Laïcité Part 1: It's a French Thing

Laïcité is a distinctly French concept of secularism. It ensures the free expression of religion by banishing religion and its symbols from the public sphere.  

This podcast is part of "Paris: A City of Ideas," a series created and narrated by Roger Mummert (rogermum@aol.com).
For more information: www.theparisproject.net 

This podcast was created by Roger Mummert for www.theparisproject.net.

Transcript

City of Ideas

A Podcast Series from TheParisProject.Net

laïcité

Secularism, in which the right to practice religion is guaranteed by the absence of religion and its symbols from the public sphere.

In the presidential elections of 2022, head scarves made a big flap. The French are obsessed with fashion, of course, and people travel the world to buy a scarf at Hermès on Avenue George V). But this was more of a dress code issue. In current politics, we say “words matter.” In France, “fashion accessories matter” because they are political. 

Welcome to “laïcité,” a distinctly French version of secularism. It guarantees the right to worship as one chooses, while at the same time it banishes religion and its symbols from the public sphere. Laïcité has been a core principle of the French state since the Revolution in 1789. As they say: It’s in the French DNA.

And true to the French character, laïcité is the subject of spirited debate. To supporters, laïcité fulfills the universal goals of the Revolution for a secular, egalitarian society free of the influence of a state religion. To clergy, it is state atheism. To religious minorities, it is a nanny-state intrusion on personal freedom and religious choice. Social engineering at its worst.

And outside the French world, it is basically a je ne sais quoi. 

Laïcité…it’s a French thing.

Laïcité varies markedly from the American notion of “separation of church and state.” In the United States, a separation exists in principle yet every school child pledges allegiance to “one nation…under God.” I recently saw that slogan on a bumper sticker with a cross. And in America, public officials are sworn in with a hand on a Bible. Politicians regularly make religious references to signify deep personal commitment. President Biden’s powerful address to the nation over mass shootings was steeped in religious terms meant to provide comfort to victims and to a horrified public. And our more conservative Supreme Court hands down rulings that allow religion to creep back into our schools, 60 years after school prayer was outlawed in public schools. 

These sorts of things are unthinkable in France There, politicians hold high the universal humanist values of the secular republic. Witness President Macron’s emotional speech over a still smoldering Notre Dame in 2019. “We will rebuild…in this national project that unites us…it is out our deep destiny…” You wouldn’t even know Notre Dame was a place of worship. 

Our Declaration of Independence defines man’s “unalienable rights” as being “endowed by their Creator.” In France, God gets no mention in the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.” In this foundational French document for a secular democratic state, sovereignty derives from the people and not from a deity or a monarch proxy.

In fact, America’s relationship with secularism has been complicated from the start. In Benjamin Franklin’s edit of the Declaration of Independence, he advised Jefferson to cite reason over religion. “We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable,” Jefferson wrote. Franklin prevailed with: “We hold these truth to be self-evident.…” Alas, this is followed by “endowed by their creator….” 

In today’s crazy quilt of alternative truths, the pro-gun faction cites “God-given liberties” that they apparently imagine to include attack rifles and extended-round clips. Hardly what the founders had in mind when they linked the right to keep and bear arms to the necessity of a well-regulated militia. But some appear ready to toss out the entire notion of a social contract in favor of “natural law,” however arbitrarily they define it. It’s interesting to note, these ideas were hot topics among philosophers in 18th century Paris and London.