faith-based groups and individuals with a calling in peace and justice work'. Emerging from this was that the root cause of Murambatsvina or the destroying of people's homes could really be traced back to bad governance.

But at that time there was a vacuum which the recognised churches were not speaking out about, nor did they move in to assist. ZCA realised that in order to deal with the deeper problem of Zimbabwe, which in their view is bad governance, numerous governance strands needed attention. These strands included a new constitution, processes of national healing and an election process.

They decided they 'would engage on issues of justice without conforming to the status quo that was there but in order to create a new wine skin that we would use to engage with our context', according to the Coordinator. ZCA derives its mandate from the Bible, particularly Psalm How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked? Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the weak and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; Deliver them from the hand of the wicked' Newsletter March Towards its objectives, ZCA had to articulate certain strategic activities which included some of the following, similar to those associated with globalisation, especially neoliberal approaches: It has also issued out position papers, published a newsletter to share its reflections on topical issues in the country.

For some of its activities it has been subjected to police brutality and arrests. Influenced by its adoption of the global human rights and civil society discourse in addition to the local initiatives, ZCA endeavoured to create extensive regional and international networks and layers to create a collective weight in the form of global civil society capable of challenging hegemonic discourses. To this end it has interacted with regional and global actors. In the Archbishop of Uppsala Church of Sweden and his delegation visited Zimbabwe and met with the leadership of ZCA with whom they reflected upon the crises in the country.

On the regional front, a case in point is ZCA's engagement with church leaders and civil society groups from Tanzania, Botswana, South Africa and Swaziland.

ZCA members say that they have been encouraged by the activities of people such as Bishop Paul Verryn of the Methodist Church in Johannesburg who has offered Zimbabwean political and economic refugees shelter, and who it honoured with a Justice and Peace Award. ZCA has partnered with international actors such as Tear Fund UK and has participated at global platforms to articulate various political issues with respect to the Zimbabwean crises. Churches in Manicaland Manicaland is a Province in Eastern Zimbabwe is an 'ecumenical' gathering of members from Christian denominations and organizations in the province of Manicaland.

It was formed in at the time of great violence and uncertainty, intimidation and violence. The use of the word 'churches' does not here refer to the institutional church but to individual Christians, who would not be able to speak at high-ranking platforms unlike mainline bodies. In a demonstration of decentralisation, CiM refers to itself as a forum or a loose platform without a formal structure of leadership. This strategically makes it difficult for the state security to pick on anyone as the point person of the forum, prevents possible leadership wrangles and makes it accessible to everyone involved.

In a depiction of the influence of globalisation, one founder member expressing her motivation to be part of CiM said: At the time I was working with the All Africa Conference of Churches in this region on Churches and Ministry with uprooted people and immediately I recognised what I had seen in other countries that we were in a crises which was going to be uprooting a large number of people if we were not going to be careful.

That is where my motivation came from. I was also a member of Commission on the World Council of Churches on International Affairs so I had the international perspective as well interview with a founding member. Institutional churches tend to be conservative and rigid Kull Thus CiM prides itself on flexibility. One Catholic interviewee said: That is the main reason why I am so passionate about CiM.

In as much as I have done a lot with the Catholic Justice and Peace commission, the bureaucratic nature and the limitations within the Catholic Church are problematic, I would say for example if there is a crisis, I must go to the Bishop, and it takes about 2 to 3 weeks before a statement is passed and by the time it is passed, it is no longer relevant. These are limitations I don't find in CiM.

We sit down and say this is what we want to do. It's done and it will be relevant. It will be up to time and relevant I find CiM more flexible and giving room for innovations for practical interventions. To further explain the institutional inertia of mainline churches and bodies in favour of decentralisation and bottom-up politics as responsive strategies, a thinking derivable from the globalisation discourse, a CiM interviewee, a founding member, narrated that on behalf of CiM, she went to ZCC and spoke to its 'official' and the way the official responded, according to her, showed her where the problem was.

She says the official was not a man of great decision, and she said to him, 'I think if we miss this moment in the history of Zimbabwe, we the churches are going to have a hard time relating to whatever develops from this'. When CiM attempted to make use of the national heads of churches to take concerns to the national political leaders, it received a very slow and muted response until it wrote a letter to ZCC outlining its dissatisfaction. She further asserted that the church leaders were not well organised: In they worked together as a fantastic team on repatriation and reintegration of refugees after the liberation war, but after that it was just a tip, they met here and there and swapped stories, so they were not really oriented towards picking up stories from the ground and running up like that.

We decided to write them a letter to tell them where we stand from Manicaland province and how we see things. We signed our names as individual denominations. That particular letter had about 40 names. In terms of strategy CiM deployed bottom up and grassroots approaches. It used newsletters which it started using during the election periods as a way to educate voters. It emphasized voting responsibly, abstaining from violence, voting for something they believed has a future for them and their children inter alia.

It distributed flyers and newsletters at various places including bus terminuses where its members gave travellers the newsletters and pamphlets to take to the remotest of places in the rural areas. CiM members have visited some chiefs in Manicaland province, to express their concern about violence that was taking place in their chiefdoms. It reports that some chiefs were happy that CiM had visited them.

This perception is based on the fact that the language of CiM sounds similar to that of the MDC, especially the emphasis on respect for human rights, democracy and freedoms. CiM formed teams such as a rapid response team that responded immediately to acts of arson in the province. The team would respond by moving in to stop any violent situations and also publicise the acts to the world.

It would make known the presence of groups wielding sticks and spears. Anybody who wanted to send messages about a problem could immediately do so and the team would respond immediately. Since the whites had become direct victims due to the land question in which the government expropriated land from them, another group looking into race relations was established, as was one looking into youth expectations. A research team was put up to substantiate and inform CiM activities.

CiM organised workshops for interested pastors from all religious denominations in Manicaland because it felt violence was not discriminating anybody on grounds of religion. Because pastors were living in fear, the workshops became a source of solidarity and ideas. The preceding narrative demonstrates implementation of social movement and bottom-up politics. CiM engaged political elites in an effort to rope them into the fight against all forms of political violence, especially between political parties.

People who did not support one particular party were subjected to violence through beatings or having their houses burnt. CiM therefore engaged the governor of the province and asked her to make a statement for peace in the province. Likewise the chief of police and the Electoral Commission officials were engaged to facilitate peaceful elections and co-existence in the province.

Reverend M 3 demanded that churches be incorporated in the activities of this body because CIM believed that religious actors have power and influence in pacifying the nation Manayiti The Director of GtH narrated that the organization was formed during the time of land upheavals and the consequent political, economic and political instability.

In this development, of interest to GtH is not the land question per se, but the violence that was associated with it. The land question became a watershed of violence in Zimbabwe. Issues of concern to GtH, were not restricted to the late s and early s.

They included s massacres in Matabeleland province, known as Gukurahundi. From the Baptist Church of Bulawayo members of GtH reflected on what they needed to do in the face of the political crisis. Coming from Matabeleland province, they decided upon Gukurahundi as the starting point. The motivation is basically that we are called to be peace makers. Jesus is the healer and he is the prince of peace and so as a Christian organisation, we were guided particularly by I Cor 5: There is a context of us reconciling to God but we do believe it can be applied broader than just that.

GtH aims to be part and parcel of the political transformation paying special attention to the challenges of the people of Matabeleland province. It does not believe in being silenced as they believe other church actors have been. Critiquing the political processes is not foreign to religious actors. We believe it is actually in line with the duties and responsibilities of pastors if we look at people like Hosiah, Jeremiah, Amos and others. The way Amos in particular speaks, that could have been called meddling in political issues.

The church must maintain a critical distance - not too far, not too near to politics as an organisation. Individuals within the church can do that. If you are a church pastor then don't get involved in partisan politics because you have all sorts of people from all political dimensions coming to your church on Sunday. If you take political sides that will destroy the unity and harmony within the church. When I asked the mainline church leaders' perspective on religio-political organisations, they were very critical of them.

P's 4 response is representative of the views: These organizations [religio-political organizations] claim to be civic organizations and it appears as though the agenda that they pursue is clearly a political agenda which has taken a position, an ideological posturing which is more critical than supportive of pan-Africanist nationalist liberation agenda driven movements.

Their agendas and programs of action are tied to certain foreign ideological interests, of the donor basis. Their type of understanding of politics is a largely liberal and neo-colonial version of democracy. They seem not to entertain in their definitions or in their visions of democracy, social democratic models of democracy that are socialist, that are home grown, African.

They seem to be very pre-occupied with a slate or template democracy template that is simply transposed out of the Euro-American template which is liberal, very individualistic etc. They are more biased towards the liberal democratic model and template, freedom of expression, freedom of speech etc. And they talk less about the freedom of our sovereignty, the freedom to retain our sovereignty as a people, the freedom to retain our identity as a people.

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