Dmytro Vovk
A Blog of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center of Fordham University
After gaining independence and departing from official Soviet atheism, Ukraine managed to develop a neutral model of religion-state relations. The 1991 law on religious organizations provided basic guarantees of religious freedom at the individual and institutional levels: free exercise of religion, prohibition of discrimination based on religion, separation of religion and state, equal legal status of religious organizations, and no public funding for religious groups. A relatively liberal registration model and the absence of significant limitations on unregistered activities and on the activities of foreign religious groups made Ukraine’s religious neutrality friendly to the presence of religion in public life. The 1996 Constitution incorporated this model into the country’s constitutional order, providing no specific recognition or protection for religion or religions.
Ideologically, this model represents a peculiar mixture of Marxist, U.S.-style liberal, and nationalist approaches to religion-state relations and reflects disagreements about religion and religion-state relations among major political forces in the Ukrainian Parliament of the time. While the constitutional preamble refers to responsibility before the (Christian, of course) God, the main text of the Constitution does not impose or endorse any religious dogmas or ethical doctrines (cf. the Irish Constitution), explicitly prohibits the establishment of an official ideology, and clearly separates the government, legal system, and public education from religion.
Weiterlesen auf publicorthodoxy.org
