‘Managerial’ secularism becoming commonplace across Europe, says rights group

Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF) says that governmental restrictions on religions freedom have reached their highest level in Europe in 20 years.

According to the rights group, Europe has increasingly fallen into what it describes as “managerial” secularism. In theory this implies the state is neutral on religious issues. In practice nonetheless, the state often has loads to say about when, where and the way religious belief manifests in public.

HRWF argued that this often impacts religious minorities, noting the French ban on religious symbols in public schools and the ban on full-face veils in public spaces.  

In fact, recent events would suggest that even majority faiths come into conflict with the authorities after they disagree about proper religious practice.

Last month Bread of Life Community Church got here into conflict with Colchester City Council, with the council first objecting to using sound amplification in public preaching before quickly raising concerns concerning the content of the preaching. The case is a transparent example of secular authorities trying to find out where and the way religious activities can happen.

HRWF hinted at similar concerns, noting that religious activities comparable to prayers, processions or protests are only permitted inside specific times and places.

The group argued, “These events aren’t banned because they threaten public order, but because they’re seen as unfitting for a ‘neutral’ public space. Each measure is presented as neutral, yet together they offer governments way more control over religious life.”

Increasing restrictions on public displays of faith are driven, based on HRWF, by increased concerns about terrorism, immigration and the growing presence of Islam.

In an analogous vein, other commentators have noted that the September 11 attacks in 2001 helped fuel the rise of the “New Atheist” movement of the early 2000s to mid 2010s. Writers like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens used the attacks as evidence of the danger posed by religious belief.

HWRF argued that secularism is increasingly becoming “a tool to push religion out of common spaces as a substitute of a system that protects equal freedom of conscience for everybody”.

The group also argued that minority faiths are sometimes targeted more as the bulk faith is branded as “culture” or heritage” and thus deemed more acceptable.

HWRF called upon European countries to do more to guard religious freedom.

“Secularism needs to be an impartial framework that makes space for various convictions, not an ideology that tries to strip public life of faith,” it said. 

“If Europe is serious about human rights, it cannot treat FoRB [Freedom of Religious Belief] as optional.

“FoRB is a key safeguard that protects democracy from the very fear‑driven politics that now endanger it. It is an element of the European values politicians so often speak about.”