Secularism: Public Space and Visible Diversity

Today’s secular and pluralistic Western society must go back to the basics of what secularism is or was intended to be. Secularization is a wide-ranging dynamic that has assumed a diversity of institutional forms depending on individual countries and societies, their respective histories, cultures and collective psychologies. Secularism influences how power is distributed at the state level, as well as between and within the public services and the social institutions of a given country or society. Given the emerging Muslim presence in the West, however, secularism has developed an ideological edge, maintaining some features of organized religion while redefining itself and even adding new aspects that can be likened to dogmatism. Thus secularism not longer refers simply to the separation of powers or to established legal frameworks binding on all citizens, but to informal perceptions, and—in some cases—non-verbalized understandings. Seen from the standpoint of these non-codified parameters, Muslim visibility has emerged as a “threat,” as a sign of “non-integration” or of “not-belonging.” But if our pluralistic societies are to achieve a viable secularism, we need to agree objectively on some common denominators, and set aside ideological considerations, subjective perceptions and informal representations or misrepresentations. Open public space, which is the essence of any secular society, requires a normative set of notions and an agreed-upon legal framework to establish rules that do not grant privileges to any specific religion. Its basic principle is to secure the same rights and duties for all of that society’s religious communities. The viability of a public space open to all depends on providing each religion with all necessary means for its practice, and just as importantly, to play a useful and positive role within civil society. A clear legal and institutional framework must protect diversity, including visible diversity with regard, for example, to the presence of churches, synagogues and mosques; or with regard to dress and religious practices. Several factors, ranging from the role of the state, the nation, and public education, as well as to the management of “neutrality” and the exercise of proactivity, will prove essential in the consolidation of a secular and pluralistic society. This paper examines some of the current challenges that societies in the West are facing in relation to the growing informal view of “secularism” and considers the kinds of questions that we should be asking if we are to move forward together in harmony