Re: Sarrkozy Under Fire for Remarks on God and Faith
- From: Capitalist Pig <cochon-capitaliste@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2008 14:03:04 -0800 (PST)
On 17 jan, 19:21, Rita <R...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Sarkozy sparks French debate over God and faith
Reuters - Friday, January 18
PARIS - President Nicolas Sarkozy's increasingly frequent and positive
references to God and faith have drawn fire from critics who accuse
him of violating France's separation of church and state.
Sarkozy, a taboo-breaker whose whirlwind love life has distracted the
media for weeks, broke with traditional presidential reserve about
religion to stress France's Christian roots in a speech in a Rome
basilica just before Christmas.
In Riyadh on Monday, he hailed Islam as "one of the greatest and most
beautiful civilisations the world has known" and described his Saudi
hosts as rulers who "appeal to the basic values of Islam to combat the
fundamentalism that negates them".
His praise for a kingdom that enforces and propagates a strict version
of Islam, during a visit aimed at securing lucrative export contracts,
was the last straw for his critics.
"This is not respect for the separation of church and state,"
Socialist opposition leader Francois Hollande said.
"This is an ideological stand that makes religion into an instrument
to promote French products civilian nuclear plants for Muslim
countries," he said. "Mixing religion and foreign policy is illogical
and wrong."
Jean-Louis Debre, a leading Gaullist who is now head of the
Constitutional Council, indirectly chided Sarkozy by saying the 1905
law separating church and state was a good one and that it was
"opportune to make sure its balance is not upset".
FAITH EQUALS HOPE FOR SARKOZY
At issue is Sarkozy's break with a French tradition that sees faith
strictly as a private affair. This began with the 1905 law and grew
into a kind of political correctness that made bringing religion into
public affairs a major taboo.
The president calls this a negative "laicite" -- the French term for
church-state separation implies that taboo as well -- and wants a
"positive laicite" that values the hope that faith brings and allows
state subsidies for faith-based groups.
The dispute flared up in the National Assembly on Wednesday, with
Socialist Jean Glavany attacking the Riyadh speech: "A speech citing
God not only on every page, but on every line, creates a fundamental
problem for the republic."
Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie responded by saying the
government wanted "to help all spiritualities to express themselves,
including those based on atheism".
Although the 1905 law aimed at undercutting the vast influence the
Roman Catholic Church once wielded in France, Church leaders now are
reserved about any reforms that could upset the status quo and revive
anti-clerical movements.
By contrast, the five-million-strong Muslim minority, the largest in
Europe, would appreciate reforms that would help them finance mosque
building and expand training for imams.
The twice-divorced president defines himself as a "cultural Catholic",
an infrequent churchgoer who says he values the moral and social role
that religion can play in society.
"Someone who believes is someone who hopes," he said in the speech in
Rome's Basilica of Saint John Lateran. "It is in the republic's
interest to have many men and women who hope."
France is 90+% Roman Catholic. What Sarko means is if you don't like
it no one is forcing you to stay.
.
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