Secularism With a Slightly Militant Edge

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/24/world/europe/secularism-with-a-slightly-militant-edge.html

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PARIS — It doesn’t take much these days to stir up a debate in France over “laïcité,” or secularism — a word that seems to be joining “liberté,” “égalité” and “fraternité” as a guiding principle of the French republic.

Last week, the debate flared up again, this time over a ban in one local school system against offering an alternative to pork for Muslims and Jews who do not eat the meat. In a message on March 16 to the parents of 3,800 schoolchildren, Gilles Platret, the center-right mayor of Chalon-sur-Saône, a town in Burgundy, banned pork-free substitutes as antisecular and anti-French.

“To propose a substitute menu when pork is served is to create discrimination among pupils, which is unacceptable in the framework of a secular Republic,” Mr. Platret wrote. “The cafeterias of Chalon must once again become places of neutrality.”

Neutrality or enforced uniformity? France’s interpretation of secularism has always had a slightly militant edge, going beyond the standard formulas of separation of church and state, and freedom of religion. In the wake of the terrorist attacks in January, the debate has become shriller and, some argue, more absurd, as France’s political class argues over what schoolchildren should have for lunch.

“It is ridiculous,” said Paul Raoult, president of the Fédération des Conseils de Parents d’Élèves, a body that represents the parents of students. “It is of no interest for the children, their future or their education. It is a false question.”

That hasn’t stopped politicians of all stripes from jumping on the issue. The former president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, said he opposed offering alternatives to pork in schools. “If you want your children to observe dietary habits based on religion, then you should choose private religious education,” he said on a national TV show.

His comment caused a split within his own center-right party; even his former adviser Henri Guaino disagreed with the “unique menu” approach.

“We are living in a climate of terrifying hysteria,” said Mr. Guaino in a radio interview.

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, the education minister in the Socialist government, denounced the Burgundy mayor’s stance, while François Bayrou, the leader of Democratic Movement, a centrist party, scoffed at the whole debate. “I don’t put secularism on the children’s plates,” he said, noting that if these dietary edicts were to be followed to the letter, then French schools would make all children, including Catholics, eat meat on Fridays, instead of offering them fish.

Mr. Raoult, the president of the parents’ federation, said the issue was just another oblique attack on Islam in France. “We can recognize this as one more attempt to stigmatize the Muslim population,” he said, adding that it wasn’t difficult to give different choices on school menus, particularly in self-serve cafeterias.

“All that is required is will and organization,” he said.

Some dietary restrictions are beyond the capacity of state schools, like the rules of kosher cooking followed by Orthodox Jews. “Kosher is just not possible, period,” Mr. Raoult said.

The pork question is not new. Last April, Marine Le Pen, president of the National Front, the far-right party whose popularity is on the rise, criticized what she claimed were widespread bans on pork in schools, a phenomenon that she said was putting secularism in danger.

As it turned out, her claim was wildly exaggerated. Alternative menus have been offered in most French schools for years, and no religious organization has made demands recently for special treatment.

A 2013 study on access to school cafeterias by the office of the Defender of Rights in France found that the most frequent dietary demands were for meat-free meals, or requests for advance notice of the week’s menus.

So why all the fuss?

“It is a political phenomenon that allows politicians to go fishing in the waters of the National Front,” Mr. Raoult said.