{"id":479,"date":"2010-04-30T05:48:18","date_gmt":"2010-04-30T05:48:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=479"},"modified":"2017-12-26T15:46:05","modified_gmt":"2017-12-26T14:46:05","slug":"the-burqa-ban-in-belgium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/the-burqa-ban-in-belgium\/","title":{"rendered":"The Burqa Ban in Belgium"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aujourd\u2019hui, on va aborder<\/em> (today we\u2019re going to tackle) un sujet assez chaud<\/em> (a pretty hot subject). I know this blog is about la langue et la culture fran\u00e7aises<\/em>, and I hope you\u2019re learning both from reading it. Today\u2019s topic is at the center of la discussion actuelle<\/em> (the current discussion) on French culture and identit\u00e9<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yesterday, jeudi 29 avril, la Belgique <\/em>(Belgium) became the first country in Europe to ban the wearing of the niqab, or full-face veil, in public spaces (\u201cinterdire le port du voile islamique int\u00e9gral dans tout l’espace public\u201d<\/em>). Recent French l\u00e9gislation<\/em> has indicated that public displays of religiosity are menaces <\/em>(threats) against la la\u00efcit\u00e9 <\/em>(secularism), l\u2019\u00e9galit\u00e9 et la libert\u00e9 des citoyens<\/em> (equality and the freedom of citizens). Without trying to r\u00e9soudre ce conflit<\/em>, let\u2019s explore some of the ideas (et le vocabulaire)<\/em> behind ces questions<\/em>.<\/p>\n

France is un \u00e9tat la\u00efque<\/em>, meaning it has a separation between church and state. La la\u00efcit\u00e9<\/em> (secularism) is defined as \u00ab le\u00a0principe de s\u00e9paration des pouvoirs politiques et administratifs de l\u2019\u00c9tat du pouvoir religieux, <\/em>\u00bb the principle of separation of political and administrative state powers from religious power. It is considered central to la protection des droits des citoyens<\/em> (the protection of citizens\u2019 rights), voire<\/em> (even) la protection des principes d\u00e9mocratiques d\u2019une soci\u00e9t\u00e9 libre <\/em>(the protections of democratic principles in a free society).<\/p>\n

The Belgian ban is officiellement \u201cmotiv\u00e9 par la n\u00e9cessit\u00e9 d’assurer la s\u00e9curit\u00e9 publique\u201d<\/em> (see Les d\u00e9put\u00e9s belges interdisent le port du voile int\u00e9gral<\/a><\/em>). While it is officially to ensure public safety, le d\u00e9put\u00e9 <\/em>Denis Ducarne also said that the law was un t\u00e9moignage<\/em> (a testimony) that there is \u201cun \u00e9l\u00e9ment de fiert\u00e9 \u00e0 \u00eatre Belge\u201d<\/em>: an element of pride in being Belgian.<\/p>\n

Voici la difficult\u00e9<\/em>. <\/em>The full-face veil is seen as both an infringement on le droit des femmes<\/em> (women\u2019s rights) and the classic identit\u00e9 europ\u00e9enne <\/em>(European identity). Les l\u00e9gislateurs belges <\/em>put forth two main arguments for the new law: \u201c<\/em>dignit\u00e9 de la femme<\/em>\u201d <\/em>(women\u2019s dignity) et les \u201cprincipes d\u00e9mocratiques principaux<\/em>\u201d (<\/em>fundamental democratic principles). The veil is perceived as opposing these principles. It\u2019s not clear how this conflit culturel<\/em> will be resolved, but it is peu probable<\/em> (unlikely) that la Belgique<\/em> will be the only country to enact legislation.<\/p>\n

La la\u00efcit\u00e9<\/em>, or secularism, was le th\u00e8me<\/em> of my first expos\u00e9<\/em>, or class presentation, en France<\/em>. In an expos\u00e9<\/em>, a student has to present both sides of a debate. Mine ended, \u00ab\u00a0Force est de constater que la la\u00efcit\u00e9 est une d\u00e9fense des principes de la d\u00e9mocratie mais aussi un raccourcissement des droits des citoyens.\u00a0\u00bb <\/em> We must state that secularism is a defense of democratic principles, but also a restriction of the rights of citizens. A law specifically limiting the religious freedom of one group is something to be handled carefully by any democracy. It will be interesting to see where France takes this.<\/p>\n

En savoir plus\u00a0: Articles on la question du voile <\/em>in\u00a0Europe<\/a> and the US\/UK<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Aujourd\u2019hui, on va aborder (today we\u2019re going to tackle) un sujet assez chaud (a pretty hot subject). I know this blog is about la langue et la culture fran\u00e7aises, and I hope you\u2019re learning both from reading it. Today\u2019s topic is at the center of la discussion actuelle (the current discussion) on French culture and…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":480,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,13],"tags":[8581,8580,8573,2149,8577,8582,8578,8574,8579,8575,8576],"class_list":["post-479","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-vocabulary","tag-belgique","tag-belgium","tag-burqa","tag-france","tag-islam","tag-law","tag-muslim","tag-niqab","tag-secularism","tag-voile","tag-voile-integral"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t