Status of religious freedom in Germany

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It has been proposed that this article or section be merged with religion in Germany.

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Contents

1 Legal dimension

2 Social and Church-related dimension

3 Cults, sects and new religious movements

4 Miscellanous issues

4.1 Various facts on freedom of religion in Germany

Legal dimension

In Germany, article 4 of the Grundgesetz states that "the freedom of religion, conscience and the freedom of confessing one's religious or philosophical beliefs are inviolable. Uninfringed religious practice is guaranteed."

This means one may adopt any kind of religious or non-religious belief (as long as it does not collide with the core value of human dignity), practise it in private or in public, confess it or keep it for oneself. Theoretically, the state does not identfy with any religious organization. In practice, however, freedom of religion in Germany is sort of "limping", as, in Germany, the Roman Catholic Church and the Evangelic Lutheran Church enjoy some sort of state patronizing, out of reasons of history and tradition. Still, many Germans equal being Roman Catholic or Evangelic Lutheran Church with "being Christian", and, when a German refers to "the Church" or "the Churches", it is generally those two organizations he talks about.

In Germany, the Roman Catholic Church and the Evangelic Lutheran Church are granted the status of a body of public law, meaning, e. g., that they may have program time in public TV, teach religious education as a regular class in state schools, and have their contributions collected by state authorities on a legal basis. Germans who are members of the Roman Catholic Church and the Evangelic Lutheran Church pay the Kirchensteuer ("church tax") from their regular income, while Germans who are members of other or no religious organisations are not legally obliged to pay the "church tax". Children who do not want to take the obligatory class in religious education must take an ersatz class which is called "ethics" and in which various issues of philosophy, society and morals are discussed.

This system has led to conflicts with the arrival of new religious movements, but also with minority religions and with Islam. Other organisations than the Roman Catholic Church and the Evangelic Lutheran Church are often hindered to become a body of public law. Since the 1990s, German courts several times denied the request of the Jehovah's Witnesses for various reasons, one of them that the Jehovah's Witnesses would discourage their members from taking part in state elections and would not respect the Grundgesetz. In March 2005, Jehovah's Witnesses were granted the status of a body of public law [1], on the ground that the alleged lack of fidelity towards the state had not been convincingly proven. The legal decision has not been challenged yet.

Another famous decision is the so-called Crucifix Decision of the German Supreme Court (1995), which says that a law which insists on the presence of religious symbols (Christian crosses) in public institutions [2] is illegal, namely in elementary schools in mainly Catholic and rather traditional Bavaria. It further demands that the symbols must be removed if one parent do not wish them. In the 1950s, a German Jew had already complained successfully that his freedom of religious was violated by the obligation to speak in a German courtroom decorated by a cross.

In 2004, the German Supreme court denied a Muslim teacher the right to wear a headscarf in class, on the basis that she had to represent neutrality. (In Germany, teachers are state-appointed and thus are generally considered "representatives of the state"). [3]. In the late 1970s, a teacher (who was a member of the Osho religion), had already been denied the right to wear the distinct clothing of his religion at the workplace.

In Germany, men may refuse military service on the basis of art. 4 III Grundgesetz if you are able to credibly explain to a commission that your personal conscience unconditionally forbids you to kill; you have to take civil service instead. Jehovah's Witnesses, who refuse both military service and civil service, are obliged to render service in a hospital or a similar institution on the basis of a private working contract.

Social and Church-related dimension

Despite the (positive) state-patronizing of the "Churches", there have been very few cases in which the freedom of religious and non-religious belief has actually been infringed. In Germany, the freedom of religious and non-religious belief is guaranteed in "balance" with the other values of the Grundgesetz, namely, with human dignity. For example, a member of a religion which propagates cannibalism could not base a cannibalistic practice on his freedom of religious and non-religious belief, as this religion requires the killing of humans, which is not permissible from the point of human dignity. Problem fields of this are Satanism and neo-Pagan religion (which may be linked to Neo-Nazism) but as those groups are minor and rather loosely organized, they have been of little importance as far as the freedom of religion had to be defended in court.

Cults, sects and new religious movements

The German government provides information about cults, sects, and new religous movements called Sekten in German. The official term is sogenannte Jugendsekten [4], (literally youth cults) as the relevant religious groups were claimed to be especially appealing to the youth.

The main point of critics against Sekten from the governmental side is that they propagate a concept of the ideal human (Menschenbild) which is very different of the concept underlying the Grundgesetz. For example, some cults may stress the inequality of social groups, races or sexes and foster a culture where blind obedience and fundamentalism are welcomed. The Grundgesetz, however, says that all people are equal and envisages people who are open-minded, discerning and tolerant.

Miscellanous issues

Various facts on freedom of religion in Germany

In the Federal Republic of Germany, broadcasting is under the jurisdiction of the states (L�nder), which, together, pass a state treaty on broadcasting (Rundfunkstaatsvertrag), which must be respected by all public and private broadcasters. The states form a council on broadcasting (Rundfunkrat), which includes representatives of the L�nder, of various institutions, and of the Roman Catholic Church and Evangelical Church in Germany.

The Rundfunkstaatsvertrag allows the broadcasting of "traditional" services of the Roman Catholic Church and the Evangelical Church in Germany; Hour of Power-like preaching shows, however, are (legally) not allowed

Each Friday, there is a 15-minute Jewish Sabbath broadcast on public radio

In ..., the Rundfunkrat banned TV adverts for the Christian book "Power for Living" featuring celebrities Cliff Richard and Bernhard Langer, on the reason that advertising for religious material on TV commercials was "indecent"; "Power for Living" posters, newspaper adverts and leaflets, however, did not get banned

German courts regularly hold that Muslim parents who exclude their daughters from class trips, sports and swimming classes make acceptable use of their freedom of religion; however, when a Christian mother requested the same for her daughter, the courts said that this was "odd"

In Germany, high school students are not excused from classes on sexual education and evolution theory on the basis of religion

By court decision, Scientology has been excluded from the protection of art. 4 GG; it is considered "an organisation pursuing commercial interests"

in ... it was held that the German government is allowed to publish information material on so-called youth sects or cults despite protests of Transcendental Meditation

German courts held that transfusing blood to an unconscious Jehovah's Witness violated the person's will but did not constitute a battery

in 1981, a lady was allowed to revoke her testament, as it was established that her nephew was likely to give the money to the Hare Krishna organization

Status of religious freedom around the world