Update and Debate on World Religious Issues, politics, sociology and cultural mediation

Metal concerts are the loci of rites which found the metal community. They offer the opportunity to make a break with everyday life. Collective and repetitive forms of behavior are practised, such as pogo, headbanging and slam. These violent practices are however regulated and testify to the solidarity between fans.

During a concert, the community shares common behavioral, sartorial (dark clothes, fatigues, high-laced boots), and linguistic codes.

Certain subcultures of Metal display a still greater religious dimension. Among these, Black Metal, where there is the undeniable presence of an elitist dimension.

Concerts et pratiques rituelles

C'est un fait, la musique métal est imprégnée « d'éclats de religion », pour reprendre l'expression d'Alexis Mombelet. La divinisation de certains artistes s'accompagnent en effet d'autres phénomènes à caractère religieux, à savoir la présence de rites, de cultes, voire de pèlerinages.

Edouard Glissant nait le 21 septembre 1928 à Sainte-Marie en Martinique. Il suit des études de philosophie à la Sorbonne et d'ethnologie au Musée de l’Homme, à Paris. Poète, romancier, essayiste, auteur dramatique et théoricien de la littérature, Edouard Glissant se révèle être le penseur d’un nouveau Monde. Son activité de militant en faveur de la cause antillo-guyanaise et contre le système colonial, lui vaut dans les années 1960 quelques déboires avec la justice française. Il est alors assigné à résidence en France. En 1965, il retourne en Martinique. Directeur du Courrier de l’Unesco (1982-1988), il se trouve à un poste d’observation idéal pour développer sa relation autour des thèmes de la relation au monde et du métissage culturel… Edouard Glissant est le père spirituel des écrivains du mouvement de la créolité, il est le premier à avoir théorisé le concept de créolisation perçue comme un processus imprévisible et comme « un métissage conscient de lui-même ». Désormais professeur à New York, Edouard Glissant s’affirme avec des romans et essais comme  ‘’Tout-Monde’’  ou encore  ‘’Poétique de la relation’’  comme le penseur majeur du monde actuel. Edouard Glissant meurt le 3 février 2011 à Paris à l'âge de 82 ans.

Étienne Vernaz is a physicist and an evangelical Christian. A researcher at the CEA (Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et au énergies alternatives, a French government agency in charge of nuclear research) and a professor at the INSTN (National Institute of Nuclear Sciences and Technologies), he is one of France's most prominent specialists in  nuclear waste processing through vitrification. He was trained as an engineer, has a PhD in chemical physics, and has been awarded several prizes for his activities.
In 2003, the Alliance biblique française (French Biblical Association) organized a “Year of the Bible” during which Dr. Vernaz was asked if he could deliver a lecture about being a Christian researcher. He accepted, and since then has never stopped doing lectures on different aspects of the relations between science and faith. This article is an account of the lecture he delivered on November 18, 2011, at the Martin Luther King Center, Nîmes.
Except a few quotations, the words are ours and contain elements of interpretation. For a more accurate vision of the orator’s opinion, the reader should refer to the transcription of the interview Dr. Vernaz gave us, published on this website. Under no circumstance should the delivered lecture or the present article be regarded as reflecting in any way the scientific stand of the CEAEA nor any other public research agency Dr. Vernaz works with.

"Rock' n' Roll is my religion and my law" Ozzy Osbourne sang in 1981.

Since the 1950s, rock' n' roll music has had intriguing connections with the religious phenomenon. Indeed, both fields share affinities. At times labelled "diabolical" by some, rock' n' roll music has been celebrated as a true "religion" by others.

Not uncommonly, rock and metal artists have been perceived as Gods by their fans: they are elevated to the status of divinities - celestial, like 'King' Elvis and the self-proclaimed "Golden God", Robert Plant - or infernal, like Mick Jagger and the "Prince of Darkness", Ozzy Osbourne. This striking ambiguity, characteristic of our age, is here to be the focus of a series of articles, analysing rock and metal from the sociological and religious points of view. More specific highlights on Christian, Muslim and Jewish metal will follow.

«Le rock 'n' roll est ma religion et ma loi », chantait Ozzy Osbourne dans les années 1980. Musique « diabolique» pour certains, véritable « religion » pour d'autres, le rock entretient des relations particulières avec le phénomène religieux, et ce dès les années 1950. Souvent rejeté par une certaine frange de la religion (chrétienne en particulier), le rock partage en réalité des affinités avec le phénomène. En effet, on y trouve des dieux – les artistes, des fidèles – les fans, mais aussi des cultes, des rites ou encore des dérives extrêmes.

Is it licit for one to be dressed in such a way as to import cultural or religious connotations into the workplace? Should breaks be granted for prayer-time, or leave allowed for denominational feast days? May a female employee decline to interact with her male colleagues? Is the observance of various hygiene or food prescriptions to be allowed for? Today, every human resources manager has already had to face issues such as these, or will soon have to. Some may have nursed the thought that, in a secular country, religious issues would become less impassioned, and even be sidelined by a naïve form of Marxism. But, far from that, it turns out that increasing globalization has encouraged cultural diversity. Finally, the complexity of the human ever eludes even the most sophisticated of management techniques. Homo economicus is already a fossil; the classic anthropology of many economists has been shaken to the roots. Today people at work demand respect and guarantee for other aspects of their personality.
A growing number of companies are having to face such demands. Are they obliged to take into account the religious and cultural convictions of their staff ? And if such is the case; how is this to be done, and to what extent?

This assertion ("that the Muslim community in Europe is inexistent") may seem somewhat peremptory. Perhaps even a little provocative. However the latter was claimed by Farida Belkacem, a young researcher at IRIS (Institute for International and Strategic Relations, located in Paris, France), during an interview granted to WRW on the 19th november 2011, after her Averroes Encounters conference.

The eighteenth edition of the Rencontres d'Averroes (Averroes Encounters) was simultaneously organised from October 20 to December 3, 2011 in several major Mediterranean cities, Marseille, Rabat and Cordoba, under the sign of intercultural dialogue.

This year, the widely acclaimed international experts and intellectuals convened discussed the theme: "Which way for Europe and Islam: freedom or fear?"

Cette assertion ("La communauté musulmane en Europe n'existe pas") peut sembler péremptoire. Peut-être même un peu provocante. C'est pourtant ce qu'a affirmé Farida Belkacem, jeune chercheuse à l'IRIS (Institut de Relations Internationales et Stratégiques, à Paris), lors d'une interview accordée à WRW le 19 novembre 2011, à la sortie de sa conférence aux Rencontres d'Averroès.
Cette 18ème édition des Rencontres s'est tenue du 20 octobre au 3 décembre 2011 conjointement dans plusieurs villes : Marseille, Rabat, et Cordoue, sous la bannière fédératrice du dialogue transméditerranéen.
Le thème de cette année, là encore volontiers provocateur, en dit long sur le climat agité dans lequel se débat actuellement la plupart des intellectuels européens : "L'Europe et l'Islam : la liberté ou la peur ?"

C’est dans un temple protestant, le Centre Martin Luther King, que nous avons rencontré le professeur Étienne Vernaz, en cette soirée du 18 novembre 2011, avant la conférence qu’il s’apprêtait à donner sur le thème « Science et foi ».

Étienne Vernaz est directeur de recherches au Commissariat à l’énergie atomique (CEA), assistant scientifique du chef du département d’étude du traitement et du conditionnement des déchets (CEA-DEN-Marcoule), et professeur à l’Institut national des sciences et techniques nucléaires (INSTN). Entré au CEA en 1978, il est ingénieur de l’INSA (Génie Physique, Toulouse), titulaire d’un DEA de physique solide, d’un doctorat en physico-chimie et d’une HDR. Il est lauréat du Prix CEA de la recherche appliquée nucléaire (1997), titulaire du prix Société française d’énergie nucléaire 2006 (pour la réalisation du Visiatome), et officier dans l’Ordre des Palmes académiques.

Habitué à donner toutes sortes de conférences, c’est en exclusivité qu’il répond aux questions du site World Religion Watch.

Cet entretien est accordé à titre strictement privé et Étienne Vernaz ne s’y fait en aucun cas le porte-parole des organismes de recherche et de formation pour lesquels il travaille par ailleurs.

We met professor Étienne Vernaz in a protestant church, the Martin Luther King Center, on November 18, 2011, before the lecture he was about to deliver on the topic “Science and Faith.”

Étienne Vernaz is Director of Research at the Commissariat à l’énergie atomique (CEA: French agency in charge of nuclear research), scientific assistant to the head of the department of waste-processing studies (CEA-DEN-Marcoule), and professor at the Institut national des sciences et techniques nucléaires (National Institute of Nuclear Sciences and Technologies). A member of the CEA since 1978, he was trained as an engineer at the INSA (National Institute of Applied Sciences), department of Engineering Physics, in Toulouse. He holds a DEA (a degree equivalent to a Master of Advanced Studies) in Solid-State Physics, a PhD in Chemical Physics and an HDR (habilitation). He was awarded the 1997 CEA Prize for Applied Nuclear Research and the 2006 prize of the Société française d’énergie nucléaire (French Scientific Society for Nuclear Technologies) for his contribution to the Visiatome. He is an Officer in the Ordre des Palmes académiques.

Accustomed to delivering all sorts of lectures, he answers our questions for the website World Religion Watch.

This interview was given in private capacity and should in no circumstance be regarded as reflecting the scientific stand of the CEAEA nor any other public research agency Dr. Vernaz works with.

The nature of Indian secularism [3/3]

“Secularism is an alternative to the continuous politically inspired balkanization of the world”

Rajeev Dhavan, Justice Supreme Court of India

To read the first part of this article: Introducing Indian secularism and its uniqueness [1/3]

What teachings are to be drawn from the Indian experience of secularism?

The two previous articles were meant to present and explain the nature of Indian secularism in the light of its particular context. To conclude the trilogy, the current article’s purpose is to consider an alternative to French “laïcité”.

Since its implementation more than sixty years ago, Indian secularism has not avoided violent communal events from happening in India, yet its principles are worth studying in view of France’s current “debates” on “laïcité”. Obviously the Indian context is hardly similar to the French one, and the aim of this article is not to promote the implementation of Indian secularism – seeing that the latter is by no means free from drawbacks - in France as such. What we suggest is to take a close look at the principles of Indian secularism, in the hope that this may lead us to better understand that a narrow-minded refusal of any form of State recognition of religion is not the one and only solution for the protection of freedom of thought and the principles of our Republic.

Claire Van den Bogaard
Rédactrice en chef du Passe-Murailles, le bimestriel de l’association GENEPI - Groupement Etudiant National d'Enseignement aux Personnes Incarcérées

Abstract:

In the scope of this work about religion in prison, we have interviewed Claire Van den Bogaard who is the chief editor of Passe-Murailles, the fortnightly published by the French association GENEPI. This association is composed of students who aimed at informing and making people aware of the conditions of life in prison, as well as they provide the detainees with cultural or sportive activities, or instruction backing. In the last issue of Passe-Murailles several pages deal with the theme of religion in prison.

L’incarcération ne signifie pas la négation de l’individu

1. Comment présenteriez-vous en quelques mots votre association ?

Parce que la prison demeure une zone d'ombre pour la société, plus de mille étudiants bénévoles, dans toute la France, s'efforcent chaque année d'agir pour la réinsertion des personnes incarcérées et des mineurs placés sous main de justice. Au sein de l'association GENEPI, ils interviennent chaque semaine en détention et dans les établissements de la protection judiciaire de la jeunesse pour faire du soutien scolaire ou animer des activités culturelles, sportives et de loisir. Le GENEPI informe et sensibilise de surcroît l'opinion publique aux problématiques de l'univers carcéral. Il mène une réflexion permanente sur les systèmes pénal et judiciaire. (Se reporter aussi à la page 3 du Passe-Murailles n°32 sur laquelle figure la charte de l'association).

In this fourth article, after having pointed out some dysfunctions relative to religion in detention, our aim here is  to raise the issue of the consequences they may lead to, but we also try to underline the positive role religion and religious actors can play in prison, for the detainees, but also for the functionning of the whole institution in daily life.

Symbole d’appartenance à une communauté particulière, l’appartenance religieuse peut s’avérer être une source de problèmes en détention. La tentation  du repli sur sa propre communauté religieuse peut en effet déboucher sur la formation de clans au sein des prisons et par conséquent menacer la cohésion de l’organisation carcérale. Or, en tant qu’institution républicaine, la prison se doit de garder le pouvoir et le contrôle sur ses détenus afin d’éviter tout débordement et de maintenir la sécurité en son sein.

Jean Boulègue was a historian and former scholar at the University of Panthéon Sorbonne. He specialized in the History of Africa, especially in the medieval and modern history of the great western African empires. He recently died, in March 2011. “Blasphemy on trial” (Le blasphème en procès) was published a year before , in January 2010.

His book studies the recent history of a discrete, but constant and powerful action, led by religions against freedom of speech in religious matter. As a matter of fact, from 1984 to 2009, 20 lawsuits were filed in different courts of secular France, against speeches, written documents or images considered as insulting and defamatory toward a religion. In 18 cases Catholicism was in question, in the other two it was Islam. The first offensive was launched in 1984 by  catholic right-wing extremists, when a suit was brought under the aegis of Mgr. Lefebvre against a film poster. Then  fundamentalist associations were supported by the episcopate.  Muslim associations followed the movement and tried to influence the debate, and the culmination was reached with the open claim to the President of the Republic made by the French Council of the Muslim Faith to modify the French legislation to reestablish the offence of blasphemy.

Abstract:

As explained in our previous article, the detainees have to face several obstacles when opting to practice their religion. After having dealt with the questions of religious objects and religious constraints in matters of food, in this article, our aim is to raise the issue of combining a voluntary emphasis on religion with the constraints of life in prison, and the question of the inequalities resulting from the numbers of chaplains available for each religion.

La difficile articulation des rites et temps forts religieux avec les contraintes liées à la vie dans l'établissement pénitentiaire

« Des détenus nous écrivent pour nous dire : "Je veux pratiquer ma religion et je ne peux pas" [...]. D'autres se plaignent des offices perturbés par le bruit, les va-et-vient. ».
Il s'avère que la pratique au quotidien d'un culte est souvent rendue très difficile par les contraintes liées à la vie en détention.