LAST week, my colleagues in America were kept very busy by a Supreme Court hearing which touched some sensitive nerves: it concerned two firms run by devout Christians who object to implementing parts of the Obamacare health-care mandate which require them to offer contraceptive services to their employees. To understand the red-hot sensitivity of the case, you have to know not just the details of the arguments submitted, but the broader context formed by America's understanding of religious freedom. It is common to hear Americans draw a sharp contrast between their country's religious order and that of Europe.
So what exactly is the difference? That's too big a question for one Erasmus posting, so let's divide the matter into two parts, theory and practice. The fundamentals of America's religious order are summed up in the first 16 words of the First Amendment ("Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."). This elegant form of words, on whose interpretation millions of words have been expended, has no precise equivalent in Europe. The "free exercise" of religion is guaranteed, albeit with qualifications, by Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which all 47 members of the Council of Europe have signed.
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