Auteur: Jean-Michel VERNOCHET
Executive summary: French secularism, under the guise of benevolent neutrality, would conceal a true hegemonic vocation, acting as a state religion. If our founding texts (1948, 1958) establish as a guarantee of freedom of conscience, its implementation betrays this principle, oscillating between selective applications (e.g. flags) and legislative attempts to lock speech. Historical analysis reveals that this concept, born of a revolutionary will to supplant Catholicism, was first conceived as a combative by its theorists. This vision persists among contemporary thinkers like Vincent Peillon, for whom secularism, far from being neutral, must be “offensive” and constitutes a “secular religion” in its own right. Therefore, the school institution, in the name of this principle, would actively promote a universalist ideology, transforming secularism into a tool of social control. In doing so, the original principle of protecting freedoms of conscience and thought would be emptied of its substance.
Keywords: Laity, State religion, France, Republic, French Revolution, Declaration of Human and Citizen Rights, Freedom of conscience, Freedom of thought, Catholicism, Ferdinand Buisson, Vincent Peillon, secular religion, Universalism, Social control.
Abstract: French secularism, under the guise of benevolent neutrality, is said to conceal a genuine hegemonic ambition, acting as a state religion. While our founding texts (1948, 1958) establish it as a guarantee of freedom of conscience, its implementation betrays this principle, oscillating between selective applications (the example of flags) and legislative attempts to stifle discourse. Historical analysis reveals that this concept, born from a revolutionary desire to supplant Catholicism, was conceived from the outset as combative by its theorists. This view persists among contemporary thinkers like Vincent Peillon, for whom secularism, far from being neutral, must be “offensive” and constitutes a “secular religion” in its own right. Consequently, the educational system, in the name of this principle, actively promotes a universalist ideology, transforming secularism into an instrument of social control. In doing so, the original principle of protecting freedom of conscience and freedom of thought would be emptied of its substance.
Keywords: Secularism, State religion, France, Republic, French Revolution, Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, Freedom of conscience, Freedom of thought, Catholicism, Ferdinand Buisson, Vincent Peillon, Secular religion, Universalism, Social control.