On the anniversary of the 1905 law separating church and state, Hervé Caël, departmental president of the Radical Movement / Social Liberal, sent us this contribution, which we gladly publish.
Today, the Day of Laicity carries a particularly symbolic meaning. The Radical Movement / Social Liberal of Alpes-Maritimes wishes to remind us that laicity is the cornerstone of the republican pact in France. It rests on three inseparable values: Freedom of conscience, freedom of worship, and equality in the rights of spiritual and religious options. Laicity is by no means a battle tool against any specific religion. Laicity is not an accusation; it applies to all beliefs. A secular state neither defends a religious dogma nor promotes an atheist or agnostic conviction. The state is secular, not society. The French social contract rests on the separation of private, intimate, and public spaces. We can distinguish between three spaces: The private space (singular space, family, traditions…), the “shared” public space (the street, places of debate, exchanges, media… where one can display their opinions, beliefs, a place where “my” freedom ends when others’ begins) and spaces of public services (institutional spaces, school, court… places of the common good, general interest).
Rather than altering the 1905 law on the separation of church and state, the Radical Movement / Social Liberal (MRSL) advocates a revision of the 1901 law on associations to restore spiritual concord in France.
As Laurent HENART, national President of the MRSL, recently stated, 1905 is a crucial societal milestone. This illuminating text was enacted after a debate that tore the country apart, establishing an unprecedented separation in the history of political organizations: the State on one side, religions on the other. This civic innovation has had invaluable positive consequences for our nation. Assertion of freedom of conscience and expression, peaceful coexistence of spiritualities, rejection of all forms of discrimination, absolute recognition of the dignity of the human person, including women: by applying the fundamental principles of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, 1905 created the conditions for civil concord. It ended the temporal authority of holy scriptures, leaving each person on their path of conscience, free to believe or not believe, protected by the same republican law.
While it is true that we need clarity on the conditions of worship practices, ensure they do not disturb public order, cut off influences colluding with terrorism, bring transparency to the funding of structures by foreign states and organizations, and denounce the responsibility of leaders inciting hatred, it is crucial to act beyond religious associations.
We call on the head of state to initiate a reform of the 1901 text (law “relative to the contract of association”). To restore France as a sanctuary of laicity, we must tackle the misuse of associative freedom and restore it to serve the republican ideal. Consider that in 2018 France, 2,500 mosques are managed by 1901 law associations! Islamic proselytism, in many vulnerable neighborhoods, infiltrates into the multiple veins of the associative world, with its countless daily actions, its welcomed audiences, the collective messages it spreads. That is our reality today. The respect for the principle of laicity must no longer only apply to places of worship. That time has passed.
