church and state
Faith and politics
Church and state refers to the relationship between religious institutions and government authority.
The phrase usually appears in discussions of their proper separation: The Constitution establishes a wall between church and state.
This separation prevents government from favoring or establishing an official religion, and shields religious practice from state interference.
The court ruled that the display violated the separation of church and state.
- First AmendmentConstitutional free expression guarantee
- wall of separationBarrier dividing distinct domains
- separation of powersConstitutional distribution of authority
- religious freedomRight to practice faith
- Treaty of Westphalia1648 sovereignty-establishing peace
law · secularism · judge · cross · concordat · constitutionalism · Enlightenment · blasphemy laws · Vatican II · disestablishment · render unto Caesar · clergy · Magna Carta · Reformation · French Revolution · Martin Luther · laity · canon law
- Secularismsecular humanism, disestablishment, secularization, secular education, establishment clause
- religious nationalismreligious nationalism, theocracy, Zionism, Islamism, caliphate
- religionChristianity, Islam, beliefs, Judaism, Hinduism
- church historyapostles, Protestant Reformation, Christian history, baptism, Reformation
- political controversiesabortion, gun control, voter suppression, gerrymandering, affirmative action
- religious issuesreligious freedoms, religious tolerance, religious exemptions, interfaith, religious minorities
church and statetheocracy
Rule by religious authority
caliphate · state religion · established church · Sharia law · hierocracy
state, church, estate, states, churches, statesman, statecraft, churchman, churchly