Secularism in French Public Schools: Back to War? The French Statute of March 15, 2004

Abstract

Through laicite, France exhibits a uniqueness which distinguishes it not only from countries that combine protection of religious pluralism and a state religion, but also from those which embrace separation of Church and State with an asserted sense of accommodation. The March 15, 2004 statute offers the latest illustration of this unique conceptualization of secularism in the context of a massive state-sponsored educational system. By prohibiting public school students from wearing conspicuous religious garb, it revives the era of confrontational secularism that had been largely derailed by the enactment of the law of 1905 coupled with the Conseil d'Etat's balanced interpretation. If examined from an Aristotelian standpoint, the new ban proves to allow indirect discrimination against students whose religions require conspicuous sartorial expression. In contradistinction, those who are not subjected to such a religious precept may comfortably avail themselves of the legality of discreet religious symbols. Thus, as religious pluralism is intensifying in France, the implications of this unique approach to secularism are compounded by a particularly universalistic construction of equality.