Editing Separation of church and state (section)

{{Short description|Principle to separate religious and civil institutions}}
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The '''separation of church and state''' is a philosophical and [[Jurisprudence|jurisprudential]] concept for defining political distance in the relationship between [[religious organizations]] and the [[State (polity)|state]]. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a [[secular state]] (with or without legally explicit church-state separation) and to '''disestablishment''', the changing of an existing, formal relationship between the church and the state.<ref>''The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States'' (1992), Kermit D. Hall, Ed. pp. 717–726</ref> The concept originated among early [[Baptists]] in America. In 1644, [[Roger Williams]], a Baptist minister and founder of the [[Rhode Island|state of Rhode Island]] and the [[First Baptist Church in America]], was the first public official to call for "a wall or hedge of separation" between "the wilderness of the world" and "the garden of the church."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Establishment Clause: Separation of Church and State |url=https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/establishment-clause-separation-of-church-and-state/ |access-date=2024-03-28 |website=The Free Speech Center |language=en-US}}</ref> Although the concept is older, the exact phrase "separation of church and state" is derived from "wall of separation between Church & State," a term coined by [[Thomas Jefferson]] in his 1802 letter to members of the Danbury Baptist Association in the state of Connecticut.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jefferson's Letter to the Danbury Baptists (June 1998) - Library of Congress Information Bulletin |url=https://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9806/danpre.html |access-date=2024-03-28 |website=www.loc.gov}}</ref> The concept was promoted by [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] philosophers such as [[John Locke]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory2/chapter/the-enlightenment/|title=The Enlightenment &#124; History of Western Civilization II|website=courses.lumenlearning.com|access-date=2021-01-20|archive-date=2021-04-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417213938/https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory2/chapter/the-enlightenment/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In a society, the degree of political separation between the church and the civil state is determined by the legal structures and prevalent legal views that define the proper relationship between organized religion and the state. The [[arm's length principle]] proposes a relationship wherein the two political entities interact as organizations each independent of the authority of the other. The strict application of the secular principle of ''[[Secularism in France|laïcité]]'' is used in France. In contrast, societies such as Denmark and England maintain the constitutional recognition of an official [[Christian state|state church]]; similarly, other countries have a policy of [[accommodationism]], with religious symbols being present in the public square.<ref name="Nussbaum2010">{{cite web|url=https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/veiled-threats/?mcubz=3|title=Veiled Threats?|last=Nussbaum|first=Martha|date=11 July 2010|work=[[The New York Times]]|language=English|accessdate=30 September 2017|quote=On the whole, the accommodationist position has been dominant in U.S. law and public culture─ever since George Washington wrote a famous letter to the Quakers explaining that he would not require them to serve in the military because the "conscientious scruples of all men" deserve the greatest "delicacy and tenderness."}}</ref>

The philosophy of the separation of the church from the civil state parallels the philosophies of [[secularism]], [[disestablishmentarianism]], [[religious liberty]], and [[religious pluralism]]. By way of these philosophies, the European states assumed some of the social roles of the church in form of the [[welfare state]], a social shift that produced a culturally secular population and [[public sphere]].<ref>''[http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=separationism Separationism] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807030106/http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=separationism |date=2020-08-07 }}'', [http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn Princeton University WordNet] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508073028/http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn |date=May 8, 2016 }} reads: "separationism: advocacy of a policy of strict separation of church and state."</ref> In practice, church–state separation varies from total separation, mandated by the country's political [[constitution]], as in [[Religion in India|India]] and [[Religion in Singapore|Singapore]], to a state religion, as in [[Freedom of religion in the Maldives|the Maldives]].