Theocracy

Sociologyindex, Secularism, Sociology Books 2009, Theocracy

Theocracy is a form of government by God or a god either directly or through a priestly order. Theocracy is a system of government or a State governed by a sacerdotal order, claiming a divine commission.

Theocrat: A person who rules in a theocracy as the representative of God or a god; a divine or deified ruler.

A “theocracy,” as its name suggests, has to do with the rule of God over a people. But there is more to a theocracy than the bare fact that God is exercising control over his children. 

A true theocracy exists when God’s dominion is coupled with a domain, when his rule is connected to a realm, an actual piece of real estate within the borders of which God rules his people in a special and unique way. Israel’s situation in the Promised Land is perhaps the most obvious example of a theocracy in the Bible.

Many of the islamic countries are basically theocracies though they have elected representatives and parliament.

Theocracy and Democracy
Theocracy and democracy as forms of governments cannot really be compared. Whereas theocracy is religious, democracy is rational. In theocracy, the country and its people are ruled by a group that believes to be guided by God. Whereas in a theoretical state the ruling body is chosen on religious basis, the democratic state's governing body is chosen by a system of elections. Theocracy is not without sins. Countries where theocracy is prevalent the rights to women have been curtailed. Women are deprived of basic rights such as education and welfare and are subject to a lot of domestic violence. Theocracy, compared to democracy is not a very progressive. Theocracy tends to curtail basic human rights in the name of religion.

THE BATTLE FOR LIBERALISM: FACING THE CHALLENGE OF THEOCRACY
Lucas Swaine
Critical Review, Volume 19, Issue 4 October 2007 , pages 565 - 575 DOI: 10.1080/08913810801892929
Abstract: Liberal theory has failed to provide theocrats who are aggrieved by the sinful practices widespread in liberal societies good reasons to tolerate these sins. Moreover, liberal theory has faltered in identifying grounds on which to impose regulations that violate theocrats' religious doctrines. These challenges must be met if liberalism is to temper religious discord and to maintain its own relevance in a world replete with theocratic conceptions of the good.

Globalisation, theocracy and the new fascism: the US Right’s rise to power
Carl Davidson, Global Studies Association of North America
Jerry Harris, Global Studies Association of North America
Race & Class, Vol. 47, No. 3, 47-67 (2006) DOI: 10.1177/0306396806061086
The Christian Right is an increasingly powerful phenomenon in US politics. Extremely influential in the current administration, it has been building a mass base across the nation. This analysis of a movement that has been growing over the past four decades reveals the complex interrelationships between its different strands, their reach into the mass media, their war of attrition against socially liberal legislation and the opportunistic links with elements of the pro-Israel lobby. Also examined are the contradictions and potential contradictions within its different facets. Most alarming are those elements which revile, as anti-Christian, the very concept of a democratic society in their aim at overall ‘dominion’.

Serving God in a Largely Theocratic Society: Rivalry and Cooperation between Church and King
Pierre Salmon (pierre.salmon@u-bourgogne.fr) (LEG - CNRS UMR 5118 - Université de Bourgogne)
Abstract: A “largely theocratic society” (LTS) is defined as one in which the main purpose of government is religious and some coercion is used to serve it. Such societies exist at least in the imagination and discourse of some people. The focus is on LTS in which the major religious roles are assigned -- partly on the basis of theological interpretations -- to priesthood, kingship and community. In the small model presented, the influence of these interpretations on actual outcomes and their appeal to the main actors depend also on the expected configuration of religiously relevant capabilities, assumed to vary in part exogenously and in a part as a consequence of the reactions of the community. The illustrations are mostly sought in the relationship between the papacy and the Christian monarchs.

The Israeli Legal System: A Barrier to Theocracy
Abrutyn, Seth.
Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association.
Abstract: Sociologists see the role or function of the legal system from various angles; some view it as a form of integration in a modern pluralist society (Durkheim 1893/1984), other’s view it as a requisite institution for the development of rational capitalism and bureaucracy (Weber 1978), while others see it as a “weapon” that can be harnessed by those in positions of power (Turk 1976). In light of the recent invasion of Iraq and the subsequent foray into statecraft, the legal system becomes a vital institution ensuring the separation of mosque and state, while promoting the “rule of law” to ensure the success of the other nascent institutions. This paper analyzes the historical development of Israel and its legal system, the religious-secular issues that have tested the court’s resolve the most, and the mechanisms that have been put into place because of these rulings to prevent Israel from collapsing as a democratic state and joining state’s like Iran or Saudi Arabia in being theocratic. This goal of this analysis is to present a working model of a state that often blurs the lines between religious and secular aspects, but maintains a relatively firm separation of the two in hopes on encouraging future research in this area.

Being Pious under a Theocracy: Religiosity in Post-Khomeini Iran
Tezcur, Gunes Murat
Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association
Abstract: The question of how Islamic religion interacts with sociopolitical modernity has been at the forefront of public and academic debates. At the level of public value systems and attitudes, the focus has been on whether Islamic beliefs foster anti-secular political worldviews. This paper investigates this and similar questions in the case of Iran. Particularly interesting is the evolution of religious beliefs under a theocratic regime. Are personal levels of Islamic faith associated with support for Islamic rule? Do religious people tend to be different in their sociopolitical attitudes then non-religious people? The paper provides a unique way to understand the linkages between religiosity, social and political attitudes by presenting survey evidence conducted by the author in Tehran in August 2003. The findings suggest that both religiosity and positive political attitudes towards the state make people more supportive of the Islamic rule. Religious citizens refrain from participating in Friday prayers as a reaction to their abuse by regime hardliners for political propaganda and are highly critical of the current political governance. However, the support for the Islamization of politics seems to have a cultural basis among religious citizens. Despite their discontent with the current political governance in Iran, religious people continue to prefer Islamic law and clergy to be central to politics. These findings indicate the importance of discussions of "Islamic democracy" for evaluating the prospects of political transformation in the Muslim World.

Beyond Theocracy and Secularism (Part I): Toward a New Paradigm for Law and Religion
Mark C. Modak-Truran, Mississippi College - School of Law, Mississippi College Law Review, Vol. 27, p. 159, 2007-2008.
Abstract: The continued vitality of religion has motivated many scholars in sociology, anthropology, political theory, international relations, and philosophy to revisit their assumptions about how religion relates to their disciplines. Despite this robust reexamination in other disciplines, the secularization of law - that the law is or should be independent of any religious foundation or values - arguably constitutes the most widely-held but least-examined assumption of the modern paradigm of law and religion (secularism). This article argues that the widespread acceptance of legal indeterminacy calls into question this secularism and points the way toward the desecularization of the law. Desecularization does not mean returning to the pre-modern paradigm (theocracy) as suggested by contemporary calls for government recognition of the United States as a Christian nation by posting the Ten Commandments, displaying creches, etc. While somewhat exaggerated, the charge of theocracy accurately identifies the implicit assumption that the law is or should be legitimated by a particular religious tradition - the "Judeo-Christian tradition" - in the world's most religiously diverse nation. The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and a proper understanding of religious pluralism rule out returning to the pre-modern paradigm. They prohibit the law from explicitly adopting a religious legitimation and require that the text of the law be secularized. Nevertheless, the secularized text of the law does not mean that the law has an autonomous secular foundation. As seen by the Muslim headscarf controversy in France, the secularism proposed by the modern paradigm includes or entails a comprehensive or religious foundation for the law that competes with traditional religion. In this respect, the modern paradigm continues rather than supersedes the pre-modern paradigm and contravenes the Establishment Clause and religious pluralism. To move beyond theocracy (pre-modern) and secularism (modern), this article closes by indentifying the trajectory for a new constructive postmodern paradigm that embraces legal indeterminacy and secularizing the text of the law but argues that a plurality of religious convictions implicitly legitimates and thereby desecularizes the law.