Twenty years ago, Parliament voted by an overwhelming majority for a law prohibiting the wearing of “conspicuous” religious symbols in public schools, colleges and high schools.
Two weeks ago, a professor at a Parisian college was threatened with death for having asked a student to remove her veil, in application of this law of March 15, 2004. It would be wrong to conclude from this that the law has not served no purpose, but it would be naive to believe that it is enough to stem a current of questioning of secularism which reaches schools and, beyond that, hits society as a whole.
“The school must be an inviolable sanctuary
,” repeated Gabriel Attal, returning on Monday to the Arras college where Dominique Bernard was murdered.
The fact that it must be remembered is enough to prove that the objective is far from being achieved.
In view of the statistics of what are too modestly called “attacks on secularism” and which range from the refusal of certain historical or scientific teachings to physical threats against…
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