IS LAICITE THE FRENCH CIVIL RELIGION ?

International audienceAccording to Robert Bellah, in his article, “Civil Religion in America,” civil religion is a combination of collective rituals that reveal a devotion to the unity of a nation and a national mythology made up of a diffusion of beliefs and representations that constitute the dominant mental attitudes of a society. Civil religion has its own unique history and, its own mythical or providential origins, and it allows the population of a country to identify itself as such. It gives a national group the feeling of belonging, attachment, and a common sense of pride. From this definition, Robert Bellah considers civil religion a real religion, which he calls a “national faith.” Do French people today consider that laïcité (the distinctly French concept of laitysecularism) could be what identifies them the most? Over the last twenty years, it seems laïcité fulfills the role of the French “civil religion.” But, this is merely a temporary coincidence. For instance, at least two other vivid terms and emotional concepts—, like French Republic and France itself—, warm the French hearts. Civil religions certainly have multiple entrances and evolve through the time. The French civil religion, if it exists, would have a difficult time revealing itself in great part because of its abrupt changing, its multiple references, and its difficulty into dealing with the religious dimension of its history and culture. It appears complex, rich in roots of all kinds, and contradictory. One must also take into account the fact that it could exists there a difference between civic religion centered on the devotion to the political collectivity and common (national) religion, a more diffuse universe of beliefs and ethical-religious representations. This Article proposes to discern the French narrative in its three different facets, juxtaposed against one another: (1) Laïcité, (2) the République, or “Republic,” and (3) France itself