In this chapter, we will discuss different French and American approaches to religious minorities and to religion’s place in society.

Tocqueville remarked on the importance of religion in America. We all know that the original pilgrims came to the shores of the New World in order to freely practise their religion. In the 1830s Tocqueville highlighted the paradox that Americans were so religious and yet so free. Religion, in fact, constituted for him a useful limit on the extreme political and civic freedoms that would have otherwise gone unchecked in America. And he believed, ironically for someone coming from a post-revolutionary, restored monarchy that religion flourished so well in America precisely because of the distinct separation of church and state.

Both France and the United States consider themselves today to be secular nations. What is secularism? It is the democratic principle of separation of religion and state. And it comprises four distinct parts. The State does not interfere in religions. Religions do not interfere in affairs of state, nor do they have any political power. There is freedom of religion, and all religions are equal.

France’s separation of religion and state has different historical roots than secularism in the US. In France, the old regime was controlled not just by the monarchy, but by the Catholic church, which was the state religion with privileged status. The French Revolution tried to overthrow both the monarchy and the Church. French committment to the principal of secularism is therefore based on this past. The idea that religious groups and the state cannot impose their will on each other, and it is very important to the French. Given the role of religion in America’s founding as a nation, freedom of religion is more important to American secularism. Both the US and France violate their own principles of secularism all the time. In the US, religious symbols are regularly present in state affairs.

For example, In God We Trust is written on its coins. Politicians commonly say, God bless America at the end of speeches. US presidents customarily swear over the Bible when they take their oath of office. Since the Cold War, the American Pledge of Allegiance contains the expression, one nation under God.

Most of these references to God are generic. They are not explicitly attached to any particular religion. So, Americans tend to accept these inconsistencies with a shrug. Controversies, however, in the US over secularism have arisen when Christian groups have displayed nativity scenes by courthouses, public schools, or on public land during Christmas. In fact, a 2013 Texas law allowed the display of holiday scenes in public schools as long as they contained a symbol of more than one religion or one secular symbol with one religious symbol. It is not yet clear if the American Civil Liberties Union will challenge this recent law. And of course the U.S. has endured many legal battles over prayer in public schools.

And even though it’s been juridically forbidden, prayers are still said throughout the U.S. at public school graduations and sporting events. In these ways the principles of secularism are still contested in the US. The contest is mainly between Christian groups or politicians, trying to impose Christianity in the public sphere in the name of freedom of religion and those who claim that these things transgress the second and fourth principle of secularism. That is, that religion should not be involved in public affairs, and that one particular religion, Christianity, in this case, should not impose itself in public life above other faiths.

Despite the French commitment to secularism, there are many examples in French society where secularist principles are breached too, albeit, indirectly. For example, the state subsidises private schools if they follow the public national curriculum. Since almost all private schools are Catholic in France, which is about 9,000 schools compared to literally a handful of Muslim schools, this amounts to a state subsidy that only benefits one religion. Also, 6 out of 11 national holidays in France are Catholic or Christian holidays. There are no official holidays in France that coincide with Muslim or Jewish holy days.

Of course, the reason for this is because of France’s long history as a nation with one majority religion, Roman Catholicism. But, with France’s changing religious demographic, a government commission recently recommended that two Catholic national holidays be suppressed. And one Muslim and one Jewish holiday be instituted in their place, to no avail. In contrast, of the 11 federal holidays in the United States, only Christmas is tied to a religion. Because of France’s Catholic heritage, there are 40,000 parish churches alone, not counting cathedrals, basilicas, abbeys, etc. Thousands of such Catholic structures are classified as historic monuments of national heritage and are therefore maintained with public funds. In contrast, there are 2,200 mosques in France for a population of over 5 million Muslims.

Secular laws forbid the French government from funding the construction of new places of worship for any religion. Despite concerns about foreign governments funding French mosques and fears of outside fundamentalist influences, some French townspeople have resisted the building of mosques near them. And the far right National Front Party calls for a freeze on the construction of any mosque.

Both France and the US are majority Christian, with important differences. 51% of Americans are Protestant, 24% are Catholic, and 16% are unaffiliated, though likely born of a Christian religion. Mormons and Jews number about 2% each of Americans. Islam is a relatively new religion in the US, and constitutes less than 1% of the population, like Buddhism and Hinduism. France is still almost 90% Roman Catholic. And Islam is the second largest religion, with Muslims numbering about 8% of French persons. Protestantism comes in at distant third place at 2% of the population, and Jews constitute about 1%. Islam is a relatively new religion in France too, but because of its French Colonial past, it is not as new in France as it is in the US. With 8% of its population Muslim, compared again with less than 1% in the U.S., France has faced challenges in integrating this minority religion that the U.S. has not yet encountered.

How do France and the U.S. handle minority religions in their societies? Problems arise in both, because despite the principles of secularism, it is never easy to keep religion out of public life. The traditional Christian day of worship, Sunday, is still marked by French and American laws regulating business hours and alcohol consumption. How do hospitals respond when a Muslim patient insists on being treated by a doctor of the same sex? How do Muslim children eat when pork is commonly served in French school cafeterias? How can new minority religions be integrated in France and the U.S.? Who should adapt, the host society or the newcomer? What is the true meaning of secularism? Is it the separation of religion and public life? Or is it the freedom to practice your religion?

We can agree that secularism is a good thing, but it has been unfairly applied to minority religions in both countries. On religious issues, France through American eyes sometimes appears to be anti-Muslim. With the most common example cited as the ban on religious symbols in French public schools, which is considered a law specifically targeting Muslim girls for their head scarves. America through French eyes appears to be hyper religious from Tocqueville until today. From nativity scene constructors to defenders of school prayer to creationists to evangelical mega church worshippers, Christian Americans can appear to the French to be curiously attached to their faith. When French friends come to visit me in Houston, they often request to spend a Sunday morning at Joel Osteen’s mega church. Lakewood church is one of largest Protestant churches in the United States. And it’s just a mile from Rice University. My French visitors wish not to pray there, but to witness the spectacle of motivational speeches and income driven spirituality. The American evangelical mega church is a cliche for the French, and it continues to mystify them.

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