When secular power is deemed sacred and worthy of devotion and allegiance, the result is the phenomenon of civil religion, which may be defined as follows: The attribution of sacred status to secular power (normally the state and/or its head) as the source of divine blessing, requiring devotion and allegiance of heart, mind, and body to the sacred-secular power and its values, all expressed in various narratives, other texts, rituals, and media that reinforce both the secular power’s sacred status and the beneficiaries’ sacred duty of devotion and allegiance, even to the point of death.
