Religious Capital and Capital Religions: Cross-Cultural and Non-Legal Factors in the Separation of Church and State

The separation of church and state is a major component of the American political system and its civil religious mythol ogy. As an article of faith, it is widely regarded as a unique American heritage, constitutionally created and legally sustained. This paper challenges both its singularity and its legal dependence by placing the United States in comparative and cross-cultural perspec tive. Even within such nominally religious states as Indonesia, Pakistan, Sweden, and Thailand, there is far more separation than is widely supposed, as religion provides more political piety than governing influence. Since the similarities with the United States are at least as important as the differences, and since "separation" in these contexts is not a legal phenomenon, a more general sociopolit ical explanation seems in order. Hence, this paper offers a series of reasons for the gap between religion and government, drawing both on the politics of the state and on the societal position of religion itself. Not to put too fine a point on the matter, religion's capital is frequently maximized when it is not a capital religion.