How are Western, mostly secular, societies handling religion in its increasingly pluralistic and complex forms? What different forms of interactions between and negotiations of religion and religious beliefs can we see in contemporary society? What are the primary contenders in these interactions and negotiations? The authors of Religion, Law and Democracy give ample examples of a variety of interaction processes between different expressions of religion and different spheres of society, such as the media, the judicial systems and state administration and policy. The authors primarily approach these questions from a North European but also to some extent a global perspective. A common denominator is a dynamic perspective on the relation between religious organizations, society and the individual actors - in other words how all of these levels are interconnected and transformed in these processes.

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction – Religion, Law and Democracy
• I Society
  • 1. Historical Perspectives on Church, Social Welfare and Community Work in Britain
  • 2. Accessing Religious Resources in Transcultural Healthcare
  • 3. There and Back Again
  • 4. Perspectives on Participation
• II Law
  • 5. The Hidden Return of Religion
  • 6. The Neutrality of the State and the Godless Society
  • 7. The Doctrine of Non-Justiciability of Religious Doctrine and Practice in English Courts
  • 8. Finnish Legislation on Assisted Reproductive Technologies
  • 9. The Impact of Islamic Family Law on the Swedish Legal Landscape
• III Democracy
  • 10. Layers of Inconsistency
  • 11. Must One be Christian to be Truly Norwegian?
  • 12. Veils, Nudity, and Individuality
  • 13. The Struggle over Christianity as a School Subject
• Afterword – The Big Picture
• About the Authors