For Total Freedom of Conscience by Separation of Church and State and for a Secular Europe: Abrogation of Amsterdam Declaration No. 11/Article 51! Joint Declaration of the National Secular Society and of Libre Pensée

1. Libre Pensée and the National Secular Society of Britain have decided to address jointly all citizens and all associations, whether rationalist, sceptic, freethinking, humanist or secularist, who are fighting in Europe for secularism. Currently the future constitution of the European Union is being formulated. Under greatest threat is the principle of respect for absolute freedom of conscience, which includes the freedom to either believe or not to believe. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

 

2. The European Charter of basic rights guarantees the freedom of religion and to change one’s religion but there is emphatically no protection for those with no religious allegiance who wish to be free from religious influence despite nearly 40% of Europeans being neither religious adherents nor practising their faith.

 

3. Article 9 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights is supposed to guarantee ‘the freedom of conscience, of thought and religion’ but in reality the judgments of the European Court of Justice have not acknowledged a duty to protect the secularity of the national institutions and the separation of Church and State. According to the European Court, neither established religions, nor the medieval offence of blasphemy nor Church taxes are contrary to Article 9.

 

4. It is in this legal and institutional context that the discussion of the future constitution of the European Union continues. Certain interests require a clear reference to the concept of a ‘revealed god’ in the preamble to this constitution and the mention of ‘Christianity as the common cultural heritage of the people of Europe’.

 

5. Clerical lobbies of every kind, supported by various governments, require that Declaration 11 of Amsterdam be adopted as Article 51 of the future European constitution. Let us not forget that the sole aim of this Article is to guarantee and to reactivate the anti-democratic privileges of the Churches and the religions in the various countries of the European Union, most of which already grant immense privileges to religious institutions either with a concordat or by having a state religion.

 

6. If such a provision were adopted, no people, no nation, no State in Europe could ever call into question the State religions, the legal settlements, the offences of blasphemy and the Church taxes such as they exist in a great number of countries on the European continent.

 

7. Indeed, Article 51 (Status of churches and nonconfessional organizations) lays down entirely clerical provisions such as: “The Union respects and does not prejudice the status under national law of churches and religious associations or communities in the Member States...” “Recognising their identity and their specific contribution, the Union shall maintain an open, transparent and regular dialogue with these churches and organisations.”

 

8. It is a matter of not only the maintenance of anti-secular and anti-democratic privileges of the Churches, but also of the conferring of official status to religions in European institutions. It is the negation of absolute freedom of conscience of the citizens of the various countries as well as a further violation of the principle of equality of rights of citizens.

 

9. The National Secular Society and Libre Pensée are calling for a massive campaign on the part of supporters of secularism in Europe to defeat this clerical offensive.

 

10. Libre Pensée and the National Secular Society call upon all rationalist, sceptical, freethinking, humanist and secular organizations and the citizens of the various countries in Europe to take part in the European secular gathering in Paris on Saturday 6 December, 2003:

● Against a clerical and religious Europe dominated by the Vatican!

● Against the safeguarding of religious privilege!

● Against the granting of official status to religious institutions!

● For the absolute freedom of conscience!

● For secularism in Europe!

● For the separation of Church and State!

 

Keith Porteous Wood, NSS Executive Director

Christian Eyschen, FNLPF Secretary-General