It is this pupil who refuses to sing "La Marseillaise" on the grounds that his religion, evangelical, prohibits war words. Or a father who would like, for the same conviction, that his child is not confronted with representations of nudity, in plastic arts or sport. A little more frequently, in the SVT rooms, college students are doubtful, even downright refractory, when the chapters on the formation of the universe or the evolution of species are discussed.
The phenomenon is very minority, but it is now clearly identified by the observatory of secularism, the body responsible for Matignon to enforce the principle in society: the rapid and significant development of evangelical churches in France is accompanied by tensions in certain schools or colleges, when families refuse teaching on the grounds that they do not fit well with their literal reading of the Bible.
A church created every ten days
"An evangelical church is created every ten days, on average, it is a very proselytizing religion, with a great diversity of currents and which is firmly established in working-class districts", remarks Nicolas Cadène, the secretary general of the 'Observatory of secularism. From this boom may arise conflicts between the educational institution and families.
While creationist movements are widely asserting themselves in the United States and Brazil, these new places that are sprouting up like mushrooms, particularly in Ile-de-France, are calling out. "It seems reasonable to me not to ignore their growth," said Oise senator Laurence Rossignol, who had sounded the alarm in October, when debates on secularism centered on the 'Islam.
Edouard Nelson, pastor and vice-president of the National Council of Evangelicals of France (Cnef), the structure that brings together the vast majority of the currents present in France, does not deny the existence of "drifts, in churches that are created outside of any setting or network ”. In the past ten years, "383 different churches have been reported and the pace of new structures reported is accelerating," explains Anne Josso, secretary general of Miviludes, the body responsible for combating sectarian aberrations.
Difficult to establish a dialogue
Without belonging to these dangerous movements, very practicing parents make the choice to educate their child at home, or in small associative schools without contract, where the school programs do not apply. "I receive one or two calls each month from people who would like to register their child with me," says Mary-Colleen of Katow, who works at the opening of an evangelical primary in Fresnes (Val-de-Marne). Nationally, there are currently around 40 such schools.
In the audience, it is often during SVT that tensions can be observed. "These are very few cases, but they pose problems because it is very difficult to enter into a dialogue with some of these families," says Jérôme Damblant, regional educational inspector and secular referent in the Picardy academy. at the national level, and all religious convictions combined, the principle of separation between the religious and public sphere is however very widely anchored among teachers as well as young people.
Newsletter - The essentials of the news
Every morning, the news seen by Le ParisienI'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to allow you to receive our news and commercial offers. Find out more
According to a study of 16,000 middle school and high school students, unveiled on Tuesday by the new National Council for the Study of School Systems (Cnesco), "four out of five students adhere to the religious neutrality of the State, recalls the sociologist responsible for Cnesco , Nathalie Mons. We cannot say that there are no problems related to secularism, but their importance must be put into perspective. "She estimates" between 200 and 300 "the number of middle and high schools in France strongly concerned by this confrontation between the rules of the school and the religious convictions of the pupils, whatever they are.