Religious Culture Versus Secular State; Sociology of Spirituality in France

The French society is now a symbolic representation of state and religion confrontation. On the one hand there is the state with its modern interpretation of secularism that aims at confining religious practice to its former private domain; on the other, one should take heed of a newly emerged religious trend which shuns its previously assigned role by asserting that a secular regime can no longer ignore the individuals’ religious rights, even though they may be unprecedented.But what is appealing to an unprejudiced researcher is the occurrence of a so-called spiritual orientation in the French society as an aftermath of this confrontation. The author has used various methods such as field study, literature review and interview with French citizens and authorities in order to make a sociological hypothesis: To the extent that religious culture has gained momentum in the secular society, the secular regime has extended its power beyond its former domain to even some of the citizens’ private affairs.