Abstract
This article demonstrates that the legal reasoning dominant in modern states secularises traditions by converting them into 'religions'. Using a case study on Germany's recent regulation of male circumcision, we illustrate that religions have (at least) three dimensions: religiosity (private belief, individual right and autonomous choice); religious law (a divinely ordained legal code); and religious groups (public threat). When states restrict traditions within these three dimensions, they construct 'religions' within a secularisation triangle. Our theoretical model of a secularisation triangle illuminates that, in many Western states, there is a three-way relationship between a post-Christian state and both its Jewish and Muslim minorities. Our two theoretical proposals - the secularisation triangle and the trilateral relationship - contribute to a re-examination of religious freedom from the perspective of minority traditions and minority communities.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 431-458 |
Number of pages | 28 |
Journal | Oxford Journal of Legal Studies |
Volume | 41 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2021 |
Keywords
- Germany
- Jews
- Muslims
- circumcision
- religion
- secularism
- tradition