Religion in the Public Sphere - A Comparative Analysis of German, Israeli, American and International Law (Electronic book text)

How closely correlated should church and state be? May a state recognize or dignify the role and meaning of religion at all, and if so can it treat different religious groups differently? This book intends to answer these questions through a portrayal and comparison of various legal orders including those of Germany, Israel, France and the USA. Some authors consider the issue of - church and state - from an international law perspective. The analyses are structured from both a state-institutional as well as from a fundamental rights and human rights perspective. Here the religious and secular freedoms are brought into focus. Whether, and how, these church-and-state aspects vary within divergent modern state contexts, and how they transnationally evolve is also discussed.