“Religion never stands above the law”

The relation between the state and faith groups as illustrated in Belgium

Abstract

Regularly, civil authorities in Europe ask religious communities to confirm that “religion never stands above the law.” Some believers would like to respond that the law never stands above the Bible (or Tanakh or Qur’an). However, the relationship between religion and law is more complicated than either of these statements would suggest. This article tries to formulate the relationship in a language that is under- standable for civil authorities, and with a content that reassures them of believers’ peaceful intentions while not betraying religious convictions.