Against (state supported) Marriage

Marriage is a religious institution, and should be left to religious institutions. The state should provide a contract for everyone that offers a bundle of benefits and burdens to those who decide to live together. The advantages of such a policy would be multiple: to begin with no individual would be discriminated. The contract, as any contract, can be validly concluded by any party -- male, female, trans-sex etc... the state provides a default legal instrument to organise a complex long-term partnership; that contract should make obligations and benefits clear, and if well done, should prevent as much as possible litigation between the two parties, even when the contract comes to an end.

Individuals could still decide to marry in a church. Religions in this case would have the burden of organising that ceremony which would only have a symbolic value, but no legal value whatsoever. Religions would also have the burden of explaining to people why they are not eligible in some cases. In this sense, religions would be accountable to them. They would owe an explanation. And faithfuls would have to decide whether to belong to a church that openly discriminate them. Take for instance catholic gays. There is no point in forcing the church to accept gay marriage; and there may not be a point to be a catholic gay, up to them to decide.

A Secular Europe

Brand New!

How to accommodate diverse religious practices and laws within a secular framework is one of the most pressing and controversial problems facing contemporary European public order. In this provocative contribution to the subject, Lorenzo Zucca argues that traditional models of secularism, focusing on the relationship of state and church, are out-dated and that only by embracing a new picture of what secularism means can Europe move forward in the public reconciliation of its religious diversity.

The book develops a new model of secularism suitable for Europe as a whole. The new model of secularism is concerned with the way in which modern secular states deal with the presence of diversity in the society. This new conception of secularism is more suited to the European Union whose overall aim is to promote a stable, peaceful and unified economic and political space starting from a wide range of different national experiences and perspectives. The new conception of secularism is also more suited for the Council of Europe at large, and in particular the European Court of Human Rights which faces growing demands for the recognition of freedom of religion in European states. The new model does not defend secularism as an ideological position, but aims to present secularism as our common constitutional tradition as well as the basis for our common constitutional future.

A Matter of Priorities

Flourishing in A Secular World

A Secular World is a place for religious and non-religious people. Religion has an important role in it: it  creates strong bonds between people. But religion can also work as a double-edged sword: it can divide  people on the basis of theological disagreement. Think of the religious divisions that plague the Arab societies and make it so difficult to make them peaceful and flourishing.

A Secular World attempts to provide a framework within which religious and non-religious conflicts can be dealt with on a regular basis so as to free people from the burdens of theological and ideological confrontations which prevent them from living their life to the full.