French Revolution and religions: How has French Revolution structured the history and the debate about religions? From the cult of the Supreme Being to the separation between Church and State

Résumé du document

Cuius regio, eius religio', here is the idea that has lead French politics for more than a thousand years. Indeed, before the Revolution in 1789, catholic religion was deeply involved in the political systems, whether it was at the level of royal power or at the level of high local powers. Church did have an effective administration, it could raise taxes and even deal out justice, which included the judgement of crimes, and above all, give punishments, which were quite cruel. Actually, the Church was a State within the country. It was not really a problem during the Middle-Ages, but from the moment royal powers tried to unify and control their territory, by creating a strong administration, they encountered lots of conflicts with the former administration.

Extraits

[...] This period, just after the separation, was the last great battle between Church and Republic. Afterwards, the State freely loaned some cult buildings to the cult associations, and the successor of Pius the 10th, Benedict the 15th, is much more comprehensive. These consensual attitudes made anticlericalism and Catholic fundamentalism decrease and disappear in France, notably with the necessity of the National Union during the First World War. Conclusion This consensus between Catholic religion and revolutionary ideal is not hazardous: it had to be to produce social progress. [...]

[...] For instance, he ordered to rebuild roads, which had been neglected during the empire, the construction of canals, etc. France did get in the industrial era thanks to his efforts: conservatism is not automatically a factor of regression "Holy Return" with Charles the 10th As the "ultras" leader was Charles d'Artois, it is quite normal that the strong and true return of religion took place during his reign, as Charles the 10th. Indeed, during the reign of Louis 18th, Charles, his young brother, always tried to push him to extremism, as well religious as political. [...]

[...] The Dreyfus Case: a clear division of French society based on religion Having seen this situation of "extremisation" of opinions in Europe, we will focus on France, and especially the Dreyfus Case. Actually, this case meant a lot in French society: it was the first time that France split in two very clear parties (pro and anti Dreyfus), and this separation, regarding a simple judicial case, turned into a real political division, and defined the French political spectrum for the next century! [...]

[...] Indeed, when people like DRAPER, who denounced religious conservatism, or the Pope, refusing any progress against his doctrine, were arguing about something regarding the whole society, we could only fall into excess. Moreover, as the 19th was a century of struggles, and especially against Church, science was used by anticlerical politicians. However, the ones who explained science were not "scientifiques" (scientists in English) but "scientistes" (adepts of scientism, no translation in English, as they were not very active in Great Britain). [...]

[...] We will take the example of the Dreyfus case in France to illustrate and understand the splitting of French society at this time. Extremisms and first attempts of synthesis All along the 19th century, a very simplistic dichotomy consisted in opposing science and religion. The first author to write about it is British, John William DRAPER, in History of the Conflict between Religion and Science, published in 1874 (censored in 1876). He is the one who said that "faith is stable, science is progressive", and according to him, this provokes a perpetual war between them. [...]