| Laïcité
This was taken from the Grand Orient of the United State of America's (that is a mouth full) web site. I think if we could all live by this it sure would be a better world. What do you think?
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The Grand Orient of the United States of America, like all forms of Free-Masonry, is based on the ideas and philosophies of the Age of Enlightenment. We remain true to all of the core convictions of the American Founding Fathers. Of these core convictions, one principle was the idea of the necessity for a separation of church and state. In French, this concept is known as laïcité and is a main component of both the liberal and republican traditions in Europe.
The conception of laïcité is based on the respect of freedom of thought and of freedom of religion. Thus, the absence of a state religion and the subsequent separation of the state and church are considered a prerequisite of such freedom of thought. Laïcité is thus distinct from anti-clericalism, which actively opposes the influence of religion and of the clergy. Laïcité relies on the division between private life, to which its adherents believe religion belongs, and the public sphere, in which each individual, its adherents believe, should appear devoid of ethnic, religious or others particularities, and as a simple citizen equal to all others citizens. According to this conception, the government must refrain from taking positions on religious doctrine and only consider religious subjects from their practical consequences on inhabitants' lives.
The laïc humanism relies on the principle of total freedom of conscience.
Freedom of the mind: liberation in regard to all dogmas; the right to believe or not to believe in a deity; autonomy of thought concerning religious, political and economical constraints; emancipation of life styles in relation to taboos, prevailing ideas and dogmatic rules.
Laïcité aims to liberate children and adults from everything that alienates or corrupts their minds, particularly atavistic beliefs, prejudices, preconceived ideas, dogmas, oppressive ideology and cultural, economical, social, political or religious pressure. Laïcité also aims to develop in human nature, within the framework of a permanent intellectual, moral and civic formation, a critical mind along with a feeling of solidarity and brotherhood.
The freedom of expression is the corollary to total freedom of conscience. It is the right and the material possibility to speak, to write and to distribute individual and collective thoughts. The new technological advances in communication make this requirement even more vital. There must be a special vigilance in the face of this powerful means of manipulation and perversion of the mind.
The laïc morality is simple; it is based on the principle of mutual tolerance and the respect of others as well as oneself. The good is all that liberates, all that emancipates; the evil is all that enslaves and degrades. Laïcité aims in this context to give people the means to acquire a complete lucidity and full responsibility for their thoughts and actions (acts founded on the needs of social life and the promotion of individual liberty) it is essential in the construction of social harmony and the reinforcement of public mindedness. It tends to institute, beyond ideological, community or national differences, a human society favorable to everyone's enlightenment, a society from which all exploitation or conditioning of man by another man, all fanatical spirit, hate and violence will be excluded.
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