Is The Secularist State a “Civil Religion”?

UMA ANÁLISE CRÍTICA DA JURISPRUDÊNCIA EUROPEIA SOBRE SÍMBOLOS RELIGIOSOS NO ESPAÇO PÚBLICO E OS LIMITES DA LIBERDADE DE CRENÇA

Authors

  • Anna Beatryz Coelho da Graça Faculdade Vale do Jaguaribe
  • Matheus Thiago Carvalho Mendonça Universidad Nacional de La Plata

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7764/RLDR.13.147

Keywords:

religious symbols, religious freedom, secularism, international law

Abstract

In this paper, we examine the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on the use of religious symbols in the public square. We aim to verify how secular neutrality, as stated in the rulings, subsidizes the existence of a "civil religion" and how it impacts religious freedom fundamentals. This is why Dahlab v. Switzerland, Sahin v. Turkey, Lautsi v. Italy, and S.A.S v. France are analyzed according to the grounds offered by the European Convention on Human Rights. We discuss Marramo's secularism and Finnis' religion as a basic human good on the basis of a wide bibliographic review. Using our observations as a basis for our conclusion, we concluded that secularist political commitments lead to the consolidation of a "civil religion" at the expense of free expression of religion in the public square.

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Author Biographies

Anna Beatryz Coelho da Graça, Faculdade Vale do Jaguaribe

Advogada. Bacharel em Direito pela Faculdade Vale do Jaguaribe (Brasil)

Matheus Thiago Carvalho Mendonça, Universidad Nacional de La Plata

Graduando em Direito na Faculdade de Ciências Jurídicas e Sociais da Universidade Nacional de La Plata (Buenos Aires, Argentina). Integrante dos grupos de pesquisa (CNPq) “Teorias Normativas do Direito”, do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Direito da Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA), e “Direito dos Refugiados e o Brasil”, da Faculdade de Direito da Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR). Membro e Pesquisador-Assistente da Human Development & Capability Association.

Published

2022-09-01