I have been in the Cooperation Network of my people for years. In their Housing Union we gather people from different backgrounds and there is a large Muslim community. This year, on the occasion of Ramadan, one night of the entire Mutual Assistance Network we celebrated Ramadan breakfast. This has generated a debate because celebrations that for some have a religious meaning should not have a place in a secular organization like ours.

Religion is certainly an interesting subject and manifests many contradictions. This year we celebrated the Ramadan breakfast to strengthen the bond with our Muslim colleagues, even because behind a tradition like this there are values that we find interesting: strengthening the community, strengthening the affinity… In this sense, I am clear that all religions have dominant and oppressive contents, but that, in turn, they retain within them values that can favor the liberation struggle. See the Theology of Liberation, the labor movement and the relationship between red priests, the importance of the Christianity of ENAM, the importance of some religions in the processes of decolonization... However, in these cases, care must be taken so that the exercise of solidarity and fraternity does not become an apology of a particular religion.

On the other hand, for those of us who consider ourselves laity, it is easy to point out with Islam elements of a religious nature, because culturally they are totally strange to us. But if we remove the ethnocentric colonial glasses we will realize that we are “native” Basques, secularism, culturally totally Christian. And we unconsciously reproduce Christian behavior. Without going too far, in Easter no union assembly has been held, all our festivities bear the name of the Christian saints…

Let us acknowledge that the Basques so far, in general, have Christian roots and today we are still culturally Christian and Catholic. The Aberri Eguna is celebrated at Easter, takes out the accounts. It is not a question of completely denying these roots and throwing them away: as with Islam and the other religions, beyond the conservative shell, in our Christian traditions there are values and customs with transformative potential.

It is undeniable that Euskaldunization is becoming increasingly multicultural and multi-million. And so on! Otherwise, vasquity will be depleted in a few decades. This means that religiosity will have a great weight in the process of reconstructing vascuity and that we should begin to reflect on this slippery topic.