France’s laïcité secularism now targets Muslim identity almost exclusively

Evidence

The French concept of laïcité is a strict form of hyper-secularism which is designed to keep religion completely out of public life. This principle has been more or less entrenched within French culture from around 1905 to the present. Historically, it is generally agreed that it was adopted to quell the influence of the Roman Catholic Church over a century ago. However, today the religious lines are beginning to become blurred in regards to this concept. I believe that laïcité remains, but that its focus has shifted almost exclusively to Muslim identity in France, pure and simple. — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 496

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines laïcité and its 1905 origin while claiming its contemporary repurposing against Muslims.
• QUESTION: The shift-from-Catholics-to-Muslims claim is asserted, not evidenced; worth checking the secondary literature.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 496
• XREF: connects to: French secularism and anti-Catholic school history predate and complicate anti-Muslim motivations. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 613; Anxiety about Muslim integration, not neutral principle, drove France’s 2004 ban. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 614; French law formally banned all conspicuous religious symbols but targeted Muslim headscarves in practice. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 611 (+10 more)

Related

• French establishment shifted from denouncing to embracing the Muhammad cartoons by 2020 (similarity 0.89)
• French hijab debates framed secular schooling as protection against fundamentalism (similarity 0.86)
• Anxiety about Muslim integration, not neutral principle, drove France’s 2004 ban. (similarity 0.86)
• French secularism and anti-Catholic school history predate and complicate anti-Muslim motivations. (similarity 0.85)
• French mainstream parties mainstreamed fringe Islamophobic rhetoric about the hijab (similarity 0.85)
• French law formally banned all conspicuous religious symbols but targeted Muslim headscarves in practice. (similarity 0.84)
• Sarkozy made Muslim religious practice a precondition for French immigration (similarity 0.83)
• France’s anti-Muslim center effectively serves its far-right fringe (similarity 0.83)
• Secularism’s laïcité doctrine functions as a weapon against Muslims (similarity 0.82)
• Crisis circumstances expose laïcité as a mask for Islamophobia (similarity 0.82)
• Secularism in France was weaponized against Muslims as legal violence (similarity 0.81)
• French Islamophobia is shaped by Islamic conquest history resting at the present’s doorstep. (similarity 0.81)
• French Muslim women are the demographic most policed by France’s culture wars (similarity 0.81)
• Laïcité functions as a mask over Islamophobic state policy. (similarity 0.80)
• France’s 2004 hijab ban spawned copycat laws in Belgium, Quebec, and Denmark (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Crisis circumstances expose laïcité as a mask for Islamophobia #corroborates (0.85)
• Counter-terrorism justification armd France to broadly profile and suppress Muslims #corroborates (0.75)
• The Hijab Ban solidified the idea that Muslim and French are clashing identities #corroborates (0.60)
• A country famed for religious tolerance now leads European Islamophobia #expands (0.60) — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 517
• French mainstream parties mainstreamed fringe Islamophobic rhetoric about the hijab #expands (0.55)
• France’s anti-Muslim center effectively serves its far-right fringe #complicates (0.50) — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 513