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Max Planck Encyclopedia of Comparative Constitutional Law [MPECCoL]

Relation of Religion to State and Society

Patricia Santos-Rodríguez

From: Oxford Constitutions (http://oxcon.ouplaw.com). (c) Oxford University Press, 2023. All Rights Reserved.date: 14 November 2024

Subject(s):
Equality regardless of religion — Freedom of religion — Constitutional mention of God or other deities — Official religion — Separation of church and state — Christianity — Islam — Status of religious law — Protection of religious minorities — Secularism

General Editors: Rainer Grote, Frauke Lachenmann, Rüdiger Wolfrum
Managing Editor: Martina Mantovani

1 Religion has been defined as the human response towards what is perceived as divine, encompassing some form of rituals be they practices or obligations to honour divinity. Despite the debate about whether religion is a scholarly invention or a product of culture (Smith xi), this criticism does not mean that religion does not exist; rather, it shows its ambiguity and vagueness (Berman ‘Comparative Law and Religion’ 739; Lee et al xvii; Reader 200; Durham and Scharffs 39). In this article it will be related to an ‘ultimate concern’ (Berman (2006) 745), composed of...
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