Beyond Secularism (Laïcité): Québec’s Secularism and Religious Participation in Nation-Building

New Title: Beyond Secularism (Laïcité): Québec’s Secularism and Religious Participation in Nation-Building

Revised the aim of the article in Abstract: This article explores the role of religion in nation-building by examining its public dimensions within the evolving context of secularism in Québec.

Revised paragraph: What is needed is a more balanced approach—one that upholds state neutrality while safeguarding individual freedoms and fostering an inclusive society in which all citizens, regardless of their religious beliefs, can fully participate in public life without undue restrictions.

Footnote 7: In 2021, nearly 1.8 million individuals in Canada—representing approximately 4.9% of the population identified as Muslim. This represents a significant increase from 2001, when Muslims constituted just 2.0% of the population. A similar trend is observed among other religious communities. In 2021, nearly 830,000 people, or 2.3% of the population, identified as Hindu—more than double the 1.0% recorded in 2001. The Sikh population also experienced substantial growth, rising from 0.9% in 2001 to 2.1% in 2021, with about 770,000 individuals reporting Sikh affiliation in the 2021 Census (Canada 2022, pp 13–4).

6.3 Introductory paragraph has changed: The case studies presented challenge the assumptions of rigid secularism, which demands a strict separation between religion and state. In contrast, they demonstrate that religious institutions can enrich the ethical foundations of democratic societies. While rigid secularism often seeks to exclude religious perspectives from legal and political discourse, the model of principled distance enables the inclusion of religious voices in ways that serve the common good, ensuring policies benefit all citizens regardless of their beliefs. This approach allows religion to move beyond the private realm and participate in public life, aligning with what Casanova terms “public religion” (Casanova 1994). Although this article is grounded in Bhargava’s framework of principled distance, Casanova’s work elucidates its sociological implications. His notion of public religion complements rather than competes with Bhargava’s model, illustrating the potential for constructive engagement between religion and the public sphere. As Casanova contends, “We need to go beyond the secularist discourse of separation and beyond the public sphere of civil society to address the real issues of democratic politics around the world” (Casanova 2008, p. 106). Public religion, in this sense, not only contributes to the moral discourse of democratic societies but also challenges religious communities to embody secular democratic values such as gender justice.