https://www.conservapedia.com/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=EflaspoConservapedia - User contributions [en]2026-11-12T01:58:10ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.35.14https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Theocracy&diff=784523Theocracy2010-06-03T18:14:19Z<p>Eflaspo: /* Theocracy as tyranny */</p>
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<div>'''Theocracy''' is a form of government ruled by divine means or by leaders considered to be divinely guided. [[Israel]] was a theocracy before King Saul. The Islamic Republic of [[Iran]] is a modern-day theocracy, as many commentators believe that the real power in its government lies not in allegedly "democratically-elected" leaders like [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]] but in clerics within the government since Iranian law requires Presidential candidates to be approved by the [[Guardian Council]] <ref> <br />
Access Denied: Iran’s Exclusionary Elections <i>Human Rights Watch</i> [http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/mena/iran0605/]</ref> and some Iranian laws on homosexuality and adultery come from the Sharia <ref>Netherlands, Sweden: Bar Deportations to Torture in Iran<br />
- Officials Must Not Return Gay and Lesbian Asylum Seekers to Iran <i>Human Rights Watch </i>[http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/10/06/sweden14361.htm]</ref>. The [[Vatican]] is a formal Christian theocracy, with the [[Pope]] as head of both church and state.<br />
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Only two democracies reserve places in their legislature specifically for representatives of the state religion, these are the aforementioned Islamic Republic of Iran and the [[United Kingdom]] where Bishops of the [[Church of England]] sit in the upper chamber, the [[House of Lords]] under the designation of Lords Spiritual.<br />
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==Theocracy as tyranny==<br />
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[[C.S. Lewis]] wrote:<br />
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:Of all tyrannies, a [[tyranny]] sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under [[robber barons]] than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own [[conscience]]. [http://www.tsowell.com/quotes.html]<br />
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Theocracy may also describe any government which seeks to impose religious principles or law, such as the [[Sharia]], or the Hindu laws of [[Manu Smriti]] <ref>The laws of Manu <i>George Buhler, translated by</i> [http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/manu.htm]</ref> on its population, even if the government is formally [[secular]]. <br />
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One well known example of such a state is Saudi Arabia who's legal system is based on the Sharia law, Saudi Arabia also has a [[religious police]] <ref>Saudi Arabia - The Legal System <i>U.S. Library Of Congress</i> [http://countrystudies.us/saudi-arabia/51.htm]</ref><br />
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In Israel, civil cases under the [[Halakhah]] (traditional Jewish law based on the [[Torah]]) are allowed.<br />
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Many Christian Conservatives in the United States would like to establish a theocracy in the United States based on their interpretation of the Bible.<br />
[[Category:Religion]]<br />
[[Category:Forms of Government]]<br />
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== See also ==<br />
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*[[Philosophy]]<br />
*[[Jewish philosophy]]<br />
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==References==<br />
<references/></div>Eflaspo