The Cult Of Reason

I don't find any actual contradictions... then again, both the English and French wikipedia pages provide little to no information on their creed, doctrine, and practice, only on their historical circumstances. Let's see what some journals had to say

"France stands apart in the worlds history as the single state which by the decree of her legislative assembly, pronounced there was no God." Blackwoods Magazine Nov. 1870

"On November 26 1793, the convention, of which 17 Bishops and some Clergy were members, decreed the abolition of all religion." The Age of Revolution, W.T.Hutton, Page 156

"In 1793, the decree passed the French Assembly suppressing the Bible. Just three years after, a resolution was introduced into the Assembly going to supersede the decree, and giving toleration to the scriptures. That resolution lay on the table for six months, when it was taken up and passed without a dissenting vote .... On 17th June 1797." George Stoffs, Midnight Cry, Vol 4, Nos.5-6, 47

So, it seems like the French had done something, that, at the time, was truly horrifying to everyone else, ans sent ripples throughout the world. They broke a taboo, they thought the inthinkable and did the impossible. Most of the Google returns for "Culte De La Raison" turn out to be religious pages complaining about it in a horrified tone, when they aren't expressing it in apocalyptic terms (The End Is Nigh!) . Of course, we'd have to wait for over a century before the Bolshevic revolution made "outlawing religion" commonplace.

In a word, in Raising The Sanity Waterline terms, they seem to have wanted to do away with the dead canary but they did little about the gas, confusing the symptoms for the disease. Notic though that this civil cult wasn't merely an artificial creation: Patritotic Fervor was really at an all-time high in France back then, the martyrs of the revolution were adored by the crowds, and a religious sense of nationalism, of a secular sacrality, was everywhere.

For those among you who have watched Legend Of The Galactic Heroes, remember the Republic? Well it's pretty much the same deal.

Nope, Robespierre was of the Cult of the Supreme Being, which under him replaced the Cult of Reason, and he strongly rejected their atheism

In the spring of 1794, the Cult of Reason was faced with official repudiation when Robespierre, nearing complete dictatorial power, announced his own establishment of a new, deistic religion for the Republic, the Cult of the Supreme Being.[11] Robespierre denounced the Hébertistes on various philosophical and political grounds, specifically rejecting their atheism. When Hébert, Momoro, Ronsin, Vincent and others were sent to the guillotine on 4 Germinal, Year II (March 24 1794), the cult lost its most influential leadership; when Chaumette and other Hébertistes followed them four days later, the cult effectively ceased to exist. It was officially banned by Napoleon Bonaparte with his Law on Cults of 18 Germinal, Year X.[12]

That, and the Reign of Terror is really overhyped, in many people's minds being like the only period in the Revolution: it lasted only a year and a month. There was lots of stuff before (especially if you start counting from 1789 rather than 93), and lots of stuff after until Napoleon took the helm in 1799, officially ending the First Republic when he became Emperor in 1804. Saying French Revolution = Reign Of Terror is a bit like saying Soviet Russia = Stalinism or USA = Prohibition+ Roaring Twenties + Great Depression. In the anglo-saxon world the French revolution is treated as an awful monstruosity to be avoided at all costs, while the French themselves still see it in a very positive light. (I'd quote [Utena] here as a parable of a nation-scale Coming Of Age Story, but that would be a bit too much.)

This is a bit of a derail, but it'd be hard for a topic about Le Culte de la Raison not to be about the French Revolution too...