Is it true that Greece is not a secular country (state and religion not being seperated)?

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Lady S

As far as I have figured, Church has a very big role and is very important in the Greek society. I don't know if they consider it secular or not, but honestly speaking, that kind of connection between the church and the country doesn't seem secular to me. Also, a lot of Greeks seem to be too religious and sometimes even intolerant to other religions. Now, that depends on your definition of being religious. Believing in God, being a good person and respecting all people is one thing; I have no problems with any religion, because if all people followed what religions tell them to do, everyone would be a good person and would never do bad things. Of course, there are people who just go around saying "I'm Christian and I always support Christians no matter what and I hate all non-Christians" etc., but if you look closely, they don't even obey any of their religion's instructions. (That kind of people exists anywhere; please note I'm not saying that all Greeks are that way.)

The problem today is that religion has become politicised, like many other things. People stopped seeing it as a religion itself (egg. believe in God, always be good, go to church/mosque/whatever), and started using it as a political tool.

Conclusion: There is nothing wrong with being religious, but you need to respect other religions too and treat all the people equally.

EDIT: I would like to see Elaine's explanation, because she always seems to be neutral and objective, and I have noticed she knows a lot about these things. I always respect her opinion and I'm really interested to hear what she has to say.

Cortophagus

Church in Greece has indeed voice for the political developments but it can't shape them. That happens also in many other countries e.g recently Pope warned Italy in danger or returning to fascism. In Greece recently passed a law in which a student could be excused from the religious lesson if he wishes. The church reacted but did not achieved anything.

And religious fanatics are very rare in Greece..

Vaggos.Gr

The official religion of Greece is Orthodox Christianity, but by our constitution all the people are free to worship whatever they want.

Greeks (in majority 97-98%) are Greek Orthodox, but there is not fanaticism with religion (ok some fanatics are everywhere).

It's true that many times the Greek Church or some Bishops are making comments (and many times strong) on issues that have to do with the Greek people, the faith etc.
The Church can influence many people because has many believers , but in the end the Greek Government will do whatever it wants !!!

So Greece is a secular country that has an official religion (since most of people are Christians), but people with other beliefs are respected by the State.

I prefer my country to be like this than to be secular only in the title !

Because there are other countries who are secular only in the "title" and in theory (and they feel very proud of this) ...... but practically they are not !!!

Vasiliki-Î’Î±ÏƒÎ¹Î»Î¹ÎºÎ®

Google techie what kind of answer is that?
is copy pasted from Nakisanswer and has my name into this,looks like I have answered this way!!!
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Av7LFtD6TDhvuxkDorgAcvzty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20080710070753AAEh0wc&show=7#profile-info-3oHlmC7kaa
this was where was taken from.

In Greece they say that state and religion is not seperated.
I thing what happens is that church likes to involve in politics.
That doesnt mean that they are controlling goverment or something.
WHy have only strong thesis from church ,where most of times (lucky for us) are being ignored.
You see,money have more power than everything.

Frank B

For your info, there is no country in EU where the church and the state are completely separate. We are getting there fast. This is reminiscent of their past history where the church was playing a major role in politics. That being said, however, you should not confuse the word "secularism" as it is used in e.g. Turkey with that of EU nations. In Turkey "secularism" is guaranteed by the army. In Greece, it is guaranteed by the free will and the democratic procedures. Same holds for any other nation in EU.

That does not mean that the pope or the archbishop won't interfere to some degree...:)

cpinatsi

Greece state is secular, as the Church plays no part in it and any civilian of any religion can live normally without needing the Church in anything. But there are still a couple of issues:
1. the priests are paid by the state, which is a trade they had with the state as the Church gave much of her land to the state in exchange to the priests' salaries.
2. the oaths taken in courts and in the army etc. are religious (the oath is to the gospel).
3. the ceremony of the inauguation of the parliament is blessed by the Archbishop.
4. The Christian Orthodox religion is the official religion of the state, although anyone can practise any religion, but they are not allowed to try to convert others.
Things like that.

As for other "secular" countries, the Queen of England is also head of the Church, the elections in the US are mostly judged based on religious actions of the candidates, etc. etc.

Also, I don't think the lesson of religious education should be banned or optional. The same way we learn history, we should learn religious issues, it is a matter of general encyclopedic education. There are people who study archaeology and go to identify Byzantine wall paintings and they can't, because they have no idea that a man rubbing his eyes would depict the miracle of Jesus healing the blind. Or architects restore churches and they don't know what is the prothesis used for in a Church, and they proposed to put a furniture in front, where the priest is supposed to stand. We should have knowledge of all religions, as they are part of history and culture.

Elaine

Please don't close your question, I'll edit my post later... First of all, you must know that there are different degrees of "secularism", that is, of separation between the Church and the State. I'll try to explain the system in Greece later.

GreekLover

idk but greece is a christian country 98% are orthodox-christians the 2% are jew or muslim

Charles_N

That's true state n church r not that separated..aw and to answer to the person below NO Greece has not a 98% of christian orthodox people.According to Eurostat or Eurobarometre -i don';t remember which one of those 1- only 80% of the people claim they're Christian Orthodox around 16% believe in a 'unknown form of power' 1% are Muslims Catholics Protestants n Jews and 3% r atheists

Serendipity

Yep, its true. But not for much longer!

Just Another Macedonian

Yes its true. In Greece church =state and state=church. No decision can be made without church.

Princess

Definition of secularism: church is separated from the state (which is not the case in Greece). So, the answer is: Greece is not secular.

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