Lay state is not secularism” “

A lay State that is open to dialogue, that may give space to everyone without any form of discrimination, and that may offer the necessary means to foster integration, especially on the outskirts of the big cities. That is the hope expressed by the three Presidents of the Council of the Christian Churches in France in a letter “on the lay State” sent to the President of the French Republic. The letter is signed by Jean-Arnold de Clermont, president of the Protestant Federation in France, Msgr. Emmanuel, president of the Assembly of Orthodox bishops, and Msgr. Jean-Pierre Ricard, archbishop of Bordeaux and president of the French Bishops’ Conference. The three representatives of the Christian Churches wished to intervene personally in the debate opened in France, following the controversy on whether it is admissible or not for young female students to attend public schools wearing the Islamic veil. President of the Republic Jacques Chirac has established an advisory commission on the matter chaired by Bernard Stasi, with the task of listening to the views of the various components of French society. The President’s initiative has been “appreciated” by the leaders of the Christian Churches that have considered it necessary to send a “common reflection” on the question. A lay state of dialogue, not of suspicion. A neutral and independent State that is not subject to any philosophic or religious conviction but that is able to guarantee freedom of conscience and the free exercise of worship to everyone: that is the “common vision” of the lay state shared by the Christian Churches. “The Republic – the church leaders say in their letter to Chirac – does not juridically recognise any cult, but it comprises them all and guarantees great freedom in their organization”. The lay state – they say – does not have as its mission that of creating spaces devoid of the religious, but of offering spaces in which everyone, believers and non-believers, may debate together”. The lay state should foster reciprocal listening, “without silencing the convictions of anyone, but without conflict and without propaganda”. Hence the importance of the teaching of religion in schools to contribute to “better mutual understanding”. “If the lay State – write the representatives of the Churches – were to refuse this space for the religious dimension, it would become excessive and would rapidly be transformed into an intolerant form of secularism”. A law is not enough. Regarding the use of the Islamic veil in schools, the Christian Churches recall some rules: respect of the public order, rejection of conflict and propaganda, participation in educational and sporting activities. While not underestimating the question, the Churches affirm that it is not by legislation that the current difficulties can be positively resolved”. The leaders of the Christian Churches add their voice to the “legitimate protest against the state of subjection of women that may represent the forced use of the veil”, but also affirm that “it is not by using the force of the law that one can convince others of the truth of our convictions”. “Each law that were felt as discriminatory for a certain number of Frenchmen – declares the letter – would risk having in the short term more ill-fated consequences than hoped for benefits”. The Churches appeal for mediation and dialogue. Integration. According to the Christian Churches, the question of the lay state revolves around the success or not of social integration. “We recognise – say the church leaders in their letter to Chirac – that the places in which Islamic demands meet with more widespread support are often those of the ghettos that we have allowed to develop on the outskirts of the big cities. The mechanisms of integration once served by work, education, the family and the values of the Republic, have difficulty in functioning well today. The risk is great when the various ethnic communities feel they have no future, react with violence and fall prey to fundamentalist propaganda”.