In ‘Questioning church and state’ the reality of the relationship between church and state was outlined in the most sketchy of fashions. It was observed that the two are at times so closely intertwined that it becomes difficult to tell them apart, especially so within more socialist nations.
With this in mind and before delving into idealistic perspectives drawn from observations made it would be prudent to understand why the church has sway over the state. A look back at history is in order.
Long, long ago, when humans were becoming less nomadic and increasingly settled, the earliest settlements involved the homesteads of individual families clustered together for the sake of protection (within the philosophy of safety in numbers). Where there was an established set of beliefs held within the group, or an entity of authority representing such a set of beliefs - one commonly found that the development of a settlement either began with or progressed around a religious focal point - such as a church. In fact one notes that a large number of village centers includes a church. Back then it was considered important. Iin the absence of understanding a population is mote likely to take on the most attractive or authoritative alternative available - and with a religion of relatively solid historical basis such as Christianity, coupled with the duality of reward of piety with the threat of eternal suffering for insubordination, it is easy to understand why the church grew in power.
Still, in spite of all of this the church and the religion it represents did serve an important purpose. It served as the glue which sustained the fabric of society. It served as a catalyst for the introduction of a collective consciousness and in doing so served to keep the majority within society within the fold - with a low number of cases of alienation. Of course, back then such cases of alienation did not have such niceties as ‘rights’ to protect their interests and so they were excommunicated, given the cold shoulder, systematically murdered… and so on. Some committed suicide because they couldn’t take it any more.
While human society has since progressed it is safe to say that there remains an uncannily high rate of suicides - mostly not reported on the media because they are both too common and are a political statement in themselves… with a message that the state would not wish to see delivered.
While it was intended to wrap this topic up today I feel that it is preferable to seek to deal with it in as complete a fashion as reasonable. It is for this reason that a bit of background was to be considered desirable. The topic shall be continued.
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