France: Secularism and the Left
By
Jocelyn Bézecourt
(from Paris)
Several months after the law against religious
symbols at state schools has come into effect, the result can be considered as
extremely positive in France. The Muslim veil has disappeared from the class
rooms. Less than forty girls had to be excluded for refusing to remove
their veils - a small number, compared with the 1500 problem
cases last year. Some girls left state schools, but the great exodus,
which had been announced by Muslim fundamentalists, did not happen. They
had threatened that Muslim schools would be mushrooming in
The surprising thing about this victory of secularism is that it
was a right-wing government that made it possible. Usually, the left-wing
parties are considered the better promoters of secularism. In fact, the
socialists, communists, ecologists etc. have been since many years
extremely reluctant to criticize Islam for fear of being accused of racism.
Interestingly, this argument denies Arabs the right not to be
Muslim! A very dangerous alliance is seen between some leftists and
Muslim fundamentalists.
However, that the "passion" of the government for secularism
cannot be considered sincere became evident on occasion of the
death of Pope John Paul II. In an astonishing proof of subordination,
the whole French government declared a state of national mourning, with furled
flags on state schools, ministerial buildings and city halls, and with
officials being sent to mass. Suddenly, the separation of church and state -
achieved in 1905 (one hundred years ago !) - was
nothing more than a fade memory. French citizens, on the other hand,
strongly disagreed with this general atmosphere of servility to the Catholic church created by the behavior of both, French officials and
state TV. In this situation, there was almost no reaction in favor of
secularism coming from the left-wing politicians. The top figures of the
socialist party argued that this was not the right time for a national
debate about such questions. Keeping silent was more appropriate in this time
of mourning according to them...
Recently, a third event confirmed the
above observations: the vote in the referendum on the European
constitution. The text of the constitution is very favorable to religious
organizations as it doesn't mention secularity as a major factor for progress
and equality. Moreover, it considers religious organizations as good partners
for the governments. Irrespective of European history, the constitution doesn't
hesitate to consider that the "European spiritual heritage" has
contributed to the achievement of progress and democracy in
During the debate about the referendum on the European
constitution, the socialist activists were divided in two camps, the pros and cons,
while the communists and other leftists were altogether against the
treaty. But again, one was waiting mostly in vane for secularist arguments to
come out of those mouths. Of course, the socialist party, officially
promoting a "yes" for the European constitution, didn't
consider this text to be a danger for secularism. But the communist
party, promoting a "no", failed to make the respect for
secularism a major argument of its campaign. The
small organizations, which are usually supporting the separation of
church and state, stood almost alone pointing out the danger of this
constitution with respect to secularism. Both Catholics and Muslim
organizations were in favor of the treaty.
The result of the referendum was very clear: 55 % of the
population rejected the treaty. It also showed that there is a serious gap
between the French people and the parliament, which would have approved
the European constitution with 80 or 90 %, if there had been voting in
parliament.
In these three crucial situations (ban on religious signs at
school, pope death and European constitution), the French citizens have
shown remarkable coherence and great attachment to the idea
of strict separation of state and religions. Most of the top politicians,
on the other hand, have proven their subordination to the