March 25, 2011

Should Europe remove crucifixes from public schools?

It’s a news item that has been more or less lost amidst all the recent headlines of tragedy in Japan and the war in Libya. Yet, let’s not overlook the significance of a ruling earlier this month by the European Court of Human Rights which said that hanging a crucifix in a state-funded classroom doesn’t necessarily violate the religious freedom of students.

The March 8 ruling held that it was up to individual European countries to decide whether it’s appropriate to have religious symbols in public classrooms—providing these symbols don’t lead to religious indoctrination of students.

As a defender of religious freedom, I’m not in favor of religious symbols in public schools, or in any other state institution. As a general rule, I believe state schools are not the place for crucifixes or other religious objects. The public classroom should be a safe, neutral place where any child, whether Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish, Atheist, Baha’i or of any other faith persuasion, can be free to learn and make friends in an atmosphere of respect and acceptance.   

But the questions naturally arise: What of culture, history, and tradition? What about schoolrooms where the crucifix has been affixed to the wall for a hundred years or more? What about countries where the crucifix has come to represent far more than Christian theology, but has become an important symbol of cultural and historical identity?

The critical issues here, I believe, are: How is the symbol used? Are children obliged to kneel down in front of it? Are they forced to pray before it, as it was the case long ago? Does it support active religious propaganda?

In most of Europe today, the answer to each of these questions is, “No.”

And so, even though I’ll always fight for religious freedom and for state neutrality between religions, there are times where I’ll step back and say, “Commonsense dictates this isn’t worth pursuing. If the crucifix is part of the culture and the tradition of a country and it’s not an active religious symbol, I won't fight to have it removed. It doesn’t represent my ideal for a public school, but in this instance I will respect the status quo and I will not go to court.”

A wide range of religious symbolism is embedded in so many of the cultural and historical objects of our public life. The artwork that adorns public buildings and spaces of many capital cities of the world is rife with religious allusions and themes. In many Western countries, Greek mythology predominates over Christian imagery in our public gardens, parks and squares. For the average person, these hold no current religious significance. Does the principle of state neutrality between religions mean we must tear down these beautiful statues, remove these pieces of art, and purge our historical monuments of every vestige of religious symbolism?

No, of course not. We have to respect the testimony of the past. Religion is an inescapable part of human history and it’s a part of the heritage of every nation. I understand why, on this occasion, the European Court of Human Rights stepped back to allow the question of crucifixes in public classrooms to be decided by individual countries—to allow each state to weigh both a symbol’s cultural significance and its religious power.

For a majority of Europeans, Christian imagery expresses an important aspect of their historical identity and so I will respect that. But the religious freedom of individuals is too precious a right to be entrusted to the will of the majority. Imagine one day that the majority of the students in European classrooms are not Christian. Will the majority decide, then, what religious symbol to put on the wall?

Let’s start now to consider not just the voice of the majority, but also the rights of the minority. Let’s leave the crucifix on the classroom walls, but let’s also allow young Muslim girls to wear their headscarves to school. Our classrooms are shaping a new generation of men and women—let’s make these places where the values of respect and freedom are not just taught, but demonstrated. 

Dr. John Graz, Secretary-General of the International Religious Liberty Association