The importance of reasoning in the financing of churches from public funds or the case of the Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship with the legislator (2011-2019)

Abstract

The following analysis is about a unique, out-dragged, henceforth unsolved legal bargaining between small churches and the parliament in Hungary. Is the majority principle based on firm enough grounds so that to differentiate among religions? Why should the ruling majority be required to take into consideration religious groups that are marginal, or that they dislike, on an equality basis while distributing public funds? This paper suggests that the conceptual critique of the new deliberately differentiating, illiberal Church law of 2011 is that it allows unhinged exclusive and arbitrary decision-making for the legislation. Although majority principle should be the essence of democracy, its unconstrained version creates such anomalies in the democratic institutions which could well be survived but would alter the system into a non-democratic regime. First generation fundamental rights are therefore to be protected not by the democratic institutions even in a democracy but by the rule of law (liberalism).

Keywords

• liberal democracy
• illiberal democracy
• freedom of religion
• neutrality of state
• secularization
• public funding of churches