theocracy

     Many people argue that a theocracy--a government in which the church is part of the state--can't be democratic, because everyone would have to belong to the same church. That much is true. Consider England, the theocracy with which Americans are most familiar. As long as the monarch of England is the head of the Church of England, and Anglican bishops sit in the House of Lords, England remains a theocracy. At one time its citizen-subjects did not have the same civil rights, according to religion. It was considered impossible to be a loyal subject of the crown and not belong to the Church of England, as the head of state was also head of the church. This is the same tradition that made of dissenters, pilgrims--those same pilgrims who came to America in search of religious freedom.
     The other "side" to this argument is that we now supposedly believe in the "right to the self-determination of peoples"--that is, that other people have a right to have whatever kind of government they want, without an exception for theocracy. The British seem to have solved this problem in their own country--everyone votes, with no test of belief. But for other purposes, Church of England membership counts. Anyone who wants to know more about theocracy should look at the history of the church and state in England.