Religion and Religious Symbols in European and International Law

Abstract

It has long been recognized that freedom of opinion is an essential precondition for political democracy. Freedom of opinionfirst developed within the nature of freedom of religion. Against the powerful church and against its important ally the state,the claim to freedom of religion was first launched as an attack to protect the individual in one of the most personal spheresof human identity and belief. Georg Jellinek has argued that the natural-law theory which came to recognize freedom of religionis at the basis of the movement towards striving for civil and fundamental rights. This theory has not met with general approval,but one cannot overlook that freedom of religion was the basis of some of the most influential political movements to establishearly democratic governments.1