Toulouse: for historian Patrick Weil, “secularism is an idea to unite the French”
Historian, research director at the CNRS, specialist in the history of immigration, nationality and secularism, Patrick Weil (65) will give a conference, Thursday, December 9 (7 p.m.) at the Hôtel du Département, 1 boulevard de la Marquette in Toulouse, on the theme “Secularism: an idea to unite the French”. Maintenance.
You are giving a conference on Thursday December 9 at the Haute-Garonne departmental council on the theme “Secularism: an idea to unite the French”?
It is a particular organization of the statute of religion in a country like France, with the law of 1905, which results in the separation of Church and State. Until 1905, certain cults, in particular the Catholic Church by virtue of a concordat signed by Napoleon, were financed by the State: the salaries of priests, bishops, archbishops, cardinals, the maintenance of churches. A somewhat comparable status had been made for Protestants and Israelites. Separation gives a guarantee of the freedom of all religions. All beliefs are respected, even if they are less known or less privileged, but also those who do not believe, the agnostics. The other dimension is that the law of 1905 breaks the concordat with the Vatican, not by a renegotiation, but by an act of sovereignty of the Parliament which institutes a new statute of the religions. Without consulting the Pope. It is also a manifestation of the sovereignty of the Republic in the organization and status of religions. that is an idea. But I play on the title, because we can note that the partisans of secularism clash. Some say: “we must be careful, apply the law, not to make new ones otherwise it creates discrimination against our compatriots of Muslim culture”. And the others who say: “but what are we doing against radical Islamisms?” “.
Is there the law in the event of slippage?
In the law itself, there are penal provisions. The law on secularism proclaims the freedom to believe or not to believe but without pressure. Section 31 of the law says if you pressure someone to force or prevent them from worshiping, you can be fined or jailed. If parish priests, pastors, rabbis or imams start calling on citizens to rise up against other citizens, to do violence against other citizens, to attack officials, etc., the law provides for provisions which can be had forgotten the existence.
How can we reconcile the two camps?
This involves bringing them back to knowledge. This is what I did in my last book [De la laïcité en France, Grasset, NDLR]. It is already by respect for the law.
What is the conclusion of your last book on the perception of secularism, in particular within national education?
It is not taught properly. The proof is that the Ministry of National Education has started to provide training, but it is a bit late. Compared to the 2015 attacks, a lot of time has passed. We saw it clearly, after the assassination of Samuel Paty, when the minister announced a two-hour debate at the start of the All Saints holidays which was finally canceled. Because the teachers did not have the tools to facilitate this debate. I made this book to allow teachers to lead debates on secularism and freedom of expression in front of their students. We have already sold 24,000 copies, it is a short, clear book, accessible to all citizens.