I recently had a rather frustrating experience.
I was talking to young people about religion and why religious symbols are banned in certain circumstances.
At some point, I said to them: We should at least know if we're talking about the same thing.
I asked: What is secularism to you?
principles
For them, secularism was a kind of isolation from religions, especially Islam.
I have come to realize that among many secular activists, there is actually a somewhat overt hostility toward religions.
She also acknowledged that recent pro-secularist initiatives were essentially a reaction to Islamism, which had become a political programme for conquering minds.
Then I explained the three main principles of secularism.
The first is freedom of conscience.
Secularism gives every person the right to believe in the religion he wants, or to change his religion, or to have no religion at all.
This also means that you cannot force someone to believe in a religion and follow its rules.
It is therefore important that public schools be secular in law and practice, so that children are not indoctrinated and can later make their own choices.
The second principle is the principle of separation of state and religion.
The state should not favour any particular religion, hence the removal of the cross from our parliament and public schools.
From now on, the political system will derive its legitimacy from the people and not from divine authority, even if the slogans, flags, money, etc. retain religious references that have become heritage.
Religion should also not direct state decisions, hence the importance of its representatives being neutral in practice and appearance.
The third great principle is the equality of all before the law.
Since the state is neutral, it cannot give a right or privilege to a person because of his belonging to a particular religion.
The state will make its decisions on the basis of what is common to everyone – the status of the citizen, the voter, the taxpayer, etc. – and not on what is unique to each person.
He would be, if I may say so, as indifferent to religion as he should be to the colour of his skin.
The concrete methods of implementation will vary from country to country, and from era to era.
a job
A difficult and challenging discussion, it made me realize how complex these concepts are, but also how much secularism has been caricatured, slandered, and demonized.
Finally, the most enlightened of these young men told me: Secularism basically comes from a position of caution in the face of possible excesses.
I answered him exactly, realizing at once that caution was not a feeling that would arouse spontaneous enthusiasm in young people brought up in the cult of absolute freedom.
This is why secularism is always on the defensive.
There is still a great deal of work to be done.
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