| Everyone in Britain has the right to
religious freedom -- in teaching, worship and observance -- without interference
from the community or the State. Religious organizations and groups may own
property, run schools, and promote their beliefs in speech and writing. There is
no religious bar to the holding public office. Britain has a long tradition of religious tolerance. Freedom of conscience in religious matters was achieved gradually from the seventeenth century on words. The laws discriminating against, minority religious groups were gradually administrated less harshly and then finally repealed. The past 30 years have seen the acceptance of a wide variety of religious beliefs and traditions of large numbers of immigrants are made at places of work to allow the members of non--Christian religious to follow their religious observances. There are two established churches in Britain, that is, churches legally recognised as official churches of the State: in England the (Anglican) Church of England, and in Scotland the (Presbyterian) Church Of Scotland. Ministers of the established churches, as well as clergy belong to other religious groups, work in services run by the State, such as the armed forces, national hospitals and prisons, and are paid a salary for such services by the State. The State makes no direct contribution to church expenses, although since 1997 limited state aid has been given for the repair of historic churches. |