Secularism
as liberation: God is no more public concern
Gazettes
are filled with the shouts of self-proclamed donors of lessons on secularism,
which are really theological minds with a false nose. One of the latest examples is Chantal Delsol (Le Figaro, 26/08/2016 :
"famous French secularism is nothing other than the obligation to silence
his religion... the famous French tolerance of human rights applies ultimately only
to those who look like us in every way... strange tolerance! Personally I find insane
allowed these women to swim in their traditional garb (sic!) ".
So
I found useful to recall the positivist
conception of secularism – for Positivism
is a current of thought which have played a significant role in the separation
of Church and State in France.
Secularism
is based on the principle of the separation of temporal and spiritual powers, sound base of real anti-totalitarian thought since
the confusion of the two can only lead to a dictatorship "where there is
no alternative between the most abject submission and direct revolt" (Auguste
Comte). In practice, it was summarized by Pierre Laffitte, Auguste Comte
main disciple : "God is no longer of public order".
On
the other hand, no society, thought Comte, cannot live without a "common
social doctrine": "in a population where the concourse of individuals
to public order can no longer be determined by the voluntary and moral assent
granted by all to a common social doctrine, there is no other expedient, to
maintain harmony, that the sad alternative of force or corruption."
Finally,
secularism fits in the great movement of theological emancipation of humanity,
in a program first empirically followed in the intellectual development of
mankind, then clearly claimed by the French Enlightenment : after being driven
out of astronomy (ancient Greek), physics (Galilee to Laplace), chemistry
(Lavoisier to Pasteur), biology (Darwin), God is now denied any role in the
organisation of societies (sociology of Auguste Comte).
Secularism
is not neutrality
Secularism
is not neutrality. The secular State cannot be neutral when religions,
apart from their temples, churches, mosques, want, openly or not, take control
of public space and place themselves in contradiction with the common social
doctrine of our societies. Thus, a religion has every right to teach in
its temples that apostasy lead to death (of the soul?) ; but in the public
space, it must be clear and clearly proclaimed that abandoning his religion is
an absolute right. Thus, we considered that the fact that a Priest, a
Rabbi, an Imam, a llama walking in the street in their clerical suit is not in itself an
offence against secularism (a reasonable accommodation that took some time-
remember the “croa” accompanying priests in black in french streets - finally a good idea that allows you to know at
the outset who you are dealing with).
Therefore,
there is no reason to prevent a nun in uniform to plunge feet into the water on
a beach ; however, the secular State should intervene appropriately
against the wearing of a veil masking the figure or a burkini on a beach,
because they show a willingness to impose religious precepts in public space, precepts
demeaning women, in complete contradiction with our common social doctrine
which proclaims the equality of men and women and strives to make it more real
(and there is still to do, which is another reason not to tolerate the
retrograde attempts!)
Similarly,
if our common social doctrine considered the suffering of animals at “halal” slaughter as unbearable (and there is
a European directive in this sense) and impose stunning before killing , well
the religions should adjust. Thus, Danish Muslim representatives simply
decreed that animals stunned before being slaughtered were “halal”…
It's
not that complicated, secularism, when we really want to defend it !
N.B
the new mayor of London, Sadiq Khan allowed himself to criticize the French
laws on islamic veil and burqinis ; but he did censor in London bare and retouched
photos of top models.
Not
a great incentive to elect a muslim as mayor in a major french city !
Eric Sartori
Le Socialisme d'Auguste
Comte, aimer, penser, agir au XXIème siècle, l'Harmattan 2012
