How closely correlated should church and state be? May a state recognize or dignify the role and meaning of religion at all, and if so can it treat different religious groups differently? This book intends to answer these questions through a portrayal and comparison of various legal orders including those of Germany, Israel, France and the USA.

Some authors consider the issue of church and state from an international law perspective. The analyses are structured from both a state-institutional as well as from a fundamental rights and human rights perspective. Here the religious and secular freedoms are brought into focus. Whether, and how, these church-and-state aspects vary within divergent modern state contexts and how they transnationally evolve is also discussed.

A Socio-Historical Perspective.- Religion and Public Order in Modern Nation-States: Institutional Varieties and Contemporary Transformations.- Models of Church-State Relations and Their Impact on Freedom of Religion.- On the Relationship between Structural Norms and Constitutional Rights in Church-State-Relations.- The Model of State and Church Relations and Its Impact on the Protection of Freedom of Conscience and Religion: A Comparative Analysis and a Case Study of Israel.- German, Comparative and International Law Perspectives.- From the Acceptance of Interdenominational Christian Schools to the Inadmissibility of Christian Crosses in the Public Schools.- The Headscarf of a Muslim Teacher in German Public Schools.- Religious Garments in Public Schools in Separation Systems: France and the United States of America.- Religion and Religious Symbols in European and International Law.- Perspectives from Israeli Law.- Claiming Equal Religious Personhood: Women of the Walls Constitutional Saga.- Does the Establishment of Religion Justify Regulating Religious Activities? The Israeli Experience.- The Other Religion and State Conflict in Israel: On the Nature of Religious Accommodations for the Palestinian-Arab Minority.- Days of Worship and Days of Rest: A View from Israel.- Human Rights and Religious Duties: Informed Consent to Medical Treatment under Jewish Law.- The American Point of View.- Neutrality Between Church and State: Mission Impossible?.- A Comment on Mark Weiners Neutrality Between Church and State: Mission Impossible.