The Concept of Religion in the Law

Negli anni Quaranta, l'economista austriaco Joseph Schumpeter coniò il concetto di "distruzione creativa" per descrivere come il capitalismo si sviluppa attraverso lo smantellamento incessante e continuo di vecchi paradigmi. Nel panorama attuale, il britannico Russell Sandberg e l'americano Marc. O De Girolami si stanno affermando come i contemporanei "distruttori creativi" nel campo del diritto e religione. Evidenziando le patologie che ostacolano lo sviluppo intellettuale della disciplina e proponendo possibili soluzioni, il presente contributo introduce e analizza due recenti opere dove gli Autori offrono spunti per de-costruire criticamente il diritto e religione e proiettarlo verso il futuro. ABSTRACT. In the 1940s, Austrian economic Joseph Schumpeter coined the concept of "creative destruction" to describe how capitalism evolves through the relentless and continuous dismantling of its old paradigms. Fast forward to the present, British and American scholars Russell Sandberg and Marc O. De Girolami are emerging today as contemporary "creative destroyers" in the field of law and religion. Pointing to the pathologies affecting the intellectual development of the discipline and prescribing possible remedies, this paper introduces and discusses two recent works by the Authors as part of their efforts to critically deconstruct law and religion and project it into the future.

This volume shows through the use of legal sources that law was used to try to erect boundaries between communities in order to regulate or restrict interaction between the faithful and the non-faithful; and at the same time show how these boundaries were repeatedly transgressed and negociated. Muslim law developed a clear legal cadre for dhimmīs, inferior but protected non-Muslim communities (in particular Jews and Christians) and Roman Canon law decreed a similar status for Jewish and Muslim communities in Europe. Yet the theoretical hierarchies between faithful and infidel were constantly brought into question in the daily interactions between men and women of different faiths in streets, markets, bath-houses, law courts, etc. The twelve essays in this volume explore these tensions and attempts to resolve them. These contributions show that law was used to try to erect boundaries between communities in order to regulate or restrict interaction between the faithful and the non-fai...

BYU Law Review, 2001

I. INTRODUCTION This article briefly examines the case law of the Spanish Constitutional Court in the field of freedom of religion with respect to the legal status of churches and religious groups as well as the protection of individual freedom of conscience. Due to the limited space available, this study focuses only on the Court's most significant decisions.1 My goal is to provide an overview of the main issues concerning religious liberty that have come to the jurisdiction of the Spanish Constitutional Court and analyze the way in which the Court has applied constitutional principles. This analysis will reveal some deficiencies that can be-and must be-corrected, especially with regard to the individual aspects of freedom of conscience. As we will see, on the whole, the Court's approach to these issues does not differ much from the one taken by the European Court of Human Rights, which acts as a sort of Constitutional Court, interpreting the freedoms included in the Europe...

One can increasingly observe the mobilization of religious organizations to influence politics and law, thus making use of institutional instruments to participate in power. This work aims to investigate the legal provisions and the jurisprudence of the national courts regarding the practices of religious agents for the election of their representatives in the formal instances of power. The method used was documentary and bibliographical research, as well as consultation with official jurisprudence repositories. The greater relevance of the law in certain subjects was found, namely, donations of goods for campaigns, electoral propaganda and abuse of religious power. In the end, a greater permeability of the law to other sciences is proposed so that areas subject to conflict can be identified and appropriate solutions can be proposed.

Diacovensia

The aim of this research is to reveal historical and contemporary aspects of the similarity, difference, and interaction of Christian and legal spheres of social reality. The legal nature of the proposed study obliges the use of the formal legal (dogmatic) research method with special attention paid to the content and sanctions of legal prescriptions. Thus, the historical development confirms the constant need of mankind both in the picture of the world, the model of the worldview offered by religion, and the normative regulator based on absolute transcendental values. The fundamental role of religion in the origin and development of the law is proved by historical facts.

SUMMARY: 1. The value of religious law in modern (and secular) states-2. Religious rules and individual choices in Europe-3. Religious law and the fields in which it can operate effectively-4. The rules of religious courts in civil legal systems-4.1 ..The direct referral to religious laws-4.2. The pronounces of religious courts and its importance for faithful-5. The development of Religious Arbitration Courts in Italy-6. Does religious jurisdiction another side of religious freedom? This draft was presented in occasion of the Conference “Law as Religion, Religion as Law”, held in Jerusalem, June 5th-7th, 2017, in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and organized by The Matz Institute for Research in Jewish Law, and The Aharon Barak Center for Interdisciplinary Legal Research.

Pharos journal of theology, 2023

The purpose of this article is to identify the key historical aspects of the formation of the teachings of religion within the Christian faith. In the course of the study, it is established that the church did not interfere with the existence of nation states, proclaiming the need for European unity. The conclusion of the manuscript argues for the church's (in its general sense) desire to subordinate political power in European states, which would serve to establish unified methods of government. The theological and canonical principles of Catholic religious doctrine provided the basis for such methods. The church's teachings became the basis for the formation of rules aimed at regulating relations in society in general, interpersonal relations and relations between the individual, the state and the church in particular. The article also examines and reveals the processes of integration of cultural studies in the environment, including science and art. The church actively finances various projects of preservation and restoration of historical art objects and promotes the development of new artistic directions. The church also actively promotes the development of science, primarily in the field of theology and philosophy. Such actions are quite valuable, because the church demonstrates adherence to its principles and values, thereby encouraging people to adhere to them as well. Such influence caused the integration and emergence of ideas of humanistic principles in the European consciousness. Moreover, the established canon law actively contributed to it. It became the basis for many branches of secular law.

This is the English language version of a piece which is published in Italian in Dizionario del sapere storico-religioso del Novecento, edited by Alberto Melloni, by Il Mulino (Bologna, 2010). It provides a definition of 'the sociology of the law on religion'. This can be understood as a discipline which studies the interaction between law, religion and society. The paper assesses the extent to which this discipline exists. It looks at law and religion scholars such as Doe and Bradney who have made reference to sociology and sociologists of religion such as Davie and Beckford who have made reference to law. The author has further developed his analysis of the interaction between law and religion and the sociology of religion in his doctoral thesis and returned to the subject in Religion, Law and Society (Cambridge University Press, 2014)

Religion, directly or indirectly, is part in the people's life (for believers as well as non-believers who necessarily assimilate it, sometimes unwittingly), and for this reason it become an element that shapes all of their ethic, social, legal, economical and personal affairs. In fact, religious factor plays a fundamental role in the architecture of the law systems. This paper tries to clarify that between the institutes of civil law and the rules of denominational laws there is a continuous process of osmosis. In that sense we can talk about of an " osmotic process between religion and law " and of a " nomopoietic function of religions " In fact, religions, among others, are one of the players that suggest good practices, especially in their function of influencing the civil law systems. The religion and law osmosis produce important consequences in law systems: the " religious lawmaking " , the presence of religion in civil jurisprudence and the relevance of religious courts. Religion are also capable of obstructing the elitist transformation of law (dictated by major economic private powers), so that it regains the authentic meanings on which it was founded, thus contributing to the evolution of civil systems. In fact, is emerging a new legal koiné that arises from economic practice based on negotiating tools today at the service of the great private economic powers. It is a uniform legal language (mercantilistic) that escapes the political control of the legal systems. Precisely where the political grip of the law is minor, religious traditions become cultural imperatives that construct and dimension these new practices, thus fulfilling a real nomopoietic function. This creates legal rules capable of dealing with differences without undoing them is the main way to govern successfully in today's multicultural society. SUMMARY: 1. Together in diversity: law and religion in modern civil law systems. – 2. Religious traditions and the law. – 3. The religion and law osmosis in law-making processes. – 4. The religion and law osmosis in jurisdiction. – 5. As a strategy: the nomopoietic function of religions in the legal koine.

Journal of Church and State, 2012