Are there several secularities? While those opposed to the government regularly denounce a sort of double standard regarding the treatment of religions in France, some French people directly concerned make the same observation. According to an Ifop poll published Friday, 78% of French Muslims believe that “secularism as it is applied today by public authorities is discriminatory against Muslims”. In detail, 44% of this portion of respondents judge that the way in which secularism is applied is “very discriminatory” and 34% “fairly discriminatory”.
According to this study, 65% of French Muslims want religious head coverings to be able to be worn by students in middle and high schools in the future (73% for loose clothing such as abayas and qamis). They are also 75% saying they are in favor of the creation of new public holidays for minority religions, and the authorization of religious head coverings for athletes at the Olympic Games.
Three-quarters of those questioned also said they were in favor of “public funding of places of worship and religious people of the main religions (e.g. priests, priests, rabbis, imams, etc.) as is the case in Alsace-Moselle for certain religions” . Less than half (47%) are in favor of authorizing the wearing of clothing that completely conceals the face such as the burqa in public spaces.
Blurred vision in young people
This discriminatory feeling is not reserved for Muslims. Another study by the Kantar Institute, published on November 30, shows that 60% of young people aged 18 to 30 agree with the fact that “the defense of secularism is exploited by political figures and journalists who actually want to denigrate Muslims.”
“The definition of what secularism is above all is not consensual” among young people, underlines the institute, since 29% believe that it is a question of putting all religions on an equal footing, 27 % to ensure freedom of conscience and 22% to separate religions from the political sphere and the State.
If 68% of young people believe that “the practice of secularism should evolve in France”, opinions are divided between moving towards more firmness towards the expressions of religious identities (42%) and more tolerance (35%). Furthermore, 43% of young French people say they are in favor of wearing conspicuous religious symbols in public high schools (31% are opposed).
The Kantar Public survey for LACES (University of Bordeaux) and the GSLR, a research laboratory of the CNRS and the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Études, with the support of the Institut universitaire de France, was carried out from 14 to June 16, 2023 with a sample of 1,000 young people aged 18 to 30, representative of the population of 18-30 year olds in France.
The Ifop study for Elmaniya.tv, a secular Franco-Arab channel, was carried out from November 21 to 29 by self-administered online questionnaire with a sample of 1,002 people, representative of the Muslim population living in mainland France. aged 15 and over.