FREEDOM OF RELIGION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN GERMANY AND IN THE UNITED STATES

Unfortunately, in terms of religions, the strict neutrality is almost impossible to reach and most countries that have adopted such a principle still face religious conflicts. However, these conflicts have shifted from armed conflicts to legal conflicts and battles of words, which offer at least a more peaceful way to fight. One major battleground for these religious conflicts concerns the role of religion in the public school system. That battleground is the subject of this thesis. The discussion of how religion should be treated in the public school system will be based on a comparison between Germany and the United States. While the United States adheres to the principle of strict separation of church and state, the German Basic Law has connected church and state in some respects. A comparison of how both countries deal with religious freedom in public school will thus enable the reader to decide for himself which of the two systems balances the religious freedom of the school children and the proper interests of the state in a better way. Before considering the role of religion in public schools it is necessary to provide some basic background about the relationship between religion and state in both countries. This background will be provided for the United States in part II and for Germany in part III. Part IV will focus on the main topic, the role of religion in public schools