The culture of Europe might better be described as a series of overlapping cultures. Whether it is a question of West as opposed to East; Christianity as opposed to Islam; many have claimed to identify cultural fault lines across the continent. There are many cultural innovations and movements, often at odds with each other, such as Christian proselytism or Humanism. Thus the question of "common culture" or "common values" is far more complex than it seems to be.
Religion in Europe
Religion in Europe has been a major influence on art, culture, philosophy and law. The largest religion in Europe for at least a millenium and a half has been Christianity.[citation needed] A number of countries in the Southern Europe have Muslim majorities. Smaller religions include Judaism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Hinduism which are found in their largest groups in Britain and France.
No Religion
Europe has a large and growing atheist and agnostic irreligous population with 18% on average answering the question "I do not believe in a spirit, God or life force" in The Eurobarometer Poll 2005. The largest non-confessional populations (as a percentage) are found in the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the former Soviet countries of Belarus, Estonia, Russia and Ukraine.
A European country has also been the first officially atheist state in the world. Albania in 1967 constitutionally banished religion.[
Georgian Orthodox Church
The Georgian Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church (Georgian: საქართველოს სამოციქულო მართლმადიდებელი ავტოკეფალური ეკლესია, sakartvelos samocikulo martlmadidebeli avtok'epaluri ek'lesia) is one of the world's most ancient Christian Churches, and tradition traces its origins to the mission of Apostle Andrew in the 1st century. It is an autocephalous (self-headed) part of the Eastern Orthodox Church since 4th century A.D. Georgian Orthodoxy has been a state religion in parts of Georgia since the 4th century, and is the majority religion in that country.
The Constitution of Georgia recognizes the special role of the Georgian Orthodox Church in the country's history but also stipulates the independence of the church from the state. The relations between the State and the Church are regulated by the Constitutional Agreement of 2002.
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