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Theocracy
Theocracy, meaning "rule of God," is a form of government characterized by divine guidance.
448 Questions
What does theocracy literally mean?
Theocracy is derived from the combination of the Greek words "theos" meaning god and kratein meaning rule of. So it literally means "rule by gods"
No Iraq is not a theocracy at the moment.
Iraq, since before the formal naming of the Iraqi nation as Iraq and before many of the religions themselves, had been a civilized nation with a strong culture for millenniums. Religions were gradually embraced upon their arrivals with no particular revolutionary civil bloodshed or power grabs (in general) as was the case for many other nations. The exeptions of the pseudo theocracies of the Abbassids, Ottomans and Buyyids and similar caliphate empires are difficult to explain, but we will keep that aside for now.
Eventually Christianity and Islam were the main major remnants of followed religions in Iraq, (with Christians currently fleeing to other Christian majority Western nations with better economies and less impact from wars due to modern ease of international transportation). However since Independence, no theocracy existed. A brief monarchy followed by a military autocracy did, however. This was, despite not being "democratic", one of the finest times for Iraq and made it one of the richest nations in the world with, in line with its thousands of years of tradition, a highly civilized and beautiful country and culture.
Iraq has ranged in its type of government over the past century, including Pan-Arab Nationalism and Secularism, however, a theocracy has never been Iraq's profile. Not to say that theocracy was necessarily always bad, but it wasn't recently the form of government there.
Despite the existence of religious holy sites in Iraq, and a correspondingly culturally-conservative (yet extremely tolerant) culture, the Political-Islamic agendas notable in other Muslim majority countries do not exist locally due to the different Islamic School of thought adhered to by Iraqis than the contemporary Wahhabi-salafist extremist Ideology that is currently gaining popularity. Wahhabist school of thought was rejected historically by the majority of prominent Islamic schools until this day, yet is recently gaining popularity by petro dollars in other places such as Egypt and also due to historic hegemony of Western and previous Imperialism on the alternative of regional Arab Nationalism. This extremism is still widely frowned upon in Iraq. Western intervention in the region has often experienced difficulty (or appeared to experience difficulty) in differentiating between anti-occupational sentiment and their arch enemy of religious extremism, and generally upset the fragile balance of the region and make a huge mess that will eventually have worldwide reaching implications.
Even though one of the major school of thoughts followed, the Twelver Jaafari Jurisprudence, has showed potential to develop theocratic style political interpretation such as in Iran, such a model was not popular in Iraq and previously refused by many of the followers of that particular branch in Iraqi politics, such as the current Prime Minister.
The current constitution tries to ensure that all ethnicities of Iraqis of all the different religious backgrounds get represented in the central civil government, at the same time with the efforts of doing that through democratic elections. At the same time they are members of the Arab league and have a majority Arab population, a population who, as a whole, historically feel culturally threatened by Persians, Western Imperialism, Kurdish Separatists and Jewish Zionist Invasions.
Iraqis, however tough they may come across as, are kind, simple folk that can unfortunately sometimes be also easily manipulated and steered in particular directions Ideologically. So future outcomes can be difficult to predict.
What rights do citizens have in theocracy?
Not many. As we know a theocracy is defined as a government set up, in which god/deity is the surpereme ruler. it's Rules and customs are based on the particular religion. So for example, if the United States were a theocracy, it would be Mandatory to go to church on Sundays. It would be illegal to believe in other gods. You have no rights. The only right you have, is what preached by the church.
How does theocracy gain power?
If you want to help someone that needs help don't be dumb about it HELP People NOT WITH STUPID ANSWER'S!
What are the strengths of theocracy?
Every one is so united and willing to serve there God or gods if it is in there will.
Why can the sumerians city-states be called theocracies?
In a number of the Sumerian City-States, the priests wielded direct political power. This would make them theocracies.
What is theocracy and why is it important today?
Theocracy is defined as:
a government operated by religious authorities who claim unlimited power in the name of God or other supernatural forces.
I just had to answer this same question except its why is it important to the American government.....
1.** In my opinion, it is important to the American government because of basic U.S history. When America was founded the colonists escaped religious persecution from Great Britain, therefore the government's modernized Establishment Clause (which is part of the 1st amendment stating that there will be a wall of separation between church and state in the United States) will forever prevent a Theocracy from happening in the future unless the Constitution were to be amended.
2.**(This is just a guess)** You could also use the examples of how its important globally considering America is made up of immigrants, even nowadays. Therefore there are so many different religions being brought to the table, AND there are so many religious issues with the Talibans, muslims and other religions, that wars could be started because of it.
How are theocracy leaders chosen?
By definition, a theocracy is a government headed by God, so the selection of theocratic leaders would be at the choosing of God.
A Christian theocracy is a system of government in which religious authorities rule in the name of God, and religious law is considered supreme. It often involves strict adherence to religious doctrines and rules in governing society, with clergy holding significant political power. Examples include the Papal States in medieval Europe and certain Puritan colonies in America.
Name some of the famous leaders in theocracy government?
Some famous leaders in theocracy include Ayatollah Khomeini, who led the Islamic Revolution in Iran and established a theocratic regime based on Shia Islam. Another prominent figure is Pope Francis, the current leader of the Roman Catholic Church, which operates under a theocratic system in Vatican City. Additionally, leaders of various religious sects, such as the Dalai Lama in Tibetan Buddhism, also exemplify theocratic leadership within their spiritual realms.
What are the principles of a theocracy?
Since no specific theocracy was mentioned, it would be safe to assume it was the belief system to which the questioner was referring; however, s/he used "a" before the word "theocracy," so a given system of government is more likely what was meant. Sadly, no specific government was mentioned, so the question attempts to ask what can't actually be answered, because...
...second of all, there is no single set of principles of theocracy (as a belief system) because different theocracies, based on different religions or religious beliefs, will each have their own set of principles, based on said religious beliefs. All religions are different, and so each of their respective religious beliefs will, necessarily, be different. Any given theocratic government that's based on a certain religion's beliefs will, necessarily, have different principles than some othertheorcratic government that's based on some other religion's beliefs.
Now, if by "principles," what the asker actually meant was that which makes a theocracy a theocracy (as opposed to, for example, a democracy), then that's simple...
The "theo" part of the word "theocracy" comes from the Greek "theos," meaning or referring to a diety... for statistically most persons on the planet, said diety being the Abrahamic God (though for many, many others, it could be any of a number of other gods or other forms of diety).
And the "cracy" part of the word comes from the Greek "kratos," which means to strongly rule or govern; and so "cracy," in modern language, refers to government.
A "theocracy," then, is a form of government which is guided by either a diety (a god, of some kind... including, in some cases, the Abrahamic God), or by said diety's either appointed or self-proclaimed agent(s). Theocracy is government ruled or guided by religion.
That, then, could be said to be theocracy's principle: Governance guided by religion.
The middle-eastern country of Iran is a cogent example of a theocracy, where Islamic imams and other religious leaders ultimately make all the rules, and control pretty much everything; even though Iran has a President and a legislative body. It is, nevertheless, provably a theocracy.
Most other Islamic countries or states operate under one form or another of Islamic -- specifically, Sharia -- law (called "kahlifah") which is divinely guided by the Abrahamic God; and so they are all, by definition, theocracies. Some, like Iran, try to pretend that the president and legislative body actually rule, but most are fairly open (and unapologetic) about their being Islamic theocracies.
Other theocracies, though, don't try to hide it at all. The Vatican (completely surrounded by Rome, Italy), for example, is a theocracy which is very open about its being divinely guided by the Abrahamic God, through the Pope.
Additionally, the so-called "Central Tibetan Administration," also known as the "Tibetan Government in Exile," led, as of this writing, by the 14th Dalai Lama, in exile, in Dharamshala, India, is a decidedly, unambiguously, and proudly theocracic little pseudo-government... the diety, in that case, being Bhudda.
What country uses a theocracy government?
A theocracy is a government that is run by the dominant religious group and where only one official religion is allowed. In a theocracy, the laws are made based on that religion, and the religious leaders are also the political leaders (or have strong influence over the political leaders). A good example of a theocracy is Iran. Some people also believe Saudi Arabia is a theocracy, and so is the Vatican City.
What type of government was Theocracy?
A government led and ruled by the priesthood of that particular nation
