It is known as secular state to those countries whose form of government is independent of any religious organization, in such a way that the decisions of politicians will not be linked to any religious order other than their own decisions or those of their party. For example: South Korea, Syria, Venezuela, Slovenia.
The definition The strict rule of secular states leaves very few countries within the group, since it reserves the presence for those who do not have any kind of influence in any of the public powers.
For many people, the secularism of the State is a principle of concord between the different human beings that inhabit the country, which is based on what unites them and not on what separates them.
The principle of neutrality of the State with respect to the different options of private conscience presumes the existence of different creeds within a country and guarantees normal coexistence, which is a very strong and favorable position for freedom of conscience, equal rights and the universality of public action.
Examples of secular states
Nicaragua Democratic Republic of Congo Namibia Mexico Portugal Czech Republic Liberia Bosnia and Herzegovina Guinea-Bissau South Africa South Korea Equatorial Guinea Thailand Vietnam Gambia Fiji Turkey Ecuador United States of America Guyana Syria Russian Federation Jamaica Slovakia Indonesia New Zealand Senegal Andorra Federated States of Micronesia Aruba Switzerland Romania Luxembourg Botswana Brazil Puerto Rico Poland Uruguay Paraguay Benin Montenegro Moldova Germany India Ukraine Flag of Suriname Bulgaria Lithuania Mozambique Chile Croatia Georgia Cape Verde Cuba El Salvador Laos North Korea Belgium Hungary Armenia Taiwan Colombia Estonia Belize Mongolia Belarus Ethiopia Peru Solomon Islands Netherlands Italy Saint Tome and Principe Slovenia Honduras Lebanon Bahamas Cameroon Albania Tajikistan Trinidad and Tobago Burkina Faso Australia People’s Republic of China Austria Guinea Bolivia Republic of Macedonia France Serbia Hong Kong Canada Guatemala Mali Gabon Venezuela Ireland Ch ipre Angola Norway
See also: Forms of State
Characteristics of these states
However, it is frequent that the complete separation between religious institutions and the State is not fulfilled for almost any country. Then, certain conditions are established that a State must meet to be considered secular, even when it may have an official religion:
- People who do not ascribe to the religion of the State should not answer for mandates that they do not respect, being able to count on legislation that is not a believer in the legal framework.
- Education must be based on equality, and it is essential that students are not educated in the values of any religion. In any case, religious education will be optional and will not be the case in public schools.
- The State must not use religious symbols, in such a way as to separate government activity from all existing rites and religions.
- The festive dates should not be dates related to religion, but to important events for the territory due to historical events that occurred there.
Confessional states (not secular)
The opposite of secular states is the group of denominational states, those who adhere to a specific religion called official. Confessional states can be the product of the uses and customs of a nation, or of established legislation.
In the same way as in the case of the laity, there are different shades among confessional countries, the most extreme in the world being those that adopt a religion as the ideological foundation for all their political institutions, called theocracies, where the heads of government coincide with the religious leaders. In this group are the Vatican City, Iran, Saudi Arabia.
In this way, more than two categories, there are many nuances in the level of affiliation to a religion that a State can have. The following list includes some of the countries that formally comply with all the characteristics of a secular state.
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