Dorothy Voorhees on the Decline of Religion in Politics in France
By: Dorothy Voorhees
October 1, 2006
In writing about the impact of religion on French politics today, it is almost easier to phrase the problem as the impact of the lack of religion on French politics today. The effects of this lack of religion can be seen in the modification of traditional French customs. For example, marriage in France has become an essentially civil affair, and fewer French couples are marrying than in the past. In this essay, I will use the example of marriage to illustrate the interaction of religion with French civil life, and how the French concept of laïcité has directed the evolution of French politics.
France has a strong history of laïcité, secularism, or the separation of church and state. While the United States also has this history, in the United States it is perceived and implemented differently because the US Bill of Rights requires that the state not establish an official religion. In its implementation today, this means that all religions are accepted in public spaces, such as government and education. For example, at an official ceremony it would not be unusual to have an imam open the event, a priest offer a reflection, and a rabbi close with a benediction. By contrast, the French principle of laïcité has as a result the total lack of religion in official spaces; there would be no invocation of religion in an official ceremony (the inauguration of the US president by swearing on the Bible would seem fundamentally wrong to a French observer). Both of these policies have had a "trickle-down" effect on their respective cultures. While the United States has seen a proliferation of religion in public spaces, France has seen a decline in religious participation, especially Roman Catholicism.
France is by all measures a secular state, perhaps to an extreme.
The dedication to laïcité has undoubtedly promoted the secularization of a traditionally Catholic nation. So much so, in fact, that marriage is on the decline, and those who do choose to marry do not always opt for a religious ceremony, but more frequently for only a civil one. There are a number of reasons that a couple would choose to have only a civil marriage. For example, my host family's daughter was married this weekend and decided on a civil marriage because neither she nor her husband are particularly religious, and because they come from different religious backgrounds. He comes from a Catholic background, whereas she is the daughter of a Jewish father and a Muslim mother. The simple difference in faiths prevents them from participating in a religious marriage without one or the other of them choosing to convert. Despite the lack of religion in this marriage, the ceremony itself is not so fundamentally different from a religious one. It took place in a town hall, rather than a church, and a mayor presided instead of a priest, but the bride and groom exchanged their vows and rings in essentially the same manner. Fundamentally, the contrast stems from a different paradigm through which French and Americans view religion. Although a non-religious American couple would typically hold their wedding at a church, the same French couple would have the wedding at the town hall. Practically speaking, the two couples would continue in marriage without much difference.
Most of the differences between American and French religious-political interactions come from the implementation of essentially the same policies, so that they are mostly nominal rather than practical. In looking at the future impact of religion on politics in France, it is difficult to say whether religion is still declining, or if there is a new resurgence. On the one hand, the French state has accepted the reduced influence of religion on society: last year the French parliament eliminated the distinction, dating from the Napoleonic Code, between "legitimate" and "natural" children. This legal change was necessary because last year more than half of children born in France last year were to unmarried parents, which includes 60 percent of first-born children. Despite the religious decline in France over time, it may have reached its nadir, and religion may be on the rise again. Recently the Catholic Church began promoting a "rentrée du catéchisme," a suggestion that parents send their children to catechism on Wednesday afternoons, a time that French schoolchildren traditionally do not have class, but rather typically participate in sports or other activities (not usually catechism). As in the United States, it is difficult to tell whether religious fervor is on the decline, or enjoying resurgence.
The dedication to laïcité has undoubtedly promoted the secularization of a traditionally Catholic nation. So much so, in fact, that marriage is on the decline, and those who do choose to marry do not always opt for a religious ceremony, but more frequently for only a civil one. There are a number of reasons that a couple would choose to have only a civil marriage. For example, my host family's daughter was married this weekend and decided on a civil marriage because neither she nor her husband are particularly religious, and because they come from different religious backgrounds. He comes from a Catholic background, whereas she is the daughter of a Jewish father and a Muslim mother. The simple difference in faiths prevents them from participating in a religious marriage without one or the other of them choosing to convert. Despite the lack of religion in this marriage, the ceremony itself is not so fundamentally different from a religious one. It took place in a town hall, rather than a church, and a mayor presided instead of a priest, but the bride and groom exchanged their vows and rings in essentially the same manner. Fundamentally, the contrast stems from a different paradigm through which French and Americans view religion. Although a non-religious American couple would typically hold their wedding at a church, the same French couple would have the wedding at the town hall. Practically speaking, the two couples would continue in marriage without much difference.
Most of the differences between American and French religious-political interactions come from the implementation of essentially the same policies, so that they are mostly nominal rather than practical. In looking at the future impact of religion on politics in France, it is difficult to say whether religion is still declining, or if there is a new resurgence. On the one hand, the French state has accepted the reduced influence of religion on society: last year the French parliament eliminated the distinction, dating from the Napoleonic Code, between "legitimate" and "natural" children. This legal change was necessary because last year more than half of children born in France last year were to unmarried parents, which includes 60 percent of first-born children. Despite the religious decline in France over time, it may have reached its nadir, and religion may be on the rise again. Recently the Catholic Church began promoting a "rentrée du catéchisme," a suggestion that parents send their children to catechism on Wednesday afternoons, a time that French schoolchildren traditionally do not have class, but rather typically participate in sports or other activities (not usually catechism). As in the United States, it is difficult to tell whether religious fervor is on the decline, or enjoying resurgence.
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