THE LIMITS OF RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE IN FRANCE: THE CASE OF SOKA GAKKA

Abstract

Recognized since 1983 as a consultant NGO to the
United Nations, Soka Gakkai International (SGI), a lay Buddhist
organization, aims at bringing about world peace through
educational, cultural and spiritual activities. As such, it can be
considered a form of engaged Buddhism, which can be defined
as “the application of the Dharma, or Buddhist teachings, to the
resolution of social problems”. However, SGI originally adopted
a missionary approach that led to accusations of intolerance.
Its religious foundation, rooted in the teachings of Nichiren (a
Japanese monk of the 13th century), first led the burgeoning
Japanese organization to be actively evangelistic in its method and
exclusivist in its theological point of view. This religious organization
thus underwent several adaptations to Western society, notably the
development of a humanistic and pacifist ethos, in order to become
the SGI we now know. But despite the tolerant and progressive
values it promotes, Soka Gakkai France (SGF), SGI’s French offshoot,
is, paradoxically, the victim of religious intolerance in a country
famous for its separation of Church and State. Contrary to other
European countries where SGI has established itself, various French
authorities have considered SGI a “cult.” Therefore, the objectives
of this paper are twofold: (1) the first is to clarify how the evolution
of SGI’s official discourse, from a certain religious exclusivism to
universal tolerance, may be also a consequence of its acculturation
to Western society, and to show to what extent this tolerance is
practically implemented in France; (2) the second will be to offer
an account of the difficult but perhaps changing relations between
SGF and the French society—be it with its political representatives,
the media, or other French Buddhist organizations.