It is with great emotion and fighting spirit that we are gathered here this afternoon for this joint meeting. After this morning’s rich debates, organised on the initiative of La Vigie de la Laïcité (The Secularism Watchdog) and hosted by the Grand Lodge of France, we are now gathered here to bring the spirit of secularism to life.
Since 1847, the National Federation of Free Thought has been involved in every struggle to put an end to the claims of religions, whatever they may be, to govern common law. Free Thought played an essential role in the passing of the Law of Separation with Ferdinand Buisson, who presided over it from 1902, and Aristide Briand and Jean Jaurès as members.
What a long road it has been to ensure that freedom of conscience and expression, enshrined in Articles 10 and 11 of the Declaration of 1789, is upheld in common law. It was necessary to reject all clerical claims, from birth to death, to interfere in our lives. It was necessary to separate cemeteries, schools and parliament from the churches, with firmness, in the face of a Church that was retrograde towards the ideas of individual emancipation.
The 1905 law, the entire law, is the culmination of this process. In the midst of the Dreyfus Affair, when the Church and the reactionaries made no secret of their anti-Semitism, it was this law that put an end to the risk of civil war. It is the law of freedom: freedom of conscience, punishing all discrimination based on opinion; and consequently, it reciprocally protects the free exercise of religion. Finally, it is a profoundly democratic law in that it makes the general will the source of the law, and not a revelation that concerns only believers.
What a long way we have come! But what setbacks there have been at the same time, with colonialism refusing to apply it in the departments. The conciliatory Republic after the carnage of 1914-1918 believed it could win over the Catholic hierarchy by refusing to repeal the concordats, but this did not prevent the highest ecclesiastical authorities from selling out to the traitor Pétain.
In the 19th century, free schooling was the slogan of the Free Thinkers who wanted to wrest it from religious indoctrination. After so many betrayals and gifts, from Debré to Blanquer, the public school system has been ravaged and private schools under contract divert billions in public subsidies every year. We continue to demand the repeal of the Debré law!
The worst, however, is yet to come. The manipulation of the spirit of secularism is reaching new heights. The far right, quickly de-demonised by sorcerer’s apprentices, is using it as a battle cry against our Muslim compatriots. While by definition all revealed religions claim that their values take precedence over temporal ones, only Muslims are accused of separatism. From a law defending freedoms, secularism is now seen as repressive, both by those who manipulate it and in the eyes of the youngest members of society, who feel stigmatised.
Today, for Libre Pensée, the challenge is clear: secularism must be restored to its emancipatory principles: the 1905 law on separation is not the so-called “separatism” law. It is urgent to repeal the law of 24 August 2021: it places religious associations under supervision, contrary to Article 2 of the 1905 law; it undermines freedom of association by broadening the grounds for administrative dissolution of associations under the 1901 law.
The fight for democracy and freedom of thought took a decisive step forward in 1905, and it is still necessary to continue it: Down with the Calotte, long live the Socialists!
