Lecture 8 | Law and religion in comparative perspective Flashcards
(17 cards)
What is the relation between law and religion?
- Balancing act: the big challenge is giving people freedom to follow their religion while also making sure the law is equal and fair for all, no matter what someone believes.
what do the aspects of the intersection of constitutional law and religion mean?
In recent decades within liberal democracies trends to desolve between the church and state, but since religion has a very strong institutional foundation. In many legal frameworks the religion is influencial.
what are the 4 models of state and religion?
- subordination models
- separation model
- coordination model
- confessional state
what does the model subordination mean?
state has control over church or church has control over state
what does the separation model mean?
government is not supporting any of the religions. State is neutral towards all religions.
what does the coordination model mean?
the state has arguments with religious organisations on how they cooperate. The state has religious connections here, but strictly agreed between the arguments between religious organisations and state.
what does the confessional state mean?
the furthest you can go in being a religious state, meaning that the state acknowledged in its constitution that it has a official state religion
who had critic on the models of state and religion?
hirschl
what 8 models did hirschl made up?
- atheist state
- assertive secularism
- seperation as state neutrality toward religion
- weak religious establishment
- formal seperation with de facto pre-eminence of one denomination
- seperation alongside multicultural accommodation
- religious jurisdictional enclaves
- strong establishment
what does ‘atheist state’ mean?
the state actively resists against religion in both public and private spheres, often discouraging religious practices this is different from separation model where only the public is not allowed to practice religion. You are trying to eliminate churches/religious institutions at all in this Atheist state
Wat does ‘assertive secularism’ mean?
it eliminates religion from public life, not from the private spferes. There should not be any religious signs showed in public.
What does ‘seperation as state neutrality toward Religion’ mean?
the state tries to stay neutral towards all religions; it doesn’t support religion but also doesn’t inhibit it.
what does ‘Weak Religious Establishment’ mean?
a religion is recognized as the state religion but has minimal influence on laws and public policy.
what does ‘Formal Seperation with De Facto Pre-eminence of One Denomination’ mean?
formal legal separation between religion and state, but one religious denomination dominates culturally and politically
what does ‘Seperation Alongside Multicultural Accommodation’ mean?
formal separation, but when people have another religion or there are multiple cultural and religious groups within its policies, they support it.
what does ‘Religious Jurisdictional Enclaves’ mean?
the state allows religious autonomy in specific legal areas, typically personal status laws like marriage and divorce.
what does ‘strong establishment’ mean?
religion is deeply embedded in the constitution and legal framework of the state.
