Religion and Law in France: Secularism, Separation, and State Intervention
T. Jeremy Gunn, 57 Drake L. Rev. 949 (2009)
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The ostensible similarities of the religion and law regimes of France and the United States that have thus far been described are, however, likely to be misleading to an American jurist who approaches them with an American understanding of what “secularism” and “separation” are likely to mean. Although one might imagine that the two terms would mean that the French state avoids entangling itself in religious matters, or that the state does not fund religious institutions directly, such is not the case. Indeed, American jurists across a broad ideological spectrum–from civil libertarians to the religious right–would likely agree that many actions routinely taken by the French state in the area of religion would violate core constitutional principles on the other side of the Atlantic.
