MANIFESTATION OF RELIGION AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION UNDER THE ECHR JURISDICTION

This essay will explore religious education under European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) jurisdiction especially for minority beliefs. Thus, I will look at Article 9 of the ECHR (guarantees religious freedom), Article 2 of the First Protocol (provides rights to parents in education and teaching for their children according to their own religious convictions). The first section of this essay will lay down the general frame of religious education under the above mentioned articles of the ECHR, the general principles that came out from the ECHR cases. We are aware that with the exception of Somalia and USA, all world states signed the Convention on Children Rights (CRC). Thus, we can claim that even under ECHR jurisdiction we might be able to follow "the best interest of the child" principle.1 When there is a religious education issue, mostly or almost all debates go beyond the upbringing of children. Some liberals, like Amy Guttmann, argued in Democratic Education, parents should not have the right to control their own children's education and society has legitimate aim to make children learn "a common set of democratic values."2 Martha Minow questions: "Do children belong to the State, even more than to their parents, or even to themselves?"3 How can a religious parent be ensured that their children are educated according to their religious convictions under the ECHR system? Finally when there is a conflict between the best interest of the child and parents' choice, what is the solution of the ECHR system? The best interest of the child principle can also serve as a mediation tool for a child to access education.4 I take a stand that as a general principle I claim that children should have religious education as being in their best interest. Of course, if there is abuse of this right, the state can limit this right under Article 9/2. Without giving or accepting autonomy and individuality for children, we cannot serve the best interest of the child principle and our autonomy and individuality shaped by and in our community. Thus, it is very important for children of minorities to access religious education in order to have a proper marker for identity of its own religious community. One commentator pointed out: "Considering the question of autonomy with the child in mind, we reminded that identity is always a communal enterprise that involves more than a free willing individual. The identity of the individual is always shaped in relation to a larger set of communal identities. In turn, a viable collective identity, be it religious or secular, needs a community for its creation and preservation."5