Amnesty International has urged French lawmakers to reject a proposed bill that would ban headscarves in sporting competitions.
The bill, supported by right-wing senators, is set for debate in the French parliament’s upper house this week. It aims to prohibit all “ostensibly religious” clothing and symbols during competitive events.
Amnesty International has condemned the proposed legislation as discriminatory, arguing that it infringes upon religious freedom. The vote is expected to reignite the ongoing debate surrounding secularism in France, a principle enshrined in the 1905 law separating church and state.
From what I’ve read on the topic, this take seems misguided at best or outright wrong at worst. Historically, secularism in France has been a primarily liberal/socialist/anti-monarchist pursuit.
French secularism has its origin in the French revolution, half a century before Algeria came under French control. Religious institutions were viewed as a part of the aristocratic establishment and the concept of laïcité was introduced under the revolutionary era and entrenched (along with concepts such as freedoms of thought, expression & conscience) during the Napoleonic era. Further progress in this direction was not made by imperialists, but rather revolutionaries after bloody conflict (the French commune for instance) and generally steps were taken to repeal them when conservative/monarchist governments dominated.
The French capital wanted to get rid of the church, thus secularism became the state form.
France has however never adhered to its fake standard of equality. That is a hypocritic ploy which was used in favor of white people only.
There are so many examples of France selectively applying their rules to discriminate against groups they are oppressing that the excuse of “equality” really does not fly. And of course the standard for “equality” is whatever the French government decided. French.