STATE HARASSMENT? When the secular state becomes a sterile discourse detached from reality the stratum results are not obtained at all.
last night I participated more or less passively in a conference on secularism organized in view of gaypride 2008. The title was illuminating: "the place of churches" as a subtitle the role of religion in the public sphere.
I expected intellectuals were promised in the program including an Islamist and sociologist Khaled Fouad Allam, a mathematician Piergiorgio Odifreddi and instead occurred only a Waldensian theologian (Maria Bonafede), a cartoonist (Sergio Staino) and a philosopher (Paul Flores D 'Arcais). So the intellectual side of the speech was already being jeopardized by a small representation of the category. Never mind I thought that by now I was there and could still be interesting, so I decide to stay.
Without detracting from the sympathy of Sergio Staino (even my concierge is nice but does not start to do conferences on secularism), which opened the speech with a series of anecdotes-for even more fun - on his life by tracing a path - enough off topic in some ways-on his family relationships and business over the years. Nothing more 'boring for me that I have a cult for the personal cartoonist, then the show "all about Sergio Staino" was not a conference where I wanted to participate.
The alleged affinity between his native region, the Tuscan-secularism and I was not convinced a lot, so as the speech was lame on the cartoons, one could say much more 'in light of current events on the irreverent cartoon anti-Islamic "and the political manipulation to which it is, is a part - that of the muezzin, both from 'the other one of the "secular libertarians."
the cartoons
The speech is then much more 'interesting when you consider the context of these cartoons, their authors (all very different, some cartoons are indeed valid and belong to that system of power that the culture of derision, to ensure that Others are tools for political propaganda of the right closed and suffocating). It can not therefore speak only appropriate staff and cartoons that are made in Italy Pope's speech on why this is not just about Italy, indeed increasingly about 'all EU member states, and in any case not just about the Catholic religion.
What has puzzled me most was the title, this "place of churches in the public sphere" is interesting to analyze. First of all because there are not only asked alas, there are mosques, synagogues there, there are Buddhist temples, and churches still in Italy refers to one or Catholic, but there are Protestant churches, the Waldensian and so on .. And what is this place? And 'more' right to speak rather more 'people, those who have taken in the public sphere precisely ubiquitous in any political debate, thanks to the connivance with a political system that has the same representatives for 30 years, and all other religions, they also want their "right" a slice of this distribution of power among the various compositions and servility confessional state.
So we can no longer 'give all the blame to the Catholic Church, also because our social strata has changed in recent years and is designed to deep changes, we can no longer' white man talking about a Catholic but increasingly open the multi-ethnic and all those people who come in migration flows from places with often totalitarian political systems and religious (theocracies like Iran or Saudi Arabia) or where individual freedoms are just met. E 'recent news that the ban on female circumcision in Egypt.
So we said not a single church, but we also see that "... the role in the public sphere" as it is unthinkable to think only in the public sphere and not in private, is a fraud a fraud because the boundaries are blurred. The great paradox of liberal democracy is to retreat in the face of issues of individual freedom, however, legislating, and then actually taking action, even if to leave room for the person to click on.
When I asked the philosopher Paolo Flores d'Arcais "what is the limit on the secular sphere of individual liberties, "he told me he did not understand the question to be asked why he was not wearing a costume, a" uniform "(something like a veil, crosses, etc) is at odds with the secular culture that has react to prevent that from happening with a force equal or greater. So this Aout Aout or against the veil or not convinced me at all. First of Islam (if we talk about Islam, but we can easily do the speech with any religion) there are different, is not a monolith, moderate is not fundamentalist. Why then I ask myself the question of whether the veil to the French student I have to remove it or not, because as far as I can or can not bother, as is (in the European context today) a symbol of unholy departure from my values, I can not interfere with his liberty.
If the public sphere I have no doubt leave the places of all religious elements from the private to lay my conscience stops. In the same way that laws are made without taking into account the existence of God (in a secularism that is not Italy) religious symbols must remain in place for a ball that individual and personal, intimate as religion. (I remember the dramatic conversion of Magdi Allam of consciousness on live TV directly from Pope Benedict XVI)
But the problem remains. E 'right to prevent a person from wearing his religious status symbol? Not I should indeed make it possible that if you choose to wear them or not, but made her decide whether to prefer one religion to secular values? Why D'Arcais says "there is only secularism, there are many, and you can not talk about it as if it were a substitute for God because it is not" and then I replied "the problem did not arise when people had only a chain with the cross but there is now with other religions. " And then? The battle is not over 'between Catholics and non Catholics, but between religion vs. secularism? Reminiscent of those who does not look much different between Catholics and Muslims. Or one side or the other, and returns fire with fire.
what is sin is not a crime and then click
to be among the secularists or against them. Too bad it does not exist between Western values \u200b\u200bonly the distinction between church and state. And 'let us not forget the many battles for civil and political rights.
My conscience I an atheist, secular, if I see one of my fellow university with a cross, or should I dress like a monaco Buddhist saying, "toglitela!" I never will. Of course quell'esibizione bother me because it means that religious symbols are against everything that I advocate: abortion, stem cell research, the sexual freedom of thought, speech, study (see creationism American ad'esempio) Association, euthanasia, civil unions and so on .. and always wear their skin on their sacred right to disagree with me. It would be hypocritical of me to pretend that I do not care, that does not touch me, who are outside. It annoys me - I admit it-if I see the nuns, or people who exhibit their faith because a secular society, even if the believer could do without the need to sponsor public. Conceive and accept religious freedom when he is detached, when it advertised publicly exposing my critique secular, and I can only tolerate it but not accept it. Because for me it will always be something negative.