Equal freedom does not require shared beliefs.
Religious tolerance recognises that people can hold different convictions. One person prays, another rejects religious ideas, and a third is undecided. Freedom of belief does not belong only to a majority or a particular religious community.
The constitutional order establishes no state church. That does not mean religion must remain invisible. The Basic Law also protects religious practice. Peaceful coexistence requires people not to make their own convictions everyone else’s personal religious obligation.
The other three answers
The incorrect answers replace diversity with a ban or compulsion.
No mosques may be built.
A blanket ban on mosques would exclude a religion. Religious tolerance does not mean such a ban. An individual building project must still be assessed under applicable building rules.
All people believe in God.
Tolerance does not require everyone to believe in God. It also includes people without religious beliefs and those who identify with no religion.
The state decides which God people believe in.
The state does not decide which God a person should believe in. It protects the freedom of differing religious and philosophical convictions.
Tolerance respects freedom; it does not require agreement.
People may discuss religion and hold differing positions. The exam answer does not require accepting every religious claim as true. It concerns people’s right to hold their own convictions.
Freedom of belief does not automatically authorise every particular project or permit compelling others to engage in religious observance. Everyone’s personal freedom must be considered.
Article 4 · Freedom of belief · Basic Law ↗Belief is free; participation is not a general obligation.
Identify the answer allowing choice rather than banning a religion or prescribing a belief.
Three words for this question
- die Toleranztolerance
- Respect for others’ freedom despite differences in belief.
- das Gewissenconscience
- A person’s inner judgement of what they consider right or wrong.
- die Weltanschauungworldview
- A fundamental understanding of people and the world that need not be religious.