ROSNY-SOUS-BOIS, France — Laïcité, the concept of state secularism, is a defining principle of the French republic, right up there with the national motto of liberty, equality and fraternity. Developed in the French Revolution, which targeted the Roman Catholic Church as much as the monarchy, laïcité governs the public life of a nation that sharply delineates the realms of Caesar and God.
But laïcité, pronounced lie-EE-see-tay, is now under severe challenge from Islam, the vibrant, growing religion that arrived in France with post-colonialism. Islam does not easily accept the ban on the public exercise of religion, whether it is the full veil for women or gender-mixed swimming pools, Friday Prayer that overcrowds mosques or halal food in schools.
Now, in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo killings and an attack on a Jewish supermarket by Islamist gunmen, there are new questions about laïcité and whether it is being fairly applied in a France with an estimated five million Muslims — close to 8 percent of the population and making up the largest number of regular worshipers.
After the killings, there is a new government edict to reinforce teaching of laïcité in public schools, where religious education is banned. The edict is aimed especially at schools of heavily Muslim suburbs, where many children shocked the country by refusing to obey a national minute of silence for the dead of Charlie Hebdo, which they believe insulted the Prophet Muhammad.
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The law of 1905, said Roger Cukierman, the director of the Representative Council of French Jewish Organizations, “was an agreement in a Christian country among mainly Christians,” long before the influx of Muslim workers and their families, but it recognized Judaism.
While laïcité meant keeping religion in the private domain, “it’s more and more difficult because the Muslim minority is requesting the ability to pray every few hours and to have halal food, including in private enterprises,” Mr. Cukierman said.
Voltaire wrote that religion was on a diminishing road, but it has returned with a vengeance, said Dominique Moïsi, a French political scientist. “Laïcité has become the first religion of the Republic, and it requires obedience and belief,” Mr. Moïsi said. “But I care more for democracy than for the republic,” he said. “To play Voltaire in the 21st century is irresponsible.”
