The French Revolution (1789-1799) is, more than in part, a violent and explicit manifestation of ideas that also fuel the concept of "civil religion," but with important nuances. Civil religion is a set of beliefs and values that replace transcendent faith with an immanent cult of the State and society, often anchored in Enlightenment ideals (Carvalho, 1998). The French Revolution, though distinct from the American context, shares philosophical roots with these ideals, especially in the ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, and other Enlightenment thinkers, who inspired both American civil religion and the revolutionary fervor in France. These thinkers were not mere political inspirers; they were the architects of a Gnostic worldview that saw the existing social order as a flawed and evil creation, which needed to be demolished and replaced by an earthly paradise built by human will (Carvalho, 1998).
⚔️The Sacralization of Revolt and the New Dogmas
In France, the Revolution sought to establish a new social order based on principles like "liberty, equality, fraternity," which, in a way, took on an almost sacred character. These slogans were not just political goals but the new dogmas of a secular faith, absolute and unquestionable, justifying any means for their imposition. The creation of civic rituals, such as the Festival of the Federation (1790), and the elevation of figures like the "Goddess of Reason" during the most radical period of the Revolution (1793-1794) reflect an attempt to fill the spiritual vacuum left by the weakening of the Catholic Church with a cult of the nation and reason. This movement can be seen as a manifestation of civil religion, where the State and its ideals become objects of veneration. This is a clear transfer of the sacred: the altar of God is replaced by the altar of the Fatherland; the saints and martyrs of the faith are exchanged for the "heroes of the Revolution"; and the hope for eternal salvation gives way to the promise of an intra-worldly utopia.
🩸Anticlericalism as a Gnostic Imperative
However, there are crucial differences. While American civil religion consolidated around a narrative of exceptionalism and institutional stability (with the Constitution as a "sacred text"), the French Revolution had a more disruptive and anticlerical character, seeking to eradicate traditional religious influences in favor of a new secular order. This difference is not accidental, but essential. The American project was more subtle, co-opting Protestant morality and neutralizing religion by confining it to the private sphere. In France, however, facing a Catholic Church with immense institutional and symbolic power, the Gnostic revolution needed to be openly destructive. The fierce anticlericalism was not a mere excess but a liturgical act of purification: it was necessary to physically eliminate the representative of the transcendent order so that the new, purely human and immanent order could reign without competition (Carvalho, 1998). The Terror, with the guillotine operating as a sacramental instrument, was the logical consequence of this need to purge the world of the "evil" represented by the old faith. Thus, although the French Revolution can be seen as a product of ideas that also shaped civil religion, it represents a more radical and theologically transparent expression of this phenomenon, adapted to the French context.
It is concluded, therefore, that it is more than plausible to say that the French Revolution is the most sincere embodiment of a spirit similar to that of civil religion. Its trajectory and manifestation were shaped by specific historical and cultural dynamics in France, distinct from the American project, but its violence and radicalism only made explicit what in the American model remained implicit: the totalitarian ambition of a political power that claims the right to redefine reality, morality, and the very meaning of human existence, raising the Empire of Caesar upon the ruins of the City of God.
📚References
Carvalho, O. (1998). O Jardim das Aflições: De Epicuro à Ressurreição de César - Ensaio sobre o Materialismo e a Religião Civil (2nd ed.). Rio de Janeiro: Topbooks.
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