The place of religion in Europe.

The place of religion in public schools has become a controversial issue in Europe.

Here’s a good example in today's news:

Britain's Court of Appeal ruled Wednesday that a teenage student's human rights were violated by her school's ban on a form of traditional Muslim dress, a long flowing gown covering all of her body except her hands and face.

Whereas France has a law banning "conspicuous religious symbols" like Muslim head scarves from state schools, Britain does not have such a rule. France and Britain have obvisouly taken different paths. That should be expected: Britain has an official religion (the Church of England) when France is a strictly secular state.

I find it very hard to explain to non-French people the reasons and the background for the French law. In any case, there is a lot of missunderstanding between France and the rest of the world on this issue. So it is important to remember a few points (found in a very good BBC article, The deep roots of French secularism by Henri Astier)

• The law of separation meant strict official neutrality in religious affairs.

• The insistence on schools as religion-free zones goes to the heart of the French idea of citizenship.

• The Republic has always recognised individuals, rather than groups: a French citizen owes allegiance to the nation, and has no officially sanctioned ethnic or religious identity.

• Although it can be carried to extremes - such as colonial subjects being taught that their ancestors were Gauls - this view of citizenship is fundamentally non-discriminatory and inclusive.

• School bans must be viewed in this context and are nothing new. (In 1937, the education minister of the day instructed head teachers to keep all religious signs out of their establishments. )This was not controversial - but then the state was confronted with a weak opponent in an overwhelmingly secular society.

Of coure, this raises questions in an increasingly integrated Europe claiming to share the same values. I personally disagree with the law while I understand where it comes from. I think France needs to redefine its secularism. But for now the French are not ready to concede any ground to their secularim as in France, secularism is at the core of the French identity and is in many ways the national religion.