Posted on by Mark Movsesian

À Nous la Liberté

Riots broke out in a Paris suburb this weekend after police ticketed a woman wearing the full Islamic veil, or burqa, on a local street. Since 2011, France has banned the burqa in public places on pain of a €150 fine. The details of this weekend’s incident are unclear, but police apparently asked the woman to remove her veil as part of an identity check. An altercation ensued, and the woman’s husband allegedly assaulted the officers. The officers then arrested the husband, and in response at least 250 people besieged the local police station, throwing fireworks and setting refuse bins and vehicles on fire. According to France 24, four police officers have been injured. The violence has continued for three nights.

The burqa ban has been controversial from the beginning. Supporters argue that it’s a necessary safety measure: terrorists could use the burqa as a disguise. But, observing the debate from this side of the Atlantic, safety issues don’t seem central. Most of the emotion in the debate relates to the burqa’s symbolic impact. The French Right supports the ban because the burqa suggests the presence of an alien culture that refuses to be French. The Left is divided. Some on the Left support the ban because the burqa suggests the subjugation of women; others argue that the burqa controversy is a sideshow to distract from France’s real social problems. And of course many French Muslims–though not all–see the ban as evidence of racism and  Islamophobia. Not to mention a violation of religious freedom.

Behind the controversy is a debate about the meaning of laïcité, that peculiarly French contribution to law and religion. Often translated loosely as “secularism,” laïcité is one of the foundations of French republicanism. But its meaning is, and always has been, contested. On one view, laïcité means only that the state should have no official ties to religion and that citizens should be free to follow whatever religion they wish. On this understanding, the ban is problematic. What legitimate reason does a liberal state have for banning religious dress in public? (A liberal state, note — not a state with a religious foundation or a “thick” conception of the public good). Public safety, surely: but the French government doesn’t ban knapsacks or raincoats, which pose greater risks. What about the fact that some women are forced to wear the burqa by family members? That’s a legitimate state concern, too. But there must be ways to address that concern that don’t involve forbidding public religious expression by women who do wish to wear the veil.

Perhaps laïcité means something different, though, something more aggressive. Perhaps laïcité requires a naked public square, in order to rid society of the influence of religions that stand in the way of progress. This view has a long lineage in France as well. Rousseau, recall, taught that society must force people to be free. On this view of laïcité, the burqa ban makes more sense. The burqa is forbidden even if women wear it voluntarily–indeed, especially if women wear it voluntarily. How else is equality to be achieved?

A few hundred women have been cited for wearing the burqa since the ban went into effect. Almost none of the citations, apparently, have led to incidents like this weekend’s. This weekend’s riots suggest, though, that the burqa ban remains deeply unpopular in some French neighborhoods, and that the controversy is far from over.

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The Top Five New Law & Religion Papers on SSRN

From SSRN’s list of most frequently downloaded law and religion papers posted in the last 60 days, here are the current top five.  Since last week, Alvare has remained at #1, Perry has remained at #2, Newman has remained at #3, Berg’s “Secular Purpose” article has been replaced by his “Progressive Arguments” article at #4, and Perry has a second piece joining the list at #5.

1. No Compelling Interest: The ‘Birth Control’ Mandate and Religious Freedom by Helen M. Alvare (George Mason U., School of Law) [204 downloads]

2. The Morality of Human Rights by Michael J. Perry (Emory U., School of Law) [172 downloads]

3. On the Trinity Western University Controversy: An Argument for a Christian Law School in Canada by Dwight G. Newman (U. of Saskatchewan, College of Law) [141 downloads]

4. Progressive Arguments for Religious Organizational Freedom: Reflections on the HHS Mandate by Thomas C. Berg (U. of St. Thomas, St. Paul, School of Law) [81 downloads]

5. Freedom of Conscience as Religious and
Moral Freedom by Michael J. Perry (Emory U., School of Law) [69 downloads]

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Smyth, et al., eds., “Religious Education in a Multicultural Europe”

UntitledIn August, Palgrave Macmillan will publish Religious Education in a Multicultural Europe: Children, Parents and Schools, edited by Emer Smyth (ESRI), Maureen Lyons (U. College Dublin), and Merike Darmody (ESRI). The publisher’s description follows.

Religion and schooling has become a controversial issue across Europe. But we know little about how these tensions are experienced by children and their families. This groundbreaking book draws on an innovative, comparative study to examine how religious and/or secular beliefs are formed at school and in the family in five countries with very different educational systems (Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Malta, and Scotland). New information on how schools and families influence the development of children’s religious identities is presented by placing the experiences of primary school children at the centre of the research, yielding fresh insights into their perspectives on religion and schooling. The book adopts a multidisciplinary perspective, thus providing a more holistic perspective on the processes at play. Importantly, it offers insights into key policy issues concerning the place of religion in the school system, illuminating current debates around religion and multiculturalism across Europe.

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Gilliat-Ray, et al., “Understanding Muslim Chaplaincy”

In September, Ashgate Publishing will publish Understanding Muslim Chaplaincy by Sophie Gilliat-Ray (Cardiff U.), Mansur Ali (Cardiff U.), and Stephen Pattison (Birmingham U.). The publisher’s description follows.

Understanding Muslim Chaplaincy provides a lens through which to explore critical questions relating to contemporary religion in public life, and the institutionalisation of Islam in particular.  Providing a rich description of the personnel, practice, and politics of contemporary Muslim chaplaincy, the authors consider the extent to which Muslim chaplaincy might be distinctive in Britain relative to the work of Muslim chaplains in the USA and other countries. This book will make a major contribution to international debate about the place of religion in public life and institutions.

This book derives from research that has depended on exclusive access to a wide range of public institutions and personnel who largely work ‘behind closed doors’. By making public the work of these chaplains and critically examining the impact of their work within and beyond their institutions, this book offers a groundbreaking study in the field of contemporary religion that will stimulate discussion for many years to come about Islam and Muslims in Western societies.