O Estado laico e a Constituição Federal de 1988

Abstract

The freedom of religion is one of the most important human rights. Indeed, since the dawn of the modern civilizations, democratic societies have been characterized by the establishment of protective rules to freedom of belief, putting them safe from government or individual interferences. Therefore, it's possible to speak about the beginning of the modern State as a way to preserve the exercise of that freedom. Faced with the multiplicity of faiths, the State can not opt for the guard to one or another religion, but must provide ample space for coexistence of these faiths, allowing any man the exercise of their own faiths, which can be revealed even by atheism, featuring a secular state, which is not characterized by the Church x State opposition, but rather the separation between these entities. The 1988 Federal Constitution, as a key element of a democratic society, chose this conformation without establishing advantages to either creed. In a plural society, however, many conflicts are likely to form between people of different faiths, or between such persons and the state. The existence of numerous legal disputes and actions on the subject highlights the need for better understanding of the links between religion and state, under the Brazilian Constitution.