Status of religious freedom in Germany

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

Historically, though, all German states (Länder) are closely connected with either the Catholic or a Protestant (Lutheran and/or Reformed) confession. This has legal and cultural influences up to present times and this makes other countries or organizations sometimes doubt the actual separation between state and church or even the actual state of religious freedom in Germany.

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[edit] Historical development

The Peace of Augsburg 1555 changed the legal situation from an uniform Roman-Catholic area to the Cuius regio, eius religio principle which defined freedom of religion for territorial princes, while their subjects had to follow them. Individuals had at best the possibility to move into an area where their confession was practiced. Depending on the reigning prince, there could exist a certain tolerance towards other denominations, but not as a rule.

In the first half of the 17th century, Germany was laid in waste by the Thirty Years' War where the lines between enemies within Germany followed mainly denominational boarders and was followed by a time of harsh intolerance. Pastor and hymn writer Paul Gerhardt was forced out of office 1755 due to his staunch Lutheran convictions in a Berlin ruled by a reformed prince.

In the 18th century, the idea of freedom of religion was promoted by culturally leading people like philosopher Immanuel Kant or dramatist Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, but their stress was on the freedom of the individual to believe or to not adhere to the beliefs of a dominant state church.

The German Empire of 1871 knew a basic religious freedom for individuals, but had, especially following the Kulturkampf several restrictions regarding churches and activities of clerics.

The constitution of Weimar of 1919 defined individual freedom of religion in article 136: The civil and civic rights and duties are neither qualified nor restricted by exercise of freedom of religion. No one can be forced to attend an ecclesiastical act or ceremony or be forced to take part in religious exercises or use a religious formula of oath.

Article 137 was about religious associations. Main points are: There is no state church. Religious associations manage their own affairs within the limits of general law. Religious offices are given without influence of the state. Religious associations are legal entities according to the general regulations of the civil right. Religious associations which are "bodies of public law" keep this status. Other religious associations can request the same rights, if they can show by their constituency and number of members that they are permanently established. Associations with the purpose of cultivating a worldview have the same status as religious associations.

During the time of the Third Reich, there was a very real danger of religious persecution for adherents of any religious association beside the Protestant Reich Church.

In 1949 Western Germany formulated religious freedom in the Grundgesetz. On the other hand, communist Eastern Germany did officially claim religious freedom, which existed in actual practice only for low-key private exercise of religion which did not interfere with any duties towards the state. Outspoken pastors had to face prison in extreme cases, but the more frequent dealing with openly confessing Christians and especially clerics was subtle repression like strict observance by the state security or no admission to college for their children.

[edit] Social and cultural dimension

While church and state in Germany are legally separated and have been so since the Weimar Republic, there remains the fact that any German region has been for centuries under the dominating social and cultural influence of one single church, be it Protestant or Catholic with practically every inhabitant being member of that church. This influence determined education, arts, music, customs and festivals, lifestyle and even to some degree architecture. And, of course, the population in such an area did equal "their" church, the only church they knew, with "being Christian". In first decades of the 20th century there were still areas in Catholic Bavaria where people could not imagine that a child of a pastor could be anything but illegitimate. In Eastern Germany and in urban areas this cultural influence of religion has been substantially reduced, but in rural areas it still can be felt, e.g. in Bavaria, or in some areas of Baden-Württemberg and the Siegerland.

A 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 (crucifixes) in public institutions [1] is illegal, in the special case in the 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.

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 is in Germany in some cases 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.

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"). [2]. 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.

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

[edit] Cults, sects and new religious movements

The German government provides information about cults, sects, and new religious movements called Sekten in German. In 1997 the parliament set up an enquete commission for Sogenannte Sekten und Psychogruppen (literally so-called sects and psychic groups) which delivered an extensive report on the situation in Germany regarding NRMs.

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.

Since the 1990s, German courts several times denied the request of the Jehovah's Witnesses to become a corporate body under public law 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 for Berlin [3], 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, nor extended to other German countries.

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

In Germany Scientology is not regarded as a religion but considered "an organisation pursuing commercial interests". This has been affirmed by a court decision.

There was a controversy regarding the "Power for Living" campaign by the Christian Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation featuring celebrities Cliff Richard and Bernhard Langer. The TV advertisings for their book were banned, because they were considered as "advertising a worldview or religion" which is forbidden by the German and European laws for broadcasting media. For "Power for Living" posters, newspaper adverts and leaflets, however, there was no such problem.

There have been cases of groups in Germany which practice Germanic neopaganism facing legal sanctions because they displayed symbols such as runes or the Celtic cross, which prosecutors have claimed are illegal under laws against neo-Nazi propaganda.

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