Judgment No. CCZ 7/16 19 Const. Application No. CCZ 17/15 binding contractual undertaking or commitment expressly and unequivocally relinquishing their rights and the rights of their children to abide by or enforce their religious beliefs and convictions without qualification. Adv. de Bourbon submits, in reliance on a dictum drawn from Wittmann v Deutscher Schulverein Pretoria & Others 1998 (4) SA 423 (T) at 449, that “freedom of religion does not mean freedom from religion”. In the instant case, so he argues, the applicants’ daughters are not being persuaded to change their religion or subscribe to other religious beliefs but are simply being required to attend an activity that forms part of the School’s curriculum. Thus, the School cannot be said to have infringed any aspect of the right to freedom of religion as enunciated by the Canadian Supreme Court in R v Big M Drug Mart Ltd [1985] 1 SCR 295 at 336D-G, where it was stated that: “The essence of the concept of freedom of religion is the right to entertain such religious beliefs as a person chooses, the right to declare religious beliefs openly and without fear of hindrance or reprisal, and the right to manifest religious belief by worship and practice or by teaching and dissemination.” In Christian Education South Africa v Minister of Education 2000 (4) SA 757 (CC) at para. 36, freedom of conscience and religion was regarded as being integral to the dignity, growth and self-worth of the individual: “The right to believe or not to believe, and to act or not to act according to his or her beliefs or non-beliefs, is one of the key ingredients of any person’s dignity. Yet freedom of religion goes beyond protecting the inviolability of the individual conscience. For many believers, their relationship with God or creation is central to all their activities. It concerns their capacity to relate in an intensely meaningful fashion to their sense of themselves, their community and their universe. For millions in all walks of life, religion provides support and nurture and a framework for individual and social stability and growth. Religious belief has the capacity to awaken concepts of self-worth and human dignity which form the