The French Of Religious Identity Essay

The French Enlightenment caused many people to ditch the “old” government ideas. This allowed natural rights to be used as propaganda against the Church and Monarch.

Is it possible to be a Muslim without believing the validity of the prophecies of Mohammed? Is it possible to be a Christian without believing in the resurrection of Jesus? My definition of religion transformed greatly during my studies the past few months. Even as a religion major at St. Olaf College I thought of religion very narrowly, as a construct of metaphysical beliefs. But I've come to realize that religion runs far deeper than my Lutheran mind previously conceived.

The era of France Enlightenment and religion have a misconception that leads one to believe that they were enemies. The Enlightenment was not against religion but it was against the superstitions and the supernaturalism of religion. Philosophes during the era of France’s Enlightenment did not look to abolish religion or the Catholic Church of France. They simply wanted a separation of religion and state because it was believed that the state was based on reason and religion was based on morality. Religion and the Enlightenment were compatible and Dr. Sorkin argues: “the Enlightenment was not only compatible with religious belief,” it actually generated new formulations of that belief. One goal that was a reflection of the

11) Concordat of 1801= This established a reconciliation with Pope Pius of the Catholic church. This recognized Catholicism as the main religion of the people of France. In order to have catholicism as the main religion the pope had to agree that the lands confiscated by France from the church would not be returned to them.

Secondly, many churches in France have been closed by the government. In document A, it shows that when the French government put in place the Festival Of Reason, it was known as the new republican way of church, replacing Roman Catholic churches into Christian and Catholic churches. This also, made people revolt against the government, because the French government banned churches during the replacement. This caused people to be upset and not happy with the government by taking away their right of freedom of

I believe that the people should be free to follow their own beliefs. This just shows how the actions of the government were not fair to the citizens in France. The people were pretty much not allowed to live their lives peacefully. They were like species in a new world..

The first cause of the French Revolution was the French Church. The church had too much power and had been “existing as a privileged ‘Estate.’” In 1790 the National Assembly passed the Civil Constitution of the Clergy which would reform the French Church. They included the laws of election, salaries, and living. One of the laws of election stated, “All elections shall be by ballot and shall be decided by the absolute majority the votes.” (National Assembly). This law created fairness and

This document testifies that Southern French had become saturated with non-orthodox (and therefore heretical in the eyes of the church) beliefs. It also displays how powerless the clergy were to stop it. The heretics felt no obligation to the them. especially when they had the backing of local nobility. Effectively, the church was helpless. Their attempts to assert religious control were met with staunch defiance, and most likely only made the church even more unpopular. After hearing the verdict the Good Men said that the bishop, “...was a heretic, not they...they were on guard against him as the lord enjoined them in the gospel, “beware of false prophets...”15It was obviously difficult to tell someone they were in error when that same person

The French Revolution directly affected the nineteenth century through the creation of many ideologies, one important one being nationalism. Nationalism is a very controversial ideology because of the many diverse approaches towards its true definition. A broad definition of nationalism could be perceived as a strong devotion towards the culture and identity of a nation. As well as the idea that nations will benefit more from acting as an independent nation opposed to multiple states working together as a collective. Its emergence completely changed the political map of Europe and resulted in the birth of many new nations. There are many different views towards the true reason for the emergence of Nationalism in Europe. Many historians believe the emergence can be credited to the French Revolution and later the continuation of ideas under Napoleon Bonaparte. While others believe the Industrial Revolution held more importance for the widespread arrival of nationalism. It seems better to encompass both and argue that the emergence of nationalism in Europe was caused by the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte’s rule, and the Industrial Revolution.

Giry argues that French Muslims have displayed true capability and willingness to assimilate, much stronger than acknowledged by elite politicians and the media. However, the problem seems to be that French Muslims efforts towards integration have not been mutually met from the French public. She states that most Muslims have adopted the French cultural norms and provides examples of studies showing that France has one of the highest rates of intermarriage between Muslim women and French men in Europe (2006, p. 93), all supporting the fact that Muslims have succeeded in integrating in various ways. However, there seems to be economic and political disparities

The French Revolution of 1789 changed the meaning of the word “revolution.” Prior to this year, revolution meant restoring a previous form of government that had been taken away. Since then, revolution has meant creating a new institution of government that did not previously exist. This required that a constitution be drafted. After a series of four mini-revolutions from May to July, the “Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen” was released on the twenty-sixth of August, 1789. When the French revolutionaries drew up the Declaration, they wanted to end the traditions surrounding hereditary monarchy and establish new institutions based on the principles of the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment

In 1789, the old regime came to an end with the beginning of the French Revolution. The patchwork quilt of the old French system had been swept away. While the changes of the French government and society were not sudden, the mentality and the philosophy of the people changed suddenly to allow for the practical changes to come around. Looking at who is to be a citizen, religious minorities, and women, the ideal for a new system came suddenly from the enlightenment, which allowed practical changes in French society at a slower pace.

The world has more than one billion Catholics and with the ever growing population, it will only get larger in number. To be a Catholic means to have complete faith in God and his divine grace. Having God's divine grace means to obey it and keep it holy as it was created by God and given to his people. The religion itself is based on this and the people take it very seriously. Catholics believe that all people are of good nature but when one commits a sin it not only hurts that one person but the people and the Church.

During the 16th century, Protestantism spread across France leading to a number of religious and civil wars. The wars between the Protestants and the Roman Catholics resulted in the massacre of some 3,000 Protestants in Paris on the eve of St. Bartholomew’s Day in 1572. The statecraft of such royal advisers as the cardinals Richelieu and Mazarin helped France in becoming the greatest power in Europe during the 17th century. Unfortunately, defeats in a series of costly foreign wars during the 18th century caused France to loose many of their overseas territories, and brought the country near bankruptcy. In 1789 revolution toppled the King, Louis XVI, and proclaimed the rights of man. The French Revolution took a bloody turn and ended in a weak government of five directors. France soon fell into the hands of Napoleon Bonaparte, who ruled from 1799-1814, first as consul, then as emperor. Napoleon’s far fetched military ventures ended in 1815 with his downfall. A limited monarchy was restored and, with the exception of a brief republican period (1848-52), brought about the creation of the Third Republic.

The French are all about preserving their culture and being individualized. They often take great pride in the French products and the French style, and believe in keeping the French culture “pure” so they also limit the amount of foreign goods that are being imported. But during the World Wars the French began to allow foreigners to immigrate into France to take jobs due to an increase in job shortages. The immigration from the World Wars added to the diversity of the French culture. Ever since the 1850’s there has been a steady flow of immigration into France, and now nine percent of the French population is made up of immigrants (Gofen 62). The break down of the cultures in France is eighty-five percent of the French population is Roman