德国宪法上宗教自由保护范围的扩张与反思

Expansion of Protection Scope of Religious Freedom in German Constitution and Reflection

宪法上的'宗教'概念是界定宗教自由保护范围的起点,但相较'什么是宗教','什么被作为宗教自由保护'和'谁来决定什么是宗教,什么被作为宗教自由保护'这两个问题具有更为关键的意义。从1960年代起,德国联邦宪法法院对宗教自由的保护范围进行了大幅扩张:就前一个问题,出现了从宗教仪式自由到宗教行为自由的变迁;在后一个层面,自我理解逐渐成为决定性的判断因素。但这种扩张使宗教自由的保护范围变得漫无边界,最终导致对宗教自由的过度保障。德国的经验证明,在世俗多元的现代国家,应当将宪法宗教自由的保护范围限定为真正的、纯粹的、核心的宗教信仰和活动,而不宜将其扩张为一种基于宗教动机的宽泛的行为自由。

The constitutional concept of religion is the starting point in delineating the protective scope of religious freedom.However,compared with'what is religion',the two questions of'what is protected as religious freedom'and'who decides'are of more direct significance.Since the 1960 s,the German Federal Constitutional Court has extensively expanded the protective scope of religious freedom:the freedom of worship transformed into the freedom of religiously motivated conduct,while the self-understanding of the subjects of fundamental rights became the decisive factor.Yet this expansion has made the protective scope of religious freedom boundless,and eventually led to an over-protection of the freedom of religion.As the German case has shown,in the secular and plural modern state,the protective scope of the freedom of religion as a fundamental right should,instead of becoming a general freedom of action based on religious motivation,be restricted to genuine,pure and essential religious belief and practice.