292. People in Germany live according to the principle of religious tolerance. What does that mean?

Answer options

1. Mosques may not be built.
2. All people believe in God.
3. Everyone may believe whatever they wish.
4. The state decides which God people believe in.

Explanation

Religious tolerance is anchored in the Basic Law: Art. 4 GG guarantees freedom of faith, conscience, and the undisturbed practice of religion; via Art. 140 GG, the church–state provisions of the Weimar Constitution continue to apply (e.g., Art. 137 WRV: no state church). It encompasses both positive and negative religious freedom and obliges the state to ideological and religious neutrality and equal treatment. Germany follows a model of cooperative separation: religious communities may hold public-law corporation status without the state prescribing belief. Against the background of confessional conflicts and persecution under National Socialism, the Federal Constitutional Court’s case law (e.g., crucifix and headscarf rulings) consistently safeguards individual freedom of belief and pluralism.