Left and right French intellectuals united against the headscarf as secular threat

Evidence

The factors that led to the law are more complex and cannot be reduced only to prejudice against Muslims. The French principle of laïcité is deeply embedded in modern French identity and reflects an overall tendency to privatize all forms of religious expression. Moreover, there is a longer history of the government fighting to exclude religious expression and symbols from public schools, dating back to the late nineteenth century and the Third Republic’s campaign to rid schools of significant Roman Catholic influence. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 613 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: External Islamist pressure united French Muslims behind the secular state’s headscarf law — James Renton, Ben Gidley (eds.), Antisemitism and Islamophobia in…, 874; French right and bishops fiercely counter-reacted to the anti-war insubordination manifesto — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1275; Islamophobic rhetoric moved from fringe into mainstream French politics — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 708 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• French secularism and anti-Catholic school history predate and complicate anti-Muslim motivations. #complicates (0.83) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 613