A Brief History
On November 10, 1793, the government of revolutionary France celebrated the “Festival of Reason” as it rejected traditional religion (mostly Catholicism in France) and inserted a philosophy known as the “Cult of Reason” as the national “religion.” Nationwide, real women dressed up in white Roman dress and impersonated “Goddesses of Reason.”
Digging Deeper
This new government had renounced all forms of deities for a secular, scientific explanation of the universe and all in it. Despite having Goddesses of Reason dancing around, the framers of this Cult of Reason were also careful to warn against worshipping science, liberty, truth and reason as if they were replacement gods, and believed that these concepts should still be viewed as the abstract ideas they are.
Churches, including the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, were seized and converted into “Temples of Reason.” Meanwhile, powerful opponents of this new way of thinking included other Revolutionaries such as Maximilien Robespierre. By 1794, the Robespierre-led “Reign of Terror” faction was able to officially repudiate the Cult of Reason and replace it with “The Cult of The Supreme Being,” a kind of a generic deist religion.
As it was, the last visit of many of the proponents of both of these new replacement religions was to “Madame Guillotine,” and when Napoleon Bonaparte came to power, he reinstated the Catholic Church in France. Sorry France, “Reason” will just have to wait for the next revolution!
Question for students (and subscribers): Could you see a “Cult of Reason” ever replacing Christianity as the largest religion in the world? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Aston, Nigel. Religion and Revolution in France, 1780-1804. The Catholic University of America Press, 2000.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="6483 http://www.crackedhistory.com/?p=6483">94 Comments
It’s crazy how much influence the government can have on a church
It’s crazy to me that people feel the need to exclusively agree with one side of an argument and nothing else matters once they’ve made they mind up. I don’t see why it is so hard to find the truths in multiple point of views.
In all of my previous history classes, none of my instructors have really focused on this topic. It was interesting to read how they did away with all worship of religion, yet they had women dressed up dancing around as goddesses.
It seems that even when they tried to completely renounce religion, they really could not achieve it. The fact that this idea of reason had to be represented in the form of a deity (worshipped or not), shows how societies based on religion and religious principles cannot easily shake them. P.s. The shorter articles are great – give a little snapshot of history which is kind of fun!
When something goes too far people look to replace it. This is what I believe happened here. They replaced religion with reason because religion had gone too far in people’s lives.
Even thought they completely renounced religion…. It was brought back and reinstated.
The government just changed the religion of the whole nation twice within a few years. Pretty wild.
There was a lot of “religion” going on those days. Worshiping everything except God.
It seems that the people of Europe back in the day didn’t know what they wanted to worship.
Organized religion…not so organized here.
“Cult of Reason”… I personally would stay clear of anything that has to do with a cult! — DAVID WARDLE
religion should always be a personal decision, not forced upon by anyone
“We hate this thing that we think is evil. Let’s remove doubt and actually put some evil up!” Idols for Idols, mates.
Agreed with Heather H. On a smaller scale Dr. Z wouldn’t be able to just make us like or hate a historical figure just because of his thoughts.
Sounds like to me the French just wanted to get rid of everything that had to do with their old government.
Religion should never be forced on to someone
Religion should always be a choice and shouldn’t matter to others and only mind their own.
It is hard to imagine living where there is no freedom of religion. Religion is not something you can force someone to believe in.
Did these “temples” center on a sole deity, or pagan characteristics. Or were they as their title entails (temple of reason), a place for philosophy and contemplation?
They really did not want anything from their old government in post-revolution France
I have never heard of the cult of reason before today. This cult can be observed today within the battle between religion and science. While many people would not consider themselves in a cult, these people have the ideals that the cult of reason had. It would have been interesting to see what could have happened in France if this cult of reason had remained for a longer period of time.
Going against the Catholic Church is a huge undertaking and it is interesting to see the influence that the Cult of Reason had in France is incredible. Fighting for freedom of religion and dying for it show just how driven the French people were.
It’s odd to think that the French were so desperate to eradicate their old form of government that they attempted to completely rid the country of all forms of religion in exchange for reason.
The government has no right to interfere with the religion of its people. Good thing Napoleon came along to set the government straight.
N.W.
Forcing something onto people won’t help anything. People will believe whatever they want to.
AM
I agree, that it wold be very hard to live in a time when freedom of religion was not a thing. There is no way to force your own religion upon someone else, and ususally if you do it ends badly.
Forcing the people to believe in something will just cause more turmoil. It would be hard to live in a place without religious freedom, especially when people are going to believe what they want anyways.
Interesting how, in any case throughout history, forced religion doesn’t work. That’s why freedom of religion is so powerful. GW
Wow, that’s odd. Never knew that about France’s history. It’s a good thing that Napoleon reinstalled such a widely popular religion back then. Who knows where France would be today if they had to participate in a cult-like religion.
I’m glad that Napoleon came in to power and reinstated the Catholic Church in France. Go him!
By the government forcing a religion on a whole country, seeing that Napoleon reinstated the past ideas was nice. People should not be forced to believe in something if they don’t want to
This article puts us to realization how lucky we are to live in the country that we do. As far off as it seems that freedom of religion was not an accepted concept at one point in the U.S., it is hard to wrap our minds around the fact that some countries still do not have that freedom.
having freedom of religion is what makes up society today the idea of not having this freedom would scare most people and go against what people live for. But saying that the French government most likely had a very important reason for not giving its citizen the right to choose what to believe in and what not to believe in.
It’s interesting how little “reason” was actually involved in the “Festival of Reason.”
The idea of forcing a religion on someone is terrible. People should have their freedom to choose which religion to represent or which not to represent.
It surprises me that the Cult of Reason was so successful because I imagine most of the people in France wanted their freedom of religion. Good thing Napoleon was able to change things back when he came to power.
Very interesting! I’m surprised the French Catholics didn’t put up a fight when the new government seized and converted their churches.
Having no freedom of religion is a very troubling action to make it will cause massive problem among all of the people. Napoleon prevented a lot of problems by reinstating the past views
The concept of cults in general is fascinating to me. Also, interesting that science was a major factor in their lives. This all probably developed as an indirect result from the Renaissance and reformation periods. Today our standard of reasoning is based behind science.
i find it interesting that no one put up a fight when their churches were being converted
It’s crazy how they tried to force people into believing certain
things and didn’t allow them to believe in whatever they felt like believing
in.
Freedom of religion is extremely important. It’s nice to have and is silly to think that people are forced to believe in something they do not want to.
this cult can be observed today within the battle between religion and science.
To outlaw faith and religion is as bad as having a state sponsered faith
It seems like every few years these countries were changing their religion of choice.
They never can decide on one religion and sticking with it. But peoples minds are constantly changing so I guess it would be hard to stick with one belief.
I think some take for granted the freedoms that we have. To do without freedoms we’d all be more miserable than we pretend to be.
People should be allowed to believe what religion they choose
It’s a shame that people were forced into practicing a certain religion. Not everyone has the same religious views and they should be allowed to believe in what they want.
I’m glad that I live somewhere that practices religious freedom. Without it, unnecessary violence is pretty much unavoidable.
Religious freedom is something we take granted for every single day.
This made me think about how we all take advantage of our own religious freedoms. People used to die because of their beliefs.
Freedom of religion is so important. While tolerance isn’t where I think it should be, this reminds me of how far we have come.
Freedom of religion is possibly of the most important rights any human can have. Millions have been willing to lose their lives to justify their faith.
religion needs to be expressed more in our society. freedom of religion, just like freedom of speech. i think freedom of religion and gender equality are two of our worlds biggest problems.
This seems ridiculous to me because I wouldnt practice religion still
Freedom of religion isn’t taken as serious as it should be. Without freedom of religion society wouldn’t function the way it should.
Freedom of religion is used alot more today and I am so glad I can be whatever religion I desire to be.
It is crazy to think that freedom of religion was not always accepted. It seems common sense to let people choose what they want to practice, yet religion was forced upon many. However, it looks as if France was experiencing some progress towards those freedoms during this time period!
Religion has always been a controversial topic for many people throughout history. I cannot imagine not being able to believe in whatever religion I want. Forcing people to believe in things they do not want can only cause frustration among a nation, which is never pleasant.
I am honestly confused as to what they believed in after reading in. They reject formal religion of any kind, yet they don’t want people worshipping anything such as liberty or science or truth as “replacement gods.” Doesn’t the idea of reason go hand in hand with those? I think that France was fighting for freedom from their monarchy, but reading this, they may have taken it too far by trying to instill and bar people’s rights.
Freedom of religion is a freedom we are fortunate to have and so often is taken for granted. We are certainly lucky to live in a country where we are free to exercise our faith and religious beliefs.
Practicing your religion on a day to day basis is privilege that most people take advantage of in todays world. In history many counties have forced individuals to partake in a certain religion even if no interest is in that religion.
This is very interesting. I’ve never heard of a government adopting a religion such as the one rooted in reason. It’s almost as if this religion of reason is the opposite of traditional religions like Catholicism. I believe religion often can hold a country back since its rooted in beliefs so outdated and ancient. I like the thought of a country rooted in reason where science and thought are free to move foreward without religious hinders nice. Even though in America we have freedom of religion it would be naive to say religion is not a factor in much of what politics approves and disapproves of.
This is an interesting article, I am surprised I had not heard of it before. As other comments have pointed out, we take for granted being free to practice our own religions. Throughout history religion has been one of the main factors causing discrimination and wars across the world.
I had never heard of this movement until now. I wonder what the motivation was to dismember religion in France? I also am curious to if there ever was a second revolution of reason and if so where and how did it occur?
Even in the 18th century, the French monarchy was still trying to institute a national religion. Religious persecution seemed to be dominant during this time period. Even when Napoleon rose to power, he instituted the Catholic Church as the national religion, indicating that religious freedom was not a freedom in France.
The Cult of Reason rejected all traditional religion. It was celebrated on November 10, 1793 by the Festival of Reason. Under the Cult of Reason you were not allowed to worship science, liberty, truth and reason as replacement gods. The Cult of Reason was replaced by The Cult of The Supreme Being in 1794. Why there needed to be a Cult at all I am unsure.
The freedom to believe in the religion we choose is a part of who we are. If we were not allowed to celebrate a certain part of our identities then we would not be living life.
Religion is a big part of a lot of peoples life. So I wonder how this effected the people in France.
After getting to experience freedom of religion for a time, I wonder how it then felt to be forced back into the Church and have that freedom revoked. It’s one thing not knowing any other way but once you’ve experienced that freedom, to have it taken away is brutal.
Freedom of religion is very important and I am glad Napoleon reinstated the Catholic Church in France. I am sure the changes with religion did not make the French people too happy. We should be more thankful for our freedom of religion here in America.
Different factions of religion during revolutionary times is not surprising. People are always looking for answers or a way to turn against their government when it comes to a revolution, and what easier way to do that then with religion.
Reason as a sort of religion is a concept many follow, but I never knew it was ever a national religion. It really doesn’t make sense to have a national religion. A whole nation will never completely agree to the same beliefs and values. It is not realistic.
I was never aware of that “reason” had been an enforced religion upon people. I’m glad to see that this did not last long. While the government can enforce many things, I do not believe religion should be one of them. It just doesn’t make sense when you have a nation of people with a vast variety of beliefs.
The people should have had the choice to stay with the traditional religion or go this new route about reason. This idea of forcing the people to follow this nationwide religion is wrong. All people think differently and believe differently.
Its definitely empowering when a country can renounce the set religion. I believe everyone should be allowed to believe in what they want! Even if they are atheist.
Freedom of religion is a valuable right of ours and I’m glad we have it. I’ll respect anybody’s opinion to believe in whatever they want as long as I can relive in what I want.
I think that a major part about life is the fact that you can choose to believe and not believe in what you choose. Religion should’t be forced on someone.
Religion is someones choices not something you have to do, and it should be a major point in your life, you believe in what you believe.
Freedom of religion is something Americans are lucky to have. Nobody should be forced to believe something or judged for believing differently than others.
After attending church nowadays with people who are strong believers that worship God i wonder what it was like in the churches were God was forced upon the people and going to church was required.So thankful for our religious freedom.
People take our 1st amendment as a luxury!
A philosophy known as the Cult of Reason was known as the national religion.
Makes me appreciate the first amendment even more.
It was a big jump to go from Catholicism to simply believing in reason. I can’t imagine jumping around to different religions like that.
Back then I don’t think I would like not being able to choose what religion I follow.
Our freedom of religion is something people take for granted..
Jumping from religion to religion seems like a pain in the butt.
It’s interesting that they go from religion, to dismantling it, and then creating churches and cathedrals into “temples of reason”.
I guess being sine they got rid of christianity they would have to replace it with something else .
It’s so similar to the story in the Bible where Moses when up the mountain to get the Ten Commandments and returned to see the Israelite people worshiping a golden calf. Based off of the last article where they got rid of Christianity/Catholicism, they knew they had to replace it with something, so they chose science and reason.
I do not follow religion but for everyone that does I support your ability to follow your religion and do what you want. It is however annoying when people show up at my house and try to convert me.
The cult literally wanted people to only focus on their “religion” and completely forget the norms and values that make up our lives with the influence of science, liberty and truth.