French-style secularism

The present document is presented as a sort of open booklet on the important issue of secularism in France based essentially on studies reports and texts that already exist on the subject as well as on renowned authors who are specialists in the issue. Since its promulgation on December 9 1905 the law on secularism has been part of the cultural moral and political heritage of our country since at least the Third Republic. It is the result of long years of gestation and reflections surrounded by its procession of often violent conflicts but with in the background however a single goal turned towards the search for the common good in respect tolerance and dialogue. It is in this sense that this law can be apprehended without evading its initial vocation; with the constant concern of justice and equity; more than one hundred years later at the dawn of a new century that promises to be tumultuous; and by taking into account of course the sociological evolutions of our country.