Towards Equal Rights for the Non-Religious in Belgium – The New Belgian Law on Life Stances<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

By Anne France Ketelaer

 

The Belgian Constitution guarantees freedom of belief and opinion. Yet history demonstrates that the expression of these constitutionally entrenched principles was for a long time gravely to the disadvantage of the unbelieving citizen. Constitutional recognition of the social, philanthropic and moral value of non-confessional ideological communities in 1993 turned the tide. The Act of 21 June 2002 represents a further step towards equal rights.

 

On 21 June, 2002, an Act concerning the Centrale Raad der niet-confessionele levensbeschouwelijke gemeenschappen van België (Central Council of Non- Confessional Ideological Communities in Belgium), the umbrella organization addressing management of the material and financial interests of the recognized non- confessional ideological communities in Belgium, was promulgated. By a pleasing coincidence, this occurred on the very day associated with the celebration of freethinking Humanism.

 

The Act is of great symbolic value to the non- confessional ideological communities in Belgium. Nine years after constitutional recognition of their existence, pluralism of ideologies and belief now has a secure position within the Belgian democratic polity. This new, important step towards equal rights strengthens the non- discrimination principle.The interim legislation that

since 1981 had allowed the non-confessional ideological communities to develop a modest structure with limited resources was replaced by an Act that makes the Government accountable for their financing in a manner equal to that of recognized belief.

 

Ideological Pluralism and the Belgian Constitution

The concept of ideological pluralism was first enshrined in the Belgian Constitution of 7 February, 1831 – one of the most progressive in Europe. It established the basis of a democratic state in which public freedom of belief, conscience, education, print and association were of foremost importance.

 

The Belgian situation is characterized by a secular notion of state, which recognizes a certain separation, within limits, between state and church, and their mutual independence. This is illustrated in three articles that determine the relationship between state and church: Article 19 of the Constitution guarantees freedom of belief, its free public practice and freedom of speech; Article 20 states “that nobody shall be coerced into participating in activities and ceremonies of a belief or to recognizing its days of rest”; and Article 21 declares that the state is in no way entitled to influence the appointment or induction of servers of any belief. The latter Article also states that civil marriage must always precede the marriage blessing.

 

The state respects the autonomy of its citizens and belief is a private issue. In Belgium, all citizens are free to believe in a deity and to decide whether or not they wish to profess their belief. Each belief community has the right to organize itself as it sees fit. The state guarantees these freedoms by ensuring equal treatment of each individual and every private grouping. With this objective, the Act and the earlier Decree specifically guarantee the rights and freedoms of non-confessional ideological and philosophical minorities.

 

The Role of Officially Recognized Religions

As mentioned above, the Belgian State has not opted for a consistent separation between church, ideology and state. It assumed from the start that a number of religions fulfil an important role in society. Consequently the Belgian State recognized them and provided them with financial resources so that they could fulfil what were seen to be their social duties. Paragraph 1 of Article 181 (formerly Article 117) of the Constitution ratifies the principle of this recognition. It states that “the salaries and pensions of the servers of beliefs shall be for the account of the state; the sums required shall each year be extracted from the budget”.

 

There are currently six recognized beliefs in Belgium: Catholic, Protestant, Anglican, Jewish, Islamic and Greek Orthodox. Irrespective of the fact that Article 181§1 only concerns salaries and pensions, this provision has also been the basis for allocation of other benefits, legal and financial. For recognized beliefs, this includes allocation of a system of servers of the belief at state cost; the attribution of institutions such as church factories as legal entities with financial intervention in shortcomings in their income; provision of Government support for repair and maintenance of buildings used by belief communities; housing grants for servers of beliefs; payment of counsellors of the belief in the army, prisons, and other public institutions; organization of instruction in the belief in the official curriculum; and allocation of airtime for religious broadcasts.

 

Financing of Recognized Beliefs

Financing of recognized beliefs by the Government is based on the allotment of budget credit. The state collects taxes from taxpayers and allots a certain amount of the budget, mainly to payment of salaries and pensions of the servers of the beliefs. Additionally, municipalities and provinces, which are legally bound to cover the deficit of the church factories, use more than half of the funds granted to the beliefs mainly for ensuring maintenance and even restoration of church buildings and to support the costs of services.

 

The Belgian system includes various, fragmented sources of financing. The federal state and all other administrations (regions, communities, provinces and municipalities) contribute to the costs. Government subsidies represent the largest proportion of the church’s income as required to cover the costs of practice of the belief. Current distribution of the annual budget credit is determined on the basis of the number of local belief communities recognized by the King. The criteria for recognition of the local belief communities vary randomly.

 

Achieving and Implementing Constitutional Recognition for Non-Confessional Communities

Alongside the recognized religious communities, the non-confessional ideology has grown significantly in Belgium, especially in the second half of the 20th century (see Humanism in Belgium). Since the foundation of freethinking organizations in the 19th century and the development of the non-confessional communities in the 1950s, they have become fully fledged ideological communities with their own identity. Free investigation, tolerance, freedom of judgement, personal accountability, the freedom to protest, emancipation, attaining citizenship, respect for human rights, pluralism, and so forth form the cornerstones of this identity. Freethinkers have argued that in order to take their rightful place in contributing to ethical debate, and in order to provide moral services based on non- confessional values for those who desire them, these communities are entitled to the same resources as those granted by Government to the recognized beliefs.

 

Initially the non-confessional ideological communities were granted a number of legal and regulatory provisions regarding financing of their operation and their infrastructure. These measures covered, for example, government subsidies intended for freethought activities, the development of services for moral support in public institutions such as prisons, hospitals, and the army, as well as the allocation of airtime for non-confessional broadcasts on radio and television, and development of the course on “non-confessional ethics” for schools.

 

Freethinkers and eminent politicians had been trying to ensure constitutional recognition of the non- confessional ideological communities by means of Article 117 of the Constitution since the 1970s. In 1980, it was decided to proceed with ensuring recognition in three phases: first, by giving a subsidy grant in 1980; secondly, by drafting a decree to set an annual subsidy; and thirdly by ensuring official recognition. Article 117 was declared eligible for revision, but constitutional recognition for the non-confessional communities only became reality in May 1993, with Paragraph 2 of what was now Article 181, stating that “the salaries and pensions of the representatives of those organizations recognized by law as offering moral services on the basis of a non- confessional ideology shall be for the account of the state; the sums required shall each year be extracted from the budget”.

 

Efforts now focused on the effective implementation of this constitutional recognition. Negotiations began with the Justice Department regarding drawing up a bill to enforce Article 181§2. The Justice Department wished to force freethinking into a straightjacket that was a replica of the system for recognized beliefs. It has taken great efforts and energy to make it understood that a separate Act was required that would take account of the specific nature of non-confessional moral service. The result was the Act promulgated on 21 June, 2002.

 

As a result of the Act, central moral services are recognized and financed for each non-confessional ideological community. Centres of moral services will be established by administrative district. Each provincial capital will have a statutory institution charged with management of the financial interests of the province’s moral service centres, with two such institutions – one Dutch and one French-speaking – for the Brussels- Capital district.

 

The Act represents a significant advance for Humanism in Belgium, and will perhaps also be an inspiration to Humanists worldwide.

 

Anne France Ketelaer is Joint-Secretary General of UVV, a Full

Member Organization of IHEU

 

 

Humanism in Belgium

Humanism has a long tradition in Belgium. In a country occupied by many invading armies before independence in 1830, “tolerance” developed a very specific meaning. The ideals of the French Revolution were reflected and partly realized through our Constitution: freedom of religion, freedom of education, freedom of union, freedom of press and the separation of church and state.

 

The Catholic Church immediately opposed these fundamental liberties, driving liberals into a stance against the Church. From 1845 onwards, Catholics and liberals formed two clearly separated and mutually hostile camps. The first “non-confessional” organizations arose at the Universities of Ghent and Brussels, but in 1854 L’Affranchissement (Deliverance) was founded. A number of freethinking organizations were soon established and the first recorded international meeting between freethinkers occurred in Antwerp in 1880!

 

The horrors of World War II brought a fresh and determined effort to create a new, decent, Humanist  society. The Humanistisch Verbond (Humanist Union) was established in 1951 and adhered to IHEU at the first Amsterdam Congress. In 1966 the Unie Vrijzinnige Verenigingen (Union of Freethinking Communities, UVV) was founded as the representative body for the Flemish freethinking organizations, and the Centre d’Action Laïque (CAL) for the Walloon Provinces. The Central Council of the non- confessional ideological Communities in Belgium (Central Council of Freethinking) was born as an umbrella organization for the two in 1972.

 

Such is the historical context within which the efforts to establish constitutional recognition for non- confessional communities – efforts that do not go against the continuing aim of complete separation of church and state – should be understood. Belgium has made major strides in the last few years under the leadership of Humanists. But traditions are strong and we must watch over our hard-won achievements!

 

Sonja Eggerickx, Vice-President of IHEU and of UVV

Anne France Ketelaer