Record Details

Godsdienspluraliteit en die liberale staat – die illusie van sekulêre neutraliteit

In die Skriflig

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Godsdienspluraliteit en die liberale staat – die illusie van sekulêre neutraliteit
 
Creator Venter, Francois
 
Subject Law; philosophy; constitutional law religious pluralism; secularism; liberalism; reciprocity; religious education; objectivity
Description Religious pluralism and the liberal state – the illusion of secular neutrality. Whereas church and state have long been separated since the emergence of the modern state, law and religion have not been separated and can never be separated. The notion of the liberal-democratic state, which is still dominant in legal thinking, induces state authorities to seek refuge in secular neutrality when confronted with religious issues to be resolved by law and judicial resolution. This article sketches the constitutional background, the undeniable relationship between law and religion, the standard liberal response to resulting difficulties and the dawn of a post-secular era. Examples are discussed from German, Canadian and South African jurisprudence that dealt with religious issues, leading to an assessment of the viability of secular neutrality. It is found that neutrality is unachievable. A suggestion is made that objective reciprocity founded on the teachings of Jesus and accepted as a universal human norm, independently of Christian teachings, may present an appropriate approach to avoid the dilemmas brought about by secularism. The implication of this analysis is that some firm arguments based on biblical justification have universal persuasive power, because they appeal to universal values also acceptable to non-believers and other religions. These arguments may be used in courts and by other organs of state for the resolution of religious matters that have legal implications in the pluralistic society of the 21st century.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor NRF Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
Date 2016-11-25
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — historical; comparative; analysis of jurisprudence
Format text/html application/octet-stream text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/ids.v50i1.2167
 
Source In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi; Vol 50, No 1 (2016); 8 pages 2305-0853 1018-6441
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://indieskriflig.org.za/index.php/skriflig/article/view/2167/4174 https://indieskriflig.org.za/index.php/skriflig/article/view/2167/4173 https://indieskriflig.org.za/index.php/skriflig/article/view/2167/4175 https://indieskriflig.org.za/index.php/skriflig/article/view/2167/4114
 
Coverage South Africa, Canada, Germany, USA Reformation; 21st Century religion; belief;
Rights Copyright (c) 2016 Francois Venter https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
ADVERTISEMENT