Israel is defined in several of its laws as a Democratic Jewish state, but has no state or official religion, "Jewish" being treated as a nationality. In other countries the term "Jewish" means either adhering to the Jewish religion (Judaism), or a Jew bydescent (inheritance) or both.
When in Rome, the office ofPontifex Maximus was reserved for the emperor, failure to worship him as a god was sometimes punished by death, as the Roman government sought to link emperor worship with loyalty to the Empire. Many Christians and Jews were persecuted, because it was against their beliefs to worship the emperor.
In China, theHan Dynasty (206 BC—220 AD) advocatedConfucianism as the de facto state religion, establishing tests based on Confucian texts as an entrance requirement into government service.
Established churches and former state churches in Europe
^Note 4: In Hungary the constitutional laws of 1848 declared five established churches on equal status: theRoman Catholic,Calvinist,Lutheran,Eastern Orthodox andUnitarian Church. In 1868 the law was ratified again after theAusgleich. In 1895Judaism was also recognized as the sixth established church. In 1948 every distinction between the different denominations were abolished.
WhenNew France was transferred toGreat Britain in 1763, theRoman Catholic Church remained under toleration, butHuguenots were allowed entrance where they had formerly been banned from settlement by Parisian authorities.
Spanish Florida was ceded to theGreat Britain in 1763, the British divided Florida into two colonies. Both East and West Florida continued a policy of toleration for the Catholic Residents.
^Note 1: In several colonies, the establishment ceased to exist in practice at theRevolution, about 1776[source?]; this is the date of legal abolition.
^Note 2: in 1789 the Georgia Constitution was amended as follows:"Article IV. Section 10. No person within this state shall, upon any pretense, be deprived of the inestimable privilege of worshipping God in any manner agreeable to his own conscience, nor be compelled to attend any place of worship contrary to his own faith and judgment; nor shall he ever be obliged to pay tithes, taxes, or any other rate, for the building or repairing any place of worship, or for the maintenance of any minister or ministry, contrary to what he believes to be right, or hath voluntarily engaged. To do. No one religious society shall ever be established in this state, in preference to another; nor shall any person be denied the enjoyment of any civil right merely on account of his religious principles."
^Note 3: From 1780 Massachusetts had a system which required every man to belong to a church, and permitted each church to tax its members, and did not require that it be a Congregational church. This was objected to, as in practice establishing the Congregational Church, and was abolished in 1833.
^Note 4: Until 1877 the New Hampshire Constitution required members of the State legislature to be of the Protestant religion.
^Note 5: The North Carolina Constitution of 1776 disestablished the Anglican church, but until 1835 the NC Constitution allowed only Protestants to hold public office. From 1835 to 1876 it allowed allowed only Christians (including Catholics) to hold public office. Article VI, Section 8 of the current NC Constitution forbids only atheists from holding public office.[31] Such clauses were held by theUnited States Supreme Court to be unenforceable in the 1961 case ofTorcaso v. Watkins, when the court ruled unanimously that such clauses constituted a religious test incompatible withFirst andFourteenth Amendment protections.
^Note 6: Religious Tolerance for Catholics with an Established Church of England were policy in the former Spanish Colonies of East and West Florida while under British rule. East Florida was lost to Spain in 1781.
^Note 7: Religious tolerance for Catholics with an established Church of England were policy in the former Spanish Colonies of East and West Florida while under British rule. East Florida was returned to Spain in 1783.
↑"Iranian Constitution".www.servat.unibe.ch. Article 12. Retrieved2023-01-02.The official religion of Iran is Islam and the Twelver Ja'fari school, ...
↑Basic Law of Governance (Chapter one, Article one),saudiembassy.net, "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a sovereign Arab Islamic State. Its religion is Islam. Its constitution is Almighty God's Book, The Holy Qur'an, and the Sunna (Traditions) of the Prophet (PBUH). Arabic is the language of the Kingdom. The City of Riyadh is the capital."
↑"The Theodosian Code".THE LATIN LIBRARY at Ad Fontes Academy. Ad Fontes Academy. Retrieved2006-11-23.
↑Halsall, Paul (June 1997)."Theodosian Code XVI.i.2".Medieval Sourcebook: Banning of Other Religions. Fordham University. Archived fromthe original on 2007-02-27. Retrieved2006-11-23.
