> I thought the more contentious part of this claim was going to be if the Church of Sinai constituted a state That is not as contentious, because it's basica

> I thought the more contentious part of this claim was going to be if the Church of Sinai constituted a state That is not as contentious, because it's basically autocephalous/self governing. It's always been a couple dozen loners in the Sinai peninsula maintaining self sufficiency, which is why I don't find it a good example - as there are plenty of similarly old and continuous organizations, but never truly scaled.