How have French people’s views on the Law of 1905 and secularism changed over the last 40 years? To mark the 120th anniversary of the Law of December 9, 1905, Ifop carried out an opinion survey1 for the Fondation Jean-Jaurès, showing that the historic consensus around the intangibility of this text is being seriously eroded by antagonistic revisionist logics: one in line with a spirit of accommodation of religion, the other expressing, on the contrary, a need to regulate expressions of religiosity in the public arena. While the principle of separation is still widely supported, opinion is divided on the best way forward for legislation faced with a reaffirmation of religion in society. Far from the model of compromise embodied by the spirit of 1905, the current dynamic of opinion seems to be driven more by a desire to control the public expression of religion than by respect for the legal framework established one hundred and twenty years ago.
!!! This survey is published as part of the “Que vive la laïcité! 50 contributions pour les 120 ans de la loi de 1905” published by the Fondation Jean-Jaurès on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of the 1905 law!!!!
KEY FIGURES
- The idea that “nothing should be changed” to the 1905 law is still in the majority (60%), but the desire to “revise” it (32%) or “abolish” it (8%) is much stronger than it was twenty years ago: 40% in 2025, compared with 29% in 2005.
- However, those in favor of revising the law are not in favor of Anglo-Saxon-style accommodation: on the contrary, more than one French person in two (55%) would like to see secularism in France evolve in the direction of stricter rules.
- An “offensive” conception of the principle of secularism is emerging, with a growing number of respondents for whom secularism is above all about reducing the influence of religious dogma in society: 18%, twice as many as twenty years ago. Conversely, only a minority of French people now share a “legal” vision of secularism: 41%, compared with 60% in 2005.
- This secularist vision of the place of religions in society is reflected in the desire to extend the scope of religious neutrality: 67% of French people support a ban on “the wearing of visible religious symbols in the public space by everyone”.
- Whereas in 2004, the left still appeared to be the best advocate of secularism (49% in 2005), this is no longer the case today: barely 24% of French people now see the left and its various nuances as the political family that best defends secularism.
- This right-wing approach to secularism goes hand in hand with a critical view of the concept and its current use in the political and media spheres: 52% of French people feel that “the defense of secularism is exploited by politicians and journalists who want to denigrate Muslims”.
THE VIEWPOINT OF FRANÇOIS KRAUS
Unfortunately, for supporters of a “liberal” conception of secularism, this survey shows that the French do not share the idea that secularism should scrupulously respect the legal framework deriving from the 1905 law. On the contrary, the desire to see this law – and secular legislation in general – evolve shows that opinion is clearly leaning in the direction of a “secular” society in which the State intervenes to guarantee citizens “the freedom not to be subjected, in particular circumstances or places, to the conspicuous manifestation of particular affiliations and what they imply in terms of equality or civility[4] “. With a hundred and twenty years’ hindsight, some may see the triumph of this secularist vision of secularism as the posthumous victory of the little father Combes, whose anti-religious project was ousted in favor of the compromise text put forward by Aristide Briand. At the time, flexibility was favored over firmness. One hundred and twenty years later, it has to be said that this is not what the French want…
[4] Laurent Bouvet in Alain Bergounioux and Laurent Bouvet, Lettres sur laïcité, Télos-Fondation Jean-Jaurès, September 2019.
