Bureau of Religious Affairs
| Bureau des affaires religieuses | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1959 |
| Jurisdiction | Gylias |
| Parent department | Parliament and Cabinet of Gylias |
| Website | http://www.bra.gov.gls/ |
The Bureau of Religious Affairs (French: Bureau des affaires religieuses), abbreviated BRA (BAR), is an administrative agency responsible for the regulation of religious activities in Gylias.
History
The Bureau of Religious Affairs was created in 1959 through the Law on Religion of 1959. As a regulatory body for religious associations, its mission and character have been shaped by the history of Gylian conflicts with universalist religions.
Organisation
It is unaffiliated to any federal ministry, and thus reports directly to Parliament and the Cabinet as a whole.
Responsibilities
The BRA is responsible for official registration of religious associations in Gylias. In accordance with the law, it denies registration to associations for reasons of centralisation, authoritarianism, universalism, or unconstitutional or unlawful activities.
It oversees the activity of legally registered religious associations. Through registration, it mandates decentralised and non-hierarchical organisation of religious associations. It enforces the ban on political involvement by religious associations, and supervises associations for non-native religions to ensure they don't coordinate too closely with their home countries.
Impact
The BRA's activities, particularly its explicit favouritism towards polytheistic and ethnic religions, have been criticised abroad. Bans on proselytism and formal religious affiliation or disaffiliation are criticised as infringing freedom of religion, in order to suppress monotheist religions and promote polytheist ones.
The BRA rejects these criticisms and instead argues that its activity protects freedom of religion by actively preserving Gylias' religious pluralism from the inherent threat of universalist religions that seek supremacy over all others.