PARIS – France is, in theory, a non-discriminatory society, where the State maintains strict religious neutrality and people are free to believe, or not, in any God they wish. It is a nation, in its own image, that through education dissolves differences of faith and ethnicity in a shared commitment to the rights and responsibilities of French citizenship.
This model, known as laïcité, often translated inappropriately as secularism, is adopted by most French people. They or their ancestors became French that way. No politician here would say the words “In God we trust.” The Roman Catholic Church was removed more than a century from French public life. The secular model of the country supersedes any deity.
But in a country with a difficult relationship with Islam, secularism is also contested as the shield behind which France discriminates against its large Muslim population and avoids confronting its prejudices. As a result, the work of Nicolas Cadène, a slightly disheveled employee, with brown hair and several degrees in law, became a focus of controversy.
Cadène, 39, runs the Laïcité Observatory as its “general rapporteur”, a major title for a young man – and unimaginable outside France.
Attached to Prime Minister Jean Castex’s office, the institution started operating in 2013. Since then, Mr. Cadène and his small team have led efforts to educate hundreds of thousands of civil servants and young people, in the sense of secularism, French – style.
So, why the vitriol about your meticulous efforts? “We are living in a period of extreme tension in France, ” he said in an interview. “There is an economic, social, health, ecological and identity crisis, aggravated by the recent Islamic attacks. And in this context, you have a terrible fear of Islam that has developed. “
This, in turn, pressured Cadène to use his position to combat any expressions of Muslim identity. “We need to be very careful to never install a police of thought,” he said in his small office full of papers.
Born into a Protestant family in the southern city of Nîmes, Mr. Cadène was raised in an environment deeply linked to the 1905 law that established France’s secular model. Protestants suffered persistent persecution in a mainly Catholic society; a state that came out of religion was the answer. Mr. Cadène, who still lives in Nîmes with his wife and two children, is, however, a critic of the system he personifies. France, he says, has failed to achieve the social mix essential for secularism to work.
“As laïcité is a tool that allows us to live together, whatever our condition, it is also necessary that we be together, ”he said. “That we live in the same places. That we interact. And it happens very rarely. “Many schools, neighborhoods and workplaces were very homogeneous, he noted. “This insufficient social mix encourages fear because when you don’t know each other, you are more afraid.”
Among the disadvantaged “is the majority of French Muslims, even if the situation is evolving,” said Cadène. The result, he said, is religious and social discrimination: lower schools in ghetto neighborhoods on the outskirts of large cities mean that Muslim children are less likely.
It is this kind of openness that has angered some members of the government, especially Marlène Schiappa, the junior minister responsible for citizenship.
At the Ministry of the Interior, where she works, anger has increased with what is seen as Cadène’s “appeasement secularity”, which is more concerned with “fighting the stigmatization of Muslims” than defending the Republic against “Islamists.” militants, ”reported the weekly Le Point magazine.
“There is a discussion about the Observatory’s future,” Said Mr. Cadène. He smiled wryly. “Some members of the government want to keep it, some want to suppress it and some want to transform it.”
The transformation would likely mean absorption into the Interior Ministry, headed by Gérald Darmanin, a hardliner who declared war on the Islamic “internal enemy”. The decision is likely to be taken in April, when Cadène’s renewable term expires.
“It would be very dangerous to turn secularism into a political tool,” he said. “It is not an ideology. Absolutely not anti-religious. It must be a means of bringing people together. “
Hakim El Karoui, a Muslim business consultant and senior member of the Institut Montaigne, said the problem is that laïcité has many meanings. It can represent the 1905 law, freedom of conscience and the neutrality of the state. Or it can be philosophical, a form of emancipation against religion, a battle for enlightenment against religious obscurantism, something close to atheism. Islam, with its vibrant appeal to young Muslims, then becomes the enemy, especially in the context of terrorist attacks in France.
“Laïcité may be another name for anti-Islamic xenophobia. But it is not true that the Muslims of France see this as a form of war against them, ”said El Karoui. “If you are a Muslim of Algerian origin, you can be very grateful for that, because you know very well what an authoritarian Islam is like.”
Cadène’s views seem broadly in line with Macron’s. While condemning extremist Islamism behind the recent terrorist attacks, including the beheading of a teacher, the president acknowledged the flaws. In an October speech, he said France suffered from “its own form of separatism” by neglecting the marginalization of some Muslims.
This month’s bill aims to combat radical Islam through measures to curb the funding and teachings of extremist groups. It was a necessary step, said Cadène, but not enough. “We also need a repair law to try to make sure everyone has an equal chance.”
In other words, a law that would help to forge a more integrated France through better distributed social housing, more socially mixed schools, a more varied workplace. The government is preparing a “national discrimination consultation” in January, proof of the urgency that Mr. Macron attributes to this issue in the run for the 2022 presidential election.
In France, telling someone “Tell me your secularity and I will tell you who you are” is not a bad compass.
So I asked Mr. Cadène about his. “It is equality before everyone’s state, whatever your conviction. It is a public administration and impartial public services. And it is fraternity because that is what allows us to work together in respect for the convictions of others ”.
He continued: “In theory, it is a wonderful model. But if the tool is not lubricated, it will rust and fail. And the problem today is that equality is not real, freedom is not real and brotherhood is even less. “
Strong words from an idealist, a dedicated French civil servant, defending a subtle idea in an age of conflicting certainties. A distant relative, Raoul Allier, was instrumental in the 1905 law. Mr. Cadène is not willing to soften his opinions, even if they cost him his job.
Laicité is not a panacea. He failed several times. French Jews, no longer citizens, were deported to their deaths during World War II. The idea was never extended to Muslims in French Algeria under colonial rule.
Still, for many decades, the model has transformed millions of immigrants into French citizens, and for many French people of different origins, beliefs and skin color remains a noble idea, without which France would lose some essence of itself.
“I have always believed in the general interest. As a young man, I volunteered for emergency medical services, joined Amnesty International, worked for human rights whenever I could, ”said Cadène.
“I believe that our Republic is secular ” – secular -” and dedicated to social justice, and that secular can only survive on that basis “.