How did governments use religion and philosophy to rule their people?

Ideas have been used by humankind to make sense of the world and to explain the actions of nature and individuals. To this end, certain individuals who have ascended to leadership positions around the globe have relied upon religion and philosophy to justify their position of power and their rule. The United States is a nation that has purposely avoided connecting a particular religion with its laws and the governing of its people. This is evident in Article 11 of America’s Treaty of Tripoli, which was a trade deal with present day Libya written in 1797, that states, "The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion…." This would have been important to the governments of north Africa because they are predominantly Muslim and would not trade favorably with an openly Christian Nation (Is America a Christian Nation?). While the United States has not linked religion and philosophy with its governing doctrines, many advanced civilizations have, such as medieval European kingdoms and the Islamic world.

Medieval kingdoms in Europe were tightly connected to the Christian church. As said in the article “The Power of the Church”, “...the shared beliefs in the teachings of the Church bonded people together. The church was a stable force during an era of constant warfare and political turmoil.” When Rome fell in C.E 476, everything was a chaos, people fought for food, power and most of the population moved to the countryside. The church provided a sense of security and a “belonging to a religious community.” The Church leaders used their power to create church law, which is both religious and political. Some of the punishments of the church law was excommunication and interdict. To show power over the kings, the Popes excommunicated the disobedient king’s. This meant that you were no longer part of the church and would no longer be going to heaven. If the excommunicated king kept on being disobedient, then the popes would interdict the king and his land. This meant that whoever was living on the land of the king, they wouldn’t be allowed to worship or pray. The majority believed that if they did not pray, then they would be in hell after they died, so the kings would not risk being disobedient to the Pope.