Secularism in France

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 (as long as the latter do not have notable social consequences). 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 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 (, 'of the people'), itself from (, 'people'). 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 originally is French and = the term laity (i.e., everyone who is not clergy), 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 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 (especially primary schools) from the influence of the Church. 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. Former President Nicolas Sarkozy initially criticized this approach as a "negative " and wanted to develop a "positive " 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. 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 , Pope Benedict XVI said that it was time to revisit the debate over the relationship between church and state, advocating a "healthy" form of . 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 as desired by the French President. On 30 March 2011, a letter appeared in 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 (2016) 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." == Influence on other countries ==

Other countries have followed in the French model, having forms of secularism—examples include Albania, Mexico, and Turkey. Quebec (Canada) Public discourse in Quebec, the only predominantly French-speaking province in Canada, has been greatly influenced by the secularism of France since the 1960s. Prior to this time, Quebec was seen as a very observant Catholic society, where Catholicism was a de facto state religion. Quebec then underwent a period of rapid secularization called the Quiet Revolution. Quebec politicians have tended to adopt a more French-style understanding of secularism rather than the rest of Canada which is similar to the United Kingdom. This came to the fore during the debate on what constitutes the "reasonable accommodation" of religious minorities. In September 2013, the government of Quebec proposed Bill 60, the "Charter affirming the values of State secularism and religious neutrality and of equality between women and men, and providing a framework for accommodation requests." The bill would alter the provincial human rights law to prohibit public employees from wearing objects that overtly indicate a religious preference. The people who would be most impacted by such a law would be Muslim women wearing a hijab, Jewish men wearing a kippah, and Sikh men (or women) wearing a turban. Employees who do not comply with the law would be terminated from their employment. The party that had proposed the bill, the Parti Québécois, was defeated in the 2014 election by the Quebec Liberal Party (who gained a majority of seats), which opposed the bill. As a result, the bill is considered 'dead'. In 2019, Premier François Legault's CAQ government passed Bill 21, a secularism law banning public officials in positions of coercive power from wearing or displaying any religious symbols. However, the display of religious symbols affixed in public institutions like hospitals will be left for each administration thereof to decide. To counter charges of hypocrisy, the crucifix in the Quebec National Assembly was also removed. Mexico French influenced the Constitution of Mexico despite the Catholic Church maintaining strong influence. In March 2010, the Chamber of Deputies introduced legislation to amend the Constitution to make the Mexican government formally —meaning 'lay' or 'secular'. Critics of the move say the "context surrounding the amendment suggests that it might be a step backward for religious liberty and true separation of church and state". and is state-funded while other religions or sects have independence on religious affairs. Islamic views that are deemed political are censored in accordance with the principle of secularism. This system of Turkish permeates both the government and the religious sphere. The content of the weekly sermons in all state-funded mosques has to be approved by the state. Independent Sunni communities are also illegal. Minority religions, like Armenian or Greek Orthodoxy, are guaranteed by the constitution as individual faiths and are mostly tolerated, but this guarantee does not give any rights to any religious communities including Muslim ones. Turkey's view is that the Treaty of Lausanne gives certain religious rights to Jews, Greeks, and Armenians but not, for example, to Syrian-Orthodox or Roman Catholics, because the latter ones did not play any political roles during the treaty. == Contrast with the United States ==

In the United States, the First Amendment to the Constitution contains a similar federal concept, although the term laicity is not used either in the Constitution or elsewhere and is sometimes used as a term to contrast European secularism with American secularism. That amendment includes clauses prohibiting both congressional governmental interference with the free exercise of religion and congressional laws regarding the establishment of religion. Originally this prevented the federal government from interfering with state-established religions. However, after the 14th amendment, these clauses have been held by the courts to apply to both the federal and state governments. Together, the "free exercise clause" and "establishment clause" are considered to accomplish a "separation of church and state." Nonetheless, separation is not extended to bar religious conduct in public places or by public servants. Public servants, up to and including the President of the United States, often make proclamations of religious faith. Sessions of both houses of the United States Congress and most state legislatures typically open with a prayer by a minister of some faith or other, and many if not most politicians and senior public servants in Washington, DC, attend the annual Roman Catholic Red Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle regardless of their personal religious convictions. In contrast to France, the wearing of religious insignia in public schools is largely noncontroversial as a matter of law and culture in the US; the main cases where there have been controversies are when the practice in question is potentially dangerous (for instance, the wearing of the Sikh kirpan knife in public places) and even then the issue is usually settled in favor of allowing the practice. In addition, the US government regards religious institutions as tax-exempt non-profit organizations, subject to limitations on their political involvement. In contrast to Europe, however, the government cannot display religious symbols (such as the cross) in public schools, courts, and other government offices, although some exceptions are made (e.g. recognition of a cultural group's religious holiday). The United States Supreme Court has also banned any activity in public schools and other government-run areas that can be viewed as a government endorsement of religion. The French philosopher and Universal Declaration of Human Rights co-drafter Jacques Maritain, a devout Catholic convert and a critic of French , noted the distinction between the models found in France and in mid-20th century United States. He considered the US model of that time to be more amicable because it had both "sharp distinction and actual cooperation" between church and state (what he called "a historical treasure") and admonished the United States, "Please to God that you keep it carefully and do not let your concept of separation veer round to the European one." ==See also==