Laicism: Exclusive or Inclusive?

Abstract

This chapter examines two perspectives on the meaning of political laicism (laicidad). According to the traditional view, which the author calls “exclusive,” laicism requires the exclusion of all religious content from state institutions as well as from formal politics. The second, “inclusive” view emerged as a reaction against the traditional view and in response to both the growth of religious pluralism and the more public role assumed by some religious organizations in recent decades, placing no restrictions on the expression of religious content in society at large and therefore allowing it in both public institutions and formal politics. The author considers traditional laicism from a historical perspective in the case of Mexico in order to bring to light the fact that Mexican traditional laicism initially constituted a liberal response to the political challenges posed by the dominant Catholic Church. The author then presents the central features of an acceptable version of exclusive laicism that we should think of as an institutional arrangement that can develop within different political ideologies, such as republicanism or liberalism. The liberal (exclusive) conception of laicism constitutes an adequate response to the growing religious pluralism in Latin America today. A plausible version must be fully compatible with the protection of basic liberal values and freedoms, such as freedom of conscience and freedom of expression (which includes the expression of religious convictions in the public sphere).