Liberdade religiosa no estado laico: abordagem jurídica e teológica

Abstract

Religious liberty is a fundamental right foreseen in the Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil. It has many faces, for it consists in the right to profess or not profess a religion, to change beliefs, to manifest faith through ceremonies and rites, and, finally, in the right which the followers have to organize themselves in institutions. The State assures the right of religion by not interfering in the individual liberty of its citizens, and also by assuring that other citizens will not interfere either. Across history, Brazil accumulated seven constitutions. The second one, from 1891, institutionalized the separation model between Church and State. The lay State is kept in the current Constitution from 1988. Laicity is not synonym of laicisim. The last one means exclusion of religion of the public square, as the first one means neutrality an impartiality by the State. Secularization is a phenomenon of social character, related to the decrease of religious practice, and it does not have any political character. Ample religious liberty can cause some conflicts with other fundamental rights, so it can be restrained. Nevertheless, there is the need to impose limits to these restrictions through legal tools which will assure the right in case will not be diminished to the point of non existence. Some situations have made concrete the possible tensions between religious liberty and other civil rights: discipline of children by the new text given to the Statute of Childhood that forbids the use of physical punishment, religious symbols in public institutions, and the tension between sexual Christian ethics and the concept of diversity. Theology also presents its own concepts of State, freedom and tolerance. In the tradition of Reformation, civil authority is a divine order to which obedience is due but must act inside its limits and cannot get in the sphere of other areas of society, such as Church and family. In their liberty, the Christian must submit to authorities for the good of all, for evil has to be controlled. Christian tolerance does not make relative its convictions, but does not allow that one will go beyond words to proclaim his or her faith. Even though Christianity has been mixed for long times with civil power, that is not the goal to be persuaded. Every citizen has the right to be part of the public administration and government, as well as to cooperate to the polis, no matter his or her creed or absence of creed. So the Christian can participate in politics and must be helpful because they have a cultural mandate to take care of creation. Their participation shall elevate the ethical demand of public and political agents. By the theology that leads this research, family has priority on the educational formation of children. State should not put barriers to homeschooling nor interfere on the discipline method chosen by parents because family and State move in different spheres. Though this is not the understanding that has directed Brazilian legislation, it is possible to create new laws that would benefit this orientation, for the Constitution of Brazil does not ignore the central role that family has in education. Concerning the tension between traditional sexual Christian ethics and the demand of sexual diversity activists we should not expect any definitive solution, given the fact that this conflict is a consequence of cultural and religious plurality natural of the democratic rule of law.