religion and politics: the european experience september 29, 2004
TRANSCRIPT
Religion and Politics: The European Experience
September 29, 2004
Religion and Politics: The European Experience
Secularization
Separation of Religion and Politics
Religious Freedom and Toleration
Three Types of Secularization
Forced Secularization
Private Secularization
Institutional Secularization
Institutional Secularization
Secular vs. Religious Law
State Welfare vs. Religious Charity
State Schools vs. Religious Schools
State Church vs. Religious Pluralism
State Religion vs. Religious Freedom
Civic Nationalism vs. Confessional Nationalism
Toleration and Religious Pluralism Religious Belief No Bar to Public Office
Religious Discrimination Outlawed in Private Life
Religious Claims in Politics Are Not Trumps
All Faiths Are Equal
All Faiths Are Tolerated
The Diversity of European Secularization Western Europe vs. Eastern Europe
Protestant Europe vs. Catholic Europe
Private Secularization and Religious Establishment: UK and Norway
Private Secularization and Religious Parties: Italy and Germany
Education and the State
Education and the State: Spain
Spain has no national law against wearing religious symbols in schools.
Education and the State: Britain Britain does not have a law against wearing
religious symbols in schools. Schools can insist on a uniform, but only if the policy is not aimed at a particular religion.
Education and the State: Germany Germany has no national ban against headscarves or other
religious symbols in schools, but many states have enacted such bans.
The German Supreme Court ruled in September 2003 that a woman could not be denied a teaching job for insisting on wearing her headscarf in the classroom.
Six of sixteen states have responded by passing laws that bar teachers and/or civil servants from wearing headscarves while at work.
Some of these state laws apply to all religious symbols, while others focus explicitly on Muslim symbols or make exceptions for Christian ones.
Education and the State: France The state funds private religious education,
including both Catholic and Muslim schools.
A March 2004 law prohibits the display of “ostensive religious symbols” in public schools. The new law covers Muslim headscarves, Jewish skullcaps, Sikh turbans, and large crosses.
Religion, State and Nation: The Historical Experience
Religion Provides Social Cohesion Prior to Emergence of Centralizing Monarchies
Centralizing States Must Control Religion In Order to Establish National Authority
Confessional Identity is the Root of National Identity
Some States Create National Authority By Religious Exclusion
Other States Create National Authority by Religious Toleration
Case Study: Spain
1453: Fall of Constantinople
1469: Union of Aragon and Castile
1478: State Control of the Inquisition
1492: Christian Capture of Granada
1492: Expulsion of the Jews
1492: Publication of First Vernacular Grammar in Spanish
1492: Columbus Arrives in the New World
1609: Expulsion of Moriscos
Themes
State Allies With but Also Subordinates the Church to Create National Unity
State Formation Through Exclusion: Jews and Moriscos
State Formation Through Empire
Protestantism as Politics
A Popular Revolt Against Church Authority
The Priesthood of All Believers
The Congregation vs. the Church
Render Unto Caesar. . .
The Role of the Godly Magistrate
Case Study: Germany
Protestantism Fragments Germany
Reformers Ally with Secular Princes to Survive the Peasants and the Catholic Counter-Attack
Reformers and the Godly Magistrate
1559: Peace of Augsburg. Cuius Regio Eius Religio
1648: Treaty of Westphalia. Sovereignty as Non-Interference in the Religious Politics of Other States
Case Study: England
1520: Protestant Reformation
1534: Henry VIII Defies the Papacy over Marriage
Tudor State Nationalizes the English Church
1550’s: Marian Persecutions
1580: Elizabeth Excommunicated by Pope
1588: Elizabeth Defeats Catholic Spain
Protestantism and English National Identity
1600-1640: Consolidation of Monarchical Authority vs. Protestant Popular Resistance
1640-1660: Civil War as a Defeat Both for Puritan Extremism and Monarchical Absolutism
1660: Limited Toleration as the Basis of Civil Order
Themes
State Formation Means Putting the Church in its Place
Putting the Church in its Place Provokes Conflict with Rome and Spain
External Enemies (Spain, Papacy) Enhance Protestant Religio-Nationalist Identity
Religious Civil War Establishes Limits on Monarchical Power; Limits on Religious Power
Toleration and Political Promise Keeping
Persistence of Protestantism as Basis of Exclusionary National Identity: Northern Ireland
France
1520: Protestantism Challenges the Catholic Church and the King
1540-1598: Civil War Devastates France
1598: Edict of Nantes: Limited Toleration for Protestants
1660-1714: Louis XIV Subdues the Church, Defeats the Nobility, Fights Protestant Holland
State Nationalizes Grain Supply, Poor Relief, Taxation and Administration
1685: Revocation of the Edict of Nantes: “One King, One Law, One Faith”
1789: La République One and Indivisible. “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité”—and Secularité
Themes
Revolution Continues the Monarchy’s Project of One Nation, One Law, One People.
Identity is Secularized: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity
Citizens Are Created by the State: The Ideal of Secular Education
Religion is Private, Politics is Public
Political Debate Must be Secular
The Future of Faith and Politics in Europe Continuing Private Secularization of Faith
Increasing Salience of Islam in Europe
Religious Freedom vs. State Authority
Religious Pluralism vs. National Unity
The Lesson of the European Experience State Formation and Secularization
Religion as a Source of Conflict
Toleration by Exhaustion
Pluralism and Religious Claims in Politics
Religions as Interest Groups