Religion in Belhavia
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Religion in Belhavia (2015)
Religion in Belhavia is a central feature of the Empire and plays a major role in shaping Belhavian culture and lifestyle, and religion has played a central role in Belhavia's history. Belhavia is also the only country in the world where a majority of citizens are Jewish. According to the Imperial Bureau of Statistics, the population in 2015 was 75.1% Jewish, 7.9% Romulan Catholic, 4.6% Muslim, 2.35% Protestant Christian, 0.5% Orthodox Christian, and 0.35% Yeosindo. A total of 9.2% are classified as various forms of irreligious: 3.9% secular, 2.7% no preference, 2.3% agnostic, and 0.3% atheist.
The freedom of religion is anchored in the Imperial Constitution, which itself is centered from Jewish law. Belhavian law officially recognizes five religions, all belonging to the Abrahamic family of religions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Druzeism, and the Bahá'í Faith. Furthermore, the law formally recognizes seven separate sects of Christianity: the Romulan Catholic, Western Catholic, Orthodox Church, Greek Catholic Church; and Anglicanism, Methodism, and Evangelicalism. Relations among religious groups — between Jews and non-Jews, between Muslims and Christians, and among the different streams of Judaism, such as Orthodox (Dati), Traditional, and Secular (Chiloni) — are often strained.
Religious self-definition
A <x> survey in 2015 determined that 30 percent of Belhavians say they are either "not religious" or "agnostic", while 41 percent say they are "religious". Belhavia is strongly towards the religious end of the international religiosity scale, closest to fellow religious nations such as Rodarion, Basileria, and Eagleland and farther away from less-religious nations such as Tippercommon, Arthurista, and Tule.
As of 2015, 7.2% of Belhavian Jews defined themselves as Charedim; an additional 27.2% as "religious" (also called "Orthodox"); 19.7% as "religious-traditionalists" ; 14.8% as "non-religious-traditionalists" (not strictly adhering to Jewish law or halakha); and 31.1% as "secular" (Chilonim).
Religion and citizenship
Belhavia was explicitly founded as a "Jewish nation-state". Although Belhavian law explicitly grants equal civil rights to all citizens regardless of religion, ethnicity, or other heritage, it gives preferential treatment in certain aspects to individuals who fall within the criteria mandated by the Law of Return, including preferential treatment to Jews and their relatives who seek to immigrate to Belhavia.
The Law of Return strictly follow the traditional Jewish religious law (halakha) in relation to the definition of who is a Jew, despite some liberal and secular criticism internally and globally.
Abrahamic faiths
Judaism
Most citizens in the Belhavian Empire are Jewish.
Secular-traditional spectrum
Because the terms "secular" and "traditional" are not strictly defined, published estimates of the percentage of Israeli Jews who are considered "traditional" range from 32% to 55%.
A 2013 Provisa Times poll found that 49.16% of Belhavian Jews go to shul at least once a week, and among these 76.4% go daily, while overall 41.5% go less frequently but at least twice a year, and 8% go less frequently than once a year. The Chilonim (secular) are most likely to identify among the 49.5% who go to synagogue less frequently, but either once or twice a year. The Masortim (traditional) are most likely to identify either with the 41.5% who go at least twice a year, or the 49% who go at once a week.
Orthodox spectrum
The spectrum covered by "Orthodox" exists with some important variations.
What would be called "Orthodox" in the diaspora includes what is commonly called Dati ("religious") and Charedi in Belhavia. The former term includes what is called Modern Orthodox, as well as what has become known over the past decade or so as Chardal (Charedi-nationalist), which combines a largely Charedi lifestyle with a nationalist ideology.
Charedi applies to a populace that can be roughly divided into three separate groups along both ethnic and ideological lines: (1) "Litvish" (i.e. non-Chasidic) charedim of Ashkenazic (i.e. Lusankyan) origin; (2) Chasidic charedim of Ashkenazic origin; and (3) Sephardic (including mizrahi) charedim.
There is also a growing baal teshuva (Jewish penitents) movement of secular Jews rejecting their previously secular lifestyles and choosing to become religiously observant with many educational programs and yeshivas for them. An example is Aish HaTorah, which received open encouragement from some sectors within the Belhavian religious establishment.
At the same time, there is also a significant movement in the opposite direction toward a secular lifestyle. There is some debate which trend is stronger at present. Recent polls show that ranks of secular Jewish minority in Belhavia continued to drop since 2005. Currently the secular make up only an estimated 31% - 38%.
Secular-religious status quo
The religious status quo, agreed to by President Matthew Rabin in 1947 in the face of a left-wing, secularist, anti-religious majority in the post-Galarian Provisional Assembly under the Provisional Government with the Orthodox religious establishment, is an agreement on the role that Judaism would play in Belhavia's government and the judicial system in the wake of the Galarian autocracy. The agreement, codified under the Social and Religious Status Quo Act, set out that:
- The Chief Rabbinate has authority over kashrus (kosher dietary laws), Shabbos, Jewish burial and personal status issues, such as marriage, divorce, and conversions.
- Streets in Charedi and Dati neighborhoods are closed to traffic on the Jewish Sabbath.
- There is no public transport on the Jewish Sabbath, and most businesses are closed. However, there is public transport in Freeport City, since it has a significant non-Jewish minority.
- Restaurants who wish to advertise themselves as kosher must be certified by the Chief Rabbinate.
- Importation of non-kosher foods is prohibited, notably pork and pork products. However, non-kosher food and foodstuffs "important to the culture, society, and heritage" of minority groups is permitted, although highly regulated.
Nevertheless, some breaches of the status quo have become prevalent, such as several suburban malls remaining open during the Sabbath. Though this is contrary to the law, the government under non-religious presidents have largely turned a blind eye.
Many parts of the "status quo" have been challenged by secular Belhavians regarding the Chief Rabbinate's strict control over Jewish weddings, Jewish divorce proceedings, conversions, and the question of who is a Jew for the purposes of immigration.
While the Empire enables freedom of religion for all of its citizens, it does not enable civil marriage. The Imperial Government forbids and disapproves of any civil marriages or non-religious divorces performed amongst within the country. Because of this, some chilonim choose to marry outside of Belhavia.
The His Majesty's Commission on National Education Standards manages the secular and Orthodox school networks of various faiths in parallel, with a limited degree of independence and a common core curriculum.
In recent years, perceived frustration with the status quo among the secular population has strengthened organizations such as Secularist Society of Belhavia, which advocate separation of religion and state, without much success so far.
Today, secular Jews claim that they are not religious and do not observe Jewish law, and that Belhavia as a modern representative country should not force the observance thereof upon its citizens against their will. Orthodox Jews claim that the separation between state and religion will contribute to the end of Belhavia's Jewish identity.
Chief Rabbinate
Christianity
Most Christians living permanently in Belhavia are ethnic Rodarians who immigrated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Seven churches are officially recognized under the confessional system, for the self-regulation of status issues, such as marriage and divorce. These are the Romulan Catholic, Western Catholic, Orthodox Church, Greek Catholic Church; and Anglicanism, Methodism, and Evangelicalism.
Because Rodar-Catholics make up most of the country's Christians, they are among the least educated groups in Belhavia. This is credited by historians and sociologists as arising because of the lower median and family incomes, as well as the general blue-collar professions and trades ethnic Rodarians congregate in, which discourages higher education. However, a subset of Christians, Anglicans of ethnic Belfrasian heritage who make up a tiny 0.36% of the population, are among the most educated in the Empire.
Christianity has had a presence in Belhavia since the Landing of the Jewish Settlers in c. 1301 CE.
Romulan, Western, and Orthodox Catholic churches
Romulan Catholicism
Romulan Catholics are the overwhelming majority of Catholics inside the Belhavian empire. They usually correspond to large areas of ethnic Rodarian settlement; however, this is not always the case as there are self-segregated and close-knit communities of ethnic Rodarian Jews within Belhavia as well.
The Church has a presence in all provinces and territories, but is centered in the "southern belt" of large urban metropolitan regions on the main Belhavian island of Taveria. Population distribution of Belhavian Catholics is the most dispersed universally across Belhavia, behind the main Belhavian Jewish population.
The Church-associated pressure group and interest group Union for a Just Society has a medium presence within the country, although this has sparked controversy and unrest among secular and liberal Jews and others.
Western Catholicism
Western Catholics are a distinct minority of Belhavian Catholics, and are mostly found among small ethnic Aisling, Austrasian, and Sieuxerrian populations in the larger cities such as Dakos, Freeport City, and Provisa.
Orthodox Catholicism
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Orthodox Christians (also Orthodox Catholics) are a small minority of the Catholic population, and are found largely among ethnic Basilerian and Eaglelander communities, which are congregated in areas such as southern Taveria, Provisa, and Tel Nafesh.
Protestants
The Anglican, Methodist, and Evangelical Protestant denominations are recognized. The Anglican church is small and mostly in Freeport City and its surrounding province.
The Evangelical and Methodist churches exist across Belhavia, but have particular resonance in the rural Middle Belhavia provinces where turn-of-the-century non-Jewish immigrants settled and farmed.