Which countries have secularism

Secularism may also imply anticlericalism, atheism, naturalism, the banishment of religious symbols from the public sphere, and more. Secular states do not discriminate or favor individuals to groups based on their religious beliefs. Secular governments shall not interfere with religion and its activities, and faith shall not play a role in law and policy-making decisions.

If a country wishes to have true freedom of religion, establishing a secular state is crucial. State secularism is a political term that means separation of church and state. This can be a movement consisting of removing ties between government and a state religion, replacing laws based on scripture, and eliminating religious discrimination. Some countries claim to be secular but have non-secular tendencies such as references to religion in national anthems or flags. Secular states can be any form of government, from democracy to absolute monarchies.

In studies of religion, modern democracies are generally recognized as secular due to freedom of religion principles and the lack of authority of religious leaders in political decisions. Country profiles. Follow us on Facebook to get interesting stats:. Add NationMaster content to your website.

Copy code below and paste it into your website. Adblocker detected! Please consider reading this notice. We need money to operate the site, and almost all of it comes from our online advertising. Hong Kong. Czech Republic. United Kingdom. New Zealand. South Korea. However, the country adopted a new constitution in which saw the recognition of Islam as the state religion, turning Iraq into a religious state.

There are countries in the world that define themselves as secular states but have instituted policies and laws that are against secularism.

Such countries are termed as ambiguous states in the context of secularism. Armenia is a perfect example of an ambiguous country, as its constitution defines it as a secular state but surprisingly also establishes the national church to be the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Another example is Norway, whose constitution provides for the separation of religion and the state but requires the King of Norway to be a member of the Church of Norway. A country who does not base its laws on religion or cite an official religion is secular. Olympic Games History. Southeast Asian Countries.