O estado constitucional e o direito à liberdade religiosa: reflexão acerca do uso de símbolos religiosos no espaço público brasileiro

• Ano de defesa: 2018
• Autor(a) principal: Gonçalves, Arthur Cabral
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: por
• Instituição de defesa: Brasil; UFRN; PROGRAMA DE PÓS-GRADUAÇÃO EM DIREITO
• Palavras-chave em Português: Liberdade religiosa; Laicidade; Símbolos religiosos; Espaço público; CNPQ::CIENCIAS SOCIAIS APLICADAS::DIREITO
• Link de acesso: https://repositorio.ufrn.br/jspui/handle/123456789/26146

Research on the fundaments of freedom of belief in the Constitutional State, developed from the origins and the definition of the religious phenomenon. Although there is no unanimity to find the concept of religion, it cannot be forgotten that such a component is part of the human condition and permeates history, from the earliest societies. Faith was served as a foundation and legitimation for the State and Law, which was overcome with the advent of the separation of the spiritual and political powers, in Christianity, and resulted in state secularism, within the first constitutionalist movements. The work points that the advent of rationalism has not succeeded in replacing faith with human reason, but there is nowadays evidenced of an exacerbated multiculturalism and social pluralism, which provoke dialogue and tolerance, especially in what concerns the values of society. In this context, the principle of religious freedom is reflected, not as a guideline to extirpate the faith of the public scenario - as conceived by French laicity –, but as the way of preserving the multiple religious cultural identities, which manifest themselves in a way to guarantee the participation of all, under the same conditions, in the discussions that permeate the public space. It argues that Brazil, influenced by religiosity, prior to Portuguese colonization, and strongly marked by the presence of the Catholic Church, stands out in the appreciation of the religious phenomenon, during almost all of its constitutional history. On the basis of this, the various constitutional norms in force are consistent with an interpretation of free belief, which guarantees the co-operation of convictions of faith with state interests, in view of the common good. Religious symbols, marked by subjectivity and controversies, constitute the main elements of externalization of the faith, since its use by believers denotes the expression of one's own convictions, from which one must not depart. Thus, the presence of religious icons in the state public space cannot signify, firstly, an affront to secularism, but the representation of cultural traits existing in society, which should not be forgotten or restrained; otherwise, it violates the freedom of belief, as demonstrated in the case study of the presence of crucifixes in the Courts.