Prof. David Koussens, PhD

In Belgium, there are generally two widely recognized types of secularism. The first one is "political secularism", a political organizing principle that entails that the state be separated from and neutral towards all religious denominations in order to guarantee freedom of religion for all citizens, regardless of their beliefs. The second type of secularism is usually referred to as "philosophical secularism" and defined as "the adherence to a particular philosophical approach, characterized by the refusal of any reference to a revealed truth or to the existence of supernatural entities" (Jacquemain and Rosa-Rosso 2008).    

Nowadays, philosophical secularism is mostly shaped and defended by atheist and free-thinking associations active within a field widely known as "organized secularism". Most of these associations have been active since the 19th century, but only began to collaborate in the 1960s as a reaction to the declining interest of non-denominational political parties in secular issues and in the fight against clericalism since the conclusion of the School Pact of 1958. The trigger for this restructuring of the secular network was the terrible fire in the main Brussels department store À l'Innovation on May 22, 1967, which killed 251 people. While all religious denominations were present at the ecumenical ceremony that was organized after the fire, there was no representation of non-believing victims. In reaction, a dozen associations of atheists and freethinkers decided to join forces and created, in 1969, a structure called Centre d'action laïque (Secular Action Center). The Centre progressively became the main promoter of philosophical secularism through its activities of teaching, moral assistance and culture thanks to a growing territorial network of secular associations through French-speaking Belgium.  

The first decade of the Centre's existence provides a striking example of what DiMaggio and Powell (1983) called "institutional isomorphism". On the one hand, the Centre defines secularism in order to give it a substantive moral content. On the other hand, it borrows most of its rituals from confessional cults/religions (secular ceremonies for youth, which celebrate the passage from childhood to adolescence; secular “godfather” and “godmother” ; secular marriages…) in order to provide moral assistance to atheists according to a non-denominational conviction of conscience. Progressively recognized by the Belgian State, the Centre d'action laïque even gained access to the public financing of cults in 2001. Since that date, it is officially considered a non-denominational cult/religion. 

This unique trajectory is very interesting from a sociological point of view. Secularism is no longer limited to a principle of political organization, but it is fully integrated into a belief universe. Surprisingly, no academic research has been carried in Belgium on this phenomenon. In this context, my research looks at the universe of belief of the Belgian philosophical secularism and analyses the secular rituals implemented by the Centre d'action laïque.