The balance of evidence he passes by their removal ? Displays Swedish photographed in Gothenburg in 2009. Advertising campaign organized by atheists during which the symbols of the monotheistic religions are shown to be interchangeable on the national flag and rendered obsolete by the phrase: "God probably does not exist." (Ratexla - Flickr)
No doubt this question has attempted to meet a Belgian Socialist Senator proposing a law
to strictly enforce the separation of state and churches Belgium. Written In 2007, the project would go before the Commission on Institutional Affairs on October 10 but the matter was postponed and referred to
Audience Interculturality . These are a space for dialogue created by the government engaged in thinking about improving conditions for the success of a society based on diversity, so space for dialogue in which the debate is not that of national identity but of how to live together in a world that has become multicultural.
Within this framework for thinking about the need intercultural approach the legislation proposed by Philip Mahoux. The postponement of consideration of the project is certainly linked to the controversy it has generated and the Belgian press has simplified grading on
ban crosses in cemeteries . Article 6 of the bill specifies that
No real or personal property assigned to a public utility shall not contain or be adorned with signs or any object characteristics of a religious or philosophical concept.
This provision does not apply to signs or exhibits in museums and exhibitions or embedded in monuments and sites.
Disappearance of any distinguishing can be likened to a breach of state neutrality in religious or philosophical, that is the essence of this article, the intention is presented in the comments justifying the project:
This translates in the facts, the principle of neutrality of public service, which can not, by its conduct, nor by any outward manifestation whatsoever to identify with a religion or a philosophical concept.
[...]
Regarding Cemeteries, Article 4 does not prejudice the right of the holders of concessions (private) to decorate for any signs or philosophical or religious purpose. The owner or operator of public remains bound by the requirements of Article 4, that is to say, to observe complete neutrality. It is therefore forbidden to adorn the public areas of the cemetery signs or other article characteristics of a religious or philosophical concept.
For Belgian senator behind the initiative, neutrality therefore requires the absence of a sign: that the state does not display a preference, it does not show it. With regard to cemeteries, since it is the example that has raised controversy, the institutions should not not display any distinctive signs in public areas as may be the case in the middle of the cross aisles. Recall that usually distinguished in cemeteries Public and private parties that are allocated to the family graves of the dead for the time of the concession. It is therefore not here to ban all cross cemeteries - as has been hinted the press and some politicians - but to prohibit any distinguishing features in the parts within the community and in the name of a fine line between religious and philosophical trends.
While in France, in the debate on identity National Nicolas Sarkozy calls believers to "avoid any ostentatious practice", particularly Muslims to refrain from doing "anything that might seem like a challenge" to the legacy of Christian civilization, Belgium Senator Philippe Mahoux reflects the strengthening of state neutrality by removing all religious symbols in public services. For him, integration is through a non-differentiation of public space in the name of respect for the opinions of others. Interculturalism would thus at the very spot where the differences fade and disappear from the public sphere and confine themselves to private. For him, no Christian heritage, but only a society in transformation (or already transformed) based not on past but on this build.
The controversy surrounding the text is probably indicative of an anxiety: that of losing precisely this Christian heritage that emphasizes the French president. It is also this anxiety that pushed the Swiss to vote on minaret ban: they feared that the
visible sign of the Muslim place of worship invade their landscape of towers, the symbol of Christianity. Fear of upheaval also sound : And if we made from the minaret call to prayer, it not only cover the sound of bells? The religious heritage is not the only issue: there is also the wish to keep intact a visual and aural landscape that would be characteristic of European societies.
Three positions are then considered: the failure to change, rebalance the landscape by removing signs or finding a compromise between states, ancient religions, new religions and unbelief.
Everything here is a matter of identity, to use a word that does pose problems for social scientists. Because identity is moving definition: individual or collective, it is constantly evolving, at the option of "programs of truth" Dear Paul Veyne. I can be a Christian today, atheist earlier and convert me to Buddhism tomorrow change country in a week, integrate myself fully, defend political ideas different from those inherited from my parents. It all depends on what I believe to be true at a time "t" in my background, the evolution of my knowledge (intellectual and personal), my social environment or national level. Set in France's Christian heritage there a sense after the de-Christianization, the assertion of a secular republic in which freedom of conscience can change religion, the advent of new religions (such as the New Age movement) or previously known alien religions (Buddhism, Islam)? To be French or Belgian have the same meaning for us today, in a society open to the world and largely globalized, as our grandparents witnessed the heartbreak that was the second world war? We see from these questions the difficulties posed by the very question of identity.
But it is probably not the explanation of relevant controversies and tensions over religious symbols. It seems to me that the concept of habitus as Bourdieu has developed could help to understand their springs without going into the discussion of identity in which the researcher can only lose but to say he just does there is no identity. The social experience of the individual product and a set of rules influence both on his actions and perceptions. Perceptions of the landscape come naturally in this scheme. The argument of a common Christian culture of Europe is indeed the result of a social experience that combines the permanent vision of towers, Christmas parties, the names of the calendar, etc.., All lived as a historical legacy. The construction of this habit is even more complex when one adds the spiritual question. We can now call himself a Christian but does not go to church and open to Buddhism both in his experience, his affinity or external influences (education, media). However, the arrival of new elements in the landscape can disturb the habits and cause rejection. This is clearly the case in the referendum to ban minarets in which the populist party led to the initiative stood a portrait of a Swiss landscape suddenly transformed by the explosion of the supposed Construction mosques. Similarly in Belgium, is the article on the removal of signs, and essentially makes the explanation of this with an example the cross cemetery, which has caused controversy: So what would look like without cemeteries cross? Even though he was never to touch the cross graves ... Again, possible rupture of a habit in the cemetery which is identifiable by the cross.
However, the habit is by definition not something fixed. Result of social experience, it develops throughout life, meetings or work done by the individual over himself. It the compromise is somewhere between an inheritance (class, culture, family ...) and development (personal, social). This allows for example the integration to a new environment or the acceptance of differences and novelties. This is certainly the notion that lets take a step back to more current debates ...