Religion in der verrechtlichten Gesellschaft

Since the 1990s there has been an increase in legal disputes and public controversies over religion in western constitutional states. The present volume examines a selection of more recent legal religious disputes and controversies in Germany and interprets them as political disputes over the definition of the essence and function of religion. The analysis is embedded within a historical context. Thus, it is discussed how law, in the course of its ascent to the leading agency of authority in society, and especially through the growing global significance of fundamental and human rights since the mid-20th century, was able to become a significant factor in the field of religion. This legal historical development has led to a strengthening of the right to religious freedom. The right to religious freedom, however, poses a dilemma, as the fundamental right to religious freedom can only be guaranteed if the state defines what, for the purposes of this fundamental right, religion actually is. To do this, however, is to intervene in the freedom of religion. The final section of the volume considers possible ways of dealing sensitively in definitional terms with legal conflicts over religion.