Religious norms in the public sphere : proceedings of a conference held at UC Berkeley on May 6-7, 2011

Abstract

The recent years have seen, in the West, an increasing debate on the presence of religious symbols in the public sphere (crucifix in Italy, minaret in Switzerland, veil and burqa in France, mosques, Ten Commandments and even Christmas trees in the USA, etc.). Most of the cases ended in court decisions, either local courts, supreme courts or the European Court of Human Rights, but with no clear results in terms of defining a coherent management of religious signs in public sphere. Why this increasing tensions and criminalization of the debate on religion? Is this the consequence of a growing secularization that aims at eradicating any remnants of religion, or, on the contrary, a “return of the sacred” that tries to reconquer the public sphere? Are we witnessing a clash of civilizations, where traditional cultures fight against newcomers (Islam in the West) by re-asserting a religious identity more than a religious faith? Is this more a conflict of religiosities, that is of personal experiencing of faith, where new believers (converts and born-again) strive to exhibit their faith more than to insert it in inconspicuous social practices? In any case, the debate has far reaching consequences: if the courts have to decide about religious signs, they have also to define what a religious sign is, and by consequence what is a religion, although most national constitutions prevent the state to interfere with theology and internal organization of faith communities.