Religion and the Legal Sphere

Abstract

The article discusses the role of, and the political debate on, religion in the legal sphere by, first of all, reflecting on the normative order of German religious constitutional law (Religionsverfassungsrecht). Religious freedom has to be guaranteed in both versions, the positive and the negative one. Thereby, it asks for a concept of (formal) law including the very idea of law besides traditional Natural Law theories and reductionist views on legal positivism. For that, it is necessary to neutralize the myth of neutrality in civil society as well as to be aware of the surplus of meaning and the limitations of formal procedures in the legal sphere.