Alternate return to faith campaigns

The Return to Faith campaign (al-Hamlah al-Imaniyah), often referred to simply as the Faith Campaign, was a campaign conducted by the Iraqi Ba'ath Party, beginning in 1993, to pursue a more socially conservative and overtly Islamist agenda. The campaign involved a variety of policies, including greater freedoms being granted to Islamist groups, greater resources being put into religious programmes, increased use of Islamic punishments, and a more general greater emphasis being put on Islam in all sectors of Iraqi life.
What are some alternate dictatorships that could launch something like the Return to Faith Campaign for any religion to shore up support for their regimes.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_campaign
 
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Would this be possible for any of the ex-communist dictators or an alt surviving ex-communist dictatorships.
 
1) As others have said, Spain and Portugal dictatorships in the 50s, 60s, and 70s could do this with the Catholic Church. I think there is some chance of South American Dictatorships doing this as well (Pinochet?).

2) As another person said, at the end of the Cold War, a couple former Soviet States, such as Belarus could do this with the Eastern Orthodox Church. Putin could do it as well. And although they were a communist state, Greece could definitely do this in the early part of the Cold War with the Eastern Orthodox Church.

3) For Islam, the gulf states already kinda do this. Sudan could do it, as could Libya and Algeria.

4) What about Buddhism? Thailand and Burma becoming even more religious than otl.

5) Is it possible for the very Orthodox Jewish people to take control of Israel?
 
Poland, with the Catholic church. One would argue that, though a functioning democracy, Poland is actually doing that today. Ditto for Hungary and the Catholic church,
 
Poland, with the Catholic church. One would argue that, though a functioning democracy, Poland is actually doing that today. Ditto for Hungary and the Catholic church,

This. So much this.

Polish identity was linked to Catholicism as part of nationwide opposition to communism, and the effects can be seen today.
 
Could one of the Central Asian states do this with Islam ?
No. Islamists was fought for power with the post-communist nomenklatura that rule in these countries. In Tajikistan, it came to a civil war between the nomenklatura clans and the Islamists.
 
No. Islamists was fought for power with the post-communist nomenklatura that rule in these countries. In Tajikistan, it came to a civil war between the nomenklatura clans and the Islamists.
Would it be possible for them to try and co-op the Islamists as opposed to fighting them ?
 
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India with its homegrown religions, it's kind of happening today but I can see it happening earlier if there's even more bad blood between the Abrahamic and Dharmic faithful in the subcontinent. China could've had an imperially mandated religious renaissance had someone more traditionally inclined filled the role that Hong Xiuquan had in OTL. And I can definitely see some ATL sub-Saharan African dictator or another ditching Christianity and Islam both for their country's indigenous beliefs, too.

Speaking of ditching Islam for a homegrown belief system, the current trend of Kurds converting to Zoroastrianism to flip the bird to ISIS and anti-Kurdish Muslim both has promise. :p
 
Chiang Kai Shek promoted a Chinese Cultural Revival Movement, which included traditional Chinese religious practices, as a reaction to the Cultural Revolution on the mainland.
 
Would it be possible for them to try and co-op the Islamists as opposed to fighting them ?
Hardly. Regimes can appeal to Islamic values sometimes, but the rise of Islamists undermines their positions. In addition, they already had a more convenient substitute for communism as an ideology - local nationalism.
 
Any other examples of a 'return to faith' campaign in the US would be welcome.

I think various South Korean administrations have initiated such campaigns with evangelical Christianity. This has led to complaints by Buddihists of official and unofficial favoritism.
 

Osman Aga

Banned
Albania, Bosnia, Azerbaijan, Syria etc are optional for islamic countries. Would be scary yet interesting.

Poland, Lithuania, Spain, Portugal, Croatia for Catholic countries

Greece, Romania, Ukraine, Georgia for Eastern Orthodoxy

Estonia for Protestants though they need more believers and use it as a distinctive tool against Russia. Religion is what divides Estonians and Russians
 
I think various South Korean administrations have initiated such campaigns with evangelical Christianity. This has led to complaints by Buddihists of official and unofficial favoritism.

South Korean evangelical Christianity is one hell of a ride. There must be several dozen cult leaders over there who claim they're the second coming of Jesus Christ.
 
I think various South Korean administrations have initiated such campaigns with evangelical Christianity. This has led to complaints by Buddihists of official and unofficial favoritism.

You mean South Korean presidents have identified the government with Christianity in the way that Saddam post-93 identified with Islam? I don't think so.

It is true that some(not a majority) of the schools in South Korea are run by evangelical groups(as well as Catholics), and people can be directed to send their chidren to those schools, but that's just more a matter of practicality, I think. The churches had experience doing that sort of thing from the missionary days, so they just got contracts to continue doing so.

I believe Rhee Syngmann was a devout Christian, but Park Chung Hee, who ruled between 1960 and 1979, was not(Jimmy Carter tried to convert him during a meeting in 1979 or so). As for the legitimately elected presidents, Lee Myung Bak in the 2000s was a hardcore evangelical, and did evince a pretty strong anti-Buddhist bias, eg. getting filmed at church services where Buddhism was denounced from the pulpit. But when his government began to show the beginnings of a sectarian tilt(I think the tourism department produced a map with temples omitted), there was a pretty severe backlash, and they quickly backed down.

And of course, Park Guen Hye(Chung Hee's daughter) was mixed up with that little Christian/shamanistic sect that eventually brought her down, but that wasn't anything that was promoted to the public.

All that said, protestant Christianity was indeed identified with the rising middle-class, and since the churches tended to be politically conservative, the government was probably happy enough for people to join, and probably allowed them a freer hand than was allowed the Buddhists(who I believe had their groups more strictly regulated). And the "mission schools" were allowed to require chapel attendance until a court ruling a few years ago.

But I don't think that was anything really like the active prosletyziation and identification of the state with faith, that took place in Iraq during Saddam's last decade in power.

TL/DR...

Protestant churches enjoyed a few privileges and a bit of political favour over the years, but nothing comparable to Saddam's Return To Faith campaign.
 
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(Persuant to my post on the last page)

Another thing I've heard is that the reason Buddha's birthday is a holiday in Korea is because Christmas was made a holiday first, which led to complaints from Buddhists.
 
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