The Relationship between Religion and Politics in a Globalizing World

Abstract

Religion plays a powerful role in modern politics, and the relationship between the two is ever-changing. The governing of a state cannot be separated from the religious views of its people that affect the leaders and lawmakers of a country. Law mirrors society. This paper explores the ways that religious beliefs, practices, and communities shape and are shaped by the political expecta-tions and necessities of a nation by using examples from major world religions. Readers will be presented information regarding each religion’s perception of the relationship between religion and politics and how religious adherents have upheld or opposed the relationship. Because reli-gion and politics are always changing and adapting, the foundational ideologies of the relation-ship between these two entities are continually challenged, reimagined, modified.