The off-centered hub of secularism. Religion inside human rights projections and quotidian life

The November 2015 attacks on Paris by Islamic State terrorists put Europe and Islam into headlines around the world. Immediate responses from world leaders condemned the attacks as an affront to humanity and “universal values,” and called for a “merciless” war of retaliation against an “inhuman” opponent. Among the most popular messages in social media was “Pray for Paris,” a religious invocation against a religious enemy. Paradoxically, religious leaders instead urged a separation of religion/values from political action. Could it be that the entity battling with the terrorist group ISIS is in fact a religiously infused unaware secularism? Could the refusal of Western nations to see the ways in which they still “carry the cross” be among the elements that impel a conflict of religious proportions? Has the unfinished project of secularism naturalized Christian values to such an extent that they are no longer seen or nameable, even while directly informing critical political responses? When Western states respond to incendiary values statements made by terrorist organizations in kind, while religious leaders call for peace and a redefinition of terms, something has gone awry. My chapter explores how the Western European secularism project, viewed through the lens of human and universal rights, remains incomplete. This incompleteness appears to provoke violent conflicts, and until its values and contours are unearthed, it will be impossible to decipher where or what religion is or means, inside or outside of the states that stand for “universal human rights.” Until then, the wheel of secularism will presumably continue to wobble.