VVExisting explanations for the sweeping changes in Québec, for both their breadth and their abruptness, are many and varied. They indict a panoply of variables, some marked with the impersonality of large-scale social differentiation and others with the intimacy of individuals’ crises of commitment. In the past, many sociologists used Québec as a case in point to exemplify the theory of secularization, arguing the spread of modernity would inevitably lead to the waning of religion. Austrian-American sociologist Peter Berger argued at length that the rational and scientific discourse dominant in modern society produced an approach to the world that left no room for divine transcendence. Here, Berger congruently echoes the conclusion of Max Weber that the instrumental rationality dominant in modern society inevitably has led to the disenchantment of the world and thus the waning of religion. Québec, for many, is a testament to the philosophies of Berger and Weber.
VVThis essay, on the contrary, will suggest otherwise. It will demonstrate, in fact, that Québec’s experience cannot be cited as a confirmation of the theory of secularization. Instead, this essay will contribute to the argument of two prominent thinkers. The first being sociologist Charles Taylor who has contended that secularism is not simply the absence of religion but rather an intellectual and political category that itself needs to be understood as an historical construction. The second is humanities professor Mark Lilla who has poignantly suggested there has been more of an integration of Church and State that has come through with wriggled attempts of placing political life under God’s authority. Both thinkers are convincing and offer a foundation of knowledge as it concerns the case of Québec. In line with the philosophies of Taylor and Lilla, this essay will show that the nation of Québec has gone through certain historical struggles that have allowed the Church to recognize its waning authority, ultimately bringing to fruition a situation where the “omnipotent God was able to be displaced by the omnipotent law-giver.” Although a God has been displaced, however, a clear hallowed residue remains, which has still helped to mold Québécois thought, albeit more silently and subtly.
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laïgue, or secular province. As a result, for Catholics in Québec today, let alone adherents of other faiths, religion has come to occupy a different place in their personal consciousness than what it once did; religion has become a freely chosen personal journey rather a celebration of a total vision incarnate in society.