Secularism in France
Laïcité is the constitutional principle of secularism in France. Article 1 of the French Constitution is commonly interpreted as the separation of civil society and religious society. It discourages religious involvement in government affairs, especially in the determination of state policies as well as the recognition of a state religion. It also forbids government involvement in religious affairs, and especially prohibits government influence in the determination of religion, such that it includes a right to the free exercise of religion.
French secularism has a long history: Enlightenment thinkers emphasized reason and self direction. Revolutionaries in 1789 violently overthrew the Ancien Régime, which included the Catholic Church. Secularism was an important ideology during the Second Empire and Third Republic. For the last century, the French government policy has been based on the 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State, which is however not applicable in Alsace and Moselle. While the term laïcité has been used from the end of the 19th century to denote the freedom of public institutions from the influence of the Catholic Church, the concept today covers other religious movements as well.
Concept
Laïcité relies on the division between private life, where adherents believe religion belongs, and the public sphere, in which each individual should appear as a simple citizen who is equal to all other citizens, not putting the emphasis on any ethnic, religious, or other particularities. According to this concept, the government must refrain from taking positions on religious doctrine and consider religious subjects only for their practical consequences on inhabitants' lives.It is best described as a belief that government and political issues should be kept separate from religious organizations and religious issues. This is meant to both protect the government from any possible interference from religious organizations and to protect the religious organization from political quarrels and controversies.
Proponents argue that laïcité itself does not necessarily imply any hostility of the government with respect to any religion, asserting that French state secularism is actually based upon respect for freedom of thought and freedom of religion. Therefore, the absence of a state religion—and the subsequent separation of the state and church—is considered by proponents to be a prerequisite for such freedoms.
History
The French word comes from Latin, which is a loanword from the Greek , itself from . The French suffix is equivalent to the English.Secularism is a concept rooted in the French Revolution, beginning to develop since the French Third Republic after the Republicans gained control of the state.
While the term was originally the French equivalent of the term laity, this meaning changed after the Revolution, and came to denote the keeping of religion separate from the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of government. This includes prohibitions on having a state religion and on the government endorsing any religious position, be it a religion or atheism.
From the end of the 19th century, the word laïcité has been used in the context of a secularization process—among countries where the Catholic Church had retained its influence—to mean the freedom of public institutions from the influence of the Church. Today, the concept covers other religious movements as well. Secularism took form for the first time during the French Revolution: the abolition of the Ancien Régime in August 1789 was accompanied by the end of religious privileges and the affirmation of universal principles, including the freedom of opinion and equal rights expressed by the 1789 Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen. The texts of the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen were incorporated into the preamble to the Constitution of October 4, 1958. Among them is article 10 of the declaration "No one should be worried about his opinions, even religious, provided that their manifestation does not disturb the public order established by law."
Public education has been secular since the laws of March 28, 1882, and October 30, 1886, which established "moral and civic instruction" in place of teaching religious morals and secularism of personnel and programs, respectively.
In the 19th century, secularization laws gradually separated the state from historical ties with the Catholic Church and created new sociopolitical values constructed on the principles of republican universalism. This process, which took place in a larger movement linked to modernity, entrusted the French people with redefining the political and social foundations: the executive, legislative and judicial powers; the organization of the state, its components, its representations; the education system, the rites of civil life, and the development of law and morality; regardless of religious beliefs. The Third Republic notably recreated the organization of the school system, by establishing public, secular, and compulsory education. The Jules Ferry laws are supplemented by the Goblet law on the organization of primary education, article 17 of which provides that education in public schools is exclusively entrusted to secular staff. This process culminated in 1905 with the Law of Separation of Churches and State, which solidified secularization.
1905 law and the Constitution of 1946–1958
Although the term was current throughout the 19th century, France did not fully separate church and state until the passage of its 1905 law on the separation of the Churches and the State, prohibiting the state from recognizing or funding any religion.However, the 1905 law did not use the word laïcité itself, and so the notion of laïcité as a legal principle is open to question, as it was never defined as such by the text of a law. It was not until the Constitution of 1946 from the French Fourth Republic that the word appeared explicitly as a constitutional principle entailing legal effect, but without being further specified. If built before 1905 religious buildings in France became the property of the city councils. Those now have the duty to maintain the buildings but cannot subsidize the religious organizations using them. In areas that were part of Germany at that time, and which did not return to France until 1918, some arrangements for the cooperation of church and state are still in effect today.
Constitution of 1958–present
Secularism is a core concept in the French Constitution: Article 1 formally states that:Current status and debate
The principle of laïcité in France is implemented through a number of policies, primarily based on the 1905 law. The French government is legally prohibited from recognizing any religion. Instead, it recognizes religious organizations, according to formal legal criteria that do not address religious doctrine:- whether the sole purpose of the organization is to organize religious activities
- whether the organization disrupts public order.
Many find that being discreet with one's religion is a necessary part of being French, which has led to frequent divisions with some non-Christian immigrants, especially with part of France's large Muslim population. As such, the debate has taken place over whether any religious apparel or displays by individuals should be banned from public schools. Such a ban in France came into effect in 2004. In the spring of 2011, the official non-discrimination agency, la HALDE, reinforced laïcité in hospitals—as advocated by the Minister of the Interior, Claude Guéant—and in public service generally.
The strict separation of church and state which began with the 1905 law has evolved into what some religious leaders see as a "form of political correctness that made bringing religion into public affairs a major taboo." Former President Nicolas Sarkozy initially criticized this approach as a "negative laïcité" and wanted to develop a "positive laïcité" that recognizes the contribution of faith to French culture, history, and society, allows for faith in the public discourse, and enables government subsidies for faith-based groups. Sarkozy saw France's main religions as positive contributions to French society. He visited the pope in December 2007 and publicly acknowledged France's Christian roots, while highlighting the importance of freedom of thought, arguing that faith should come back into the public sphere. On 12 September 2008, in line with Sarkozy's views on the need for reform of laïcité, Pope Benedict XVI said that it was time to revisit the debate over the relationship between church and state, advocating a "healthy" form of laïcité. Meeting with Sarkozy, he stated:
In 2009, Sarkozy changed footing on the place of religion in French society, as he publicly declared the burqa as "not welcome" in France, and favoring legislation to outlaw it. In February 2010, two people in burqas managed to pass the security doors of a post office in their full veils, after which the two removed their head coverings, pulled out a gun, and held up the post office. Following March 2011, local elections strong disagreement appeared within the governing UMP over the appropriateness of holding a debate on laïcité as desired by the French President. On 30 March 2011, a letter appeared in La Croix signed by representatives of 6 religious bodies opposing the appropriateness of such a debate.
A law was passed on 2011 April 11 with strong support from political parties, as well as from Sarkozy, which made it illegal to hide the face in public spaces, affecting a few thousand women in France wearing the niqab and the burqa.
Scholar Olivier Roy has argued that the burkini bans and secularist policies of France provoked religious violence in France, to which Gilles Kepel responded that Britain, which has no such policies, still suffered a greater number of attacks in 2017 than France.
Lebanese-born French author Amin Maalouf has criticized the characterization of France's political structure as truly secular, remarking: "I have never understand how a country that called herself secular could call some of her citizens 'French Muslims', and deprive them of some of their rights merely because they belonged to a religion other than her own."