The Concept of a Laic Legal State: Genesis and Evolution in the Context of Globalization

Abstract

The problem of misunderstanding the laicity of the state, which is in many ways a tribute to our Soviet atheistic heritage, often interferes modern state-confessional relations, therefore, the purpose of the article is to convey the original concept of the laicity of the state, to show what kind of transformation it has undergone, as well as to present the consequences of this transformation in Russia and in the West. The author analyzes the reasons for the emergence of the principle of laicity of the state in the Russian Constitution of 1993 and the existing stereotype of its interpretation in Russian society, explains the inconsistency of this stereotype of interpretation in the Russian legal and church traditions. The author draws attention to the difference between the principle of laicity of the state and the principle of separation of religious associations from the state, and between the principle of laicity and principle of “neutrality and impartiality” of the state in relation to religious associations, as well as to the non-identity of the concepts of laicity — secularism — atheism. The article briefly provides examples of the consequences of the substitution or confusion of the concepts of laicity and secularism in Western countries and the concepts of laicity and atheism in Russia.