The God of the 1991 Constitution and His Role in Colombia’s National Unity

Abstract

The article analyzes the tension generated by the symbolic presence of the word "God" in the Preamble of the 1991 Colombian Constitution, within the context of a historical confessional heritage and the fervent desire to build a plural and secular state. The constitutional process was a tool for certain ideological forces in their aim to withdraw state privileges for any official creed, while not ignoring the weight of religious tradition in Colombian society. The article reviews the historical trajectory of previous constitutions and political systems that invoked religious symbols, identifying historical secular positions, some radically opposed to confessionalism. As a result of the clash between these currents, the new political constitution opted to endorse the free and individual exercise of faith and conscience, recalling some of the jurisprudential interpretations that consolidated the mandate of neutrality of the state and institutions toward beliefs and churches. In this sense, the Constitutional Preamble functions as a point of balance that recognizes axiological and historical aspects without allowing them to be translated into legal privileges, warning of the future challenge of finding consensus for social changes in balance with the traditional elements of each nation.