Abstract
A few centuries ago, blasphemy seemed to be an obsolete issue in consolidated democracies. Today, it is a problem that is increasingly forced upon laissez-faire societies by external pressures. Article 4 of the German constitution, namely freedom of faith and conscience, in which the religious and ideological denomination is classified as inviolable, stands peaceful and apparently harmonious next to Article 5, the freedom of expression, arts and sciences, which gives all citizens the right to express and spread his or her opinion by speaking, writing or picturing. Article 5.2 implies constraints regarding general laws like youth protection and the ‘right of personal dignity’. Since personal dignity was used many times to claim excessive views on protection regarding issues of belief, the probability for a clash of norms increased.
To the former theologian Gerhard Lehmbruch on his 85th birthday!
Translation of original text in German into English by Marina Brügel and Stephanie Smith
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von Beyme, K. (2015). Ban on Blasphemy: Protection of Religion Versus Freedom of Opinion as a Conflict of Fundamental Rights in Democracy. In: Schneider, V., Eberlein, B. (eds) Complex Democracy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15850-1_18
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