"Christians and Muslims are called to work hand in hand in appropriate ways with the state to which we belong without becoming subservient to governments. We say this because we believe that religious communities and the state should work together for the common good ". It means saying ‘no’ to confining religion to the personal sphere and to the "request to forsake one’s religious identity", through, for instance, the "prohibition to wear or display religious symbols in public places or neutralization of religious festivities with the pretext that their being allowed would harm the sensibilities of other believers or that they would go against the principles of the secular state". In the final statement of the European Islamo-Christian Conference jointly promoted by Ccee and Kek which ended in Malines today, the 45 Christian and Muslim delegates from 16 European nations thus wanted to reassert all their willingness to interact and cooperate with the State, without forsaking however their religious dimension. "As Christians and Muslims states the text published today , we affirm that we are citizens and believers, not citizens or believers. We believe that the future of our European societies will depend in large measure on our willingness as citizens and persons of belief to preserve and develop the cultural and religious foundations of Europe". (continued)
