Thread by @PedderSophie

Important interview with Macron on Al Jazeera. There's still much misrepresentation (wilful or not) of laïcité. It's not state atheism, nor the persecution of religion, but the protection of the right to believe, or not to believe, + the separation of religion from public affairs

Here Macron is explaining this. “Our country has no problem with any religion. Each is can exercise it freely here. No stigmatisation”

https://twitter.com/EmmanuelMacron/status/1322574020550774784

French laïcité was the product of a (sometimes bloody) anti-clerical struggle with the Catholic church. It resulted in the 1905 law to entrench this French version of secularism. The point was to protect the state and public education from the power of any religion, not Islam

@Chassnews wrote an interesting piece a few years back about France’s war in 1905 against the black ankle-length Catholic soutane. The combat against certain forms of religious expression in public has a particular French historic context ft.com/content/05c420…

Defending the right to publish caricatures doesn’t mean approving of them. Here is Macron saying “No, these caricatures are not the view of the French government. I can understand that they shock people. But France defends the right of free expression.”

https://twitter.com/john_lichfield/status/1322592877193662465

France protects blasphemy, under a law that dates back to 1881. In France it is legal to insult a religion, but not to insult or incite hatred of any individual on the basis of that religion. The caricatures are often vulgar and unfunny. But they are published freely in France

Macron also said: “I consider that society should be tolerant and respectful, but it is not my role as a president to limit the freedom to draw because some are offended. If I do that, step by step, we will extinguish freedom of speech.”

https://twitter.com/diplocharlie/status/1322581661742174209

Important to note that Macron did recognise that France could do a better job fighting racism and improving opportunities for all. He said this in his speech in Les Mureaux on October 2nd as well elysee.fr/emmanuel-macro…

A good thread on the Al Jazeera interview is here:

https://twitter.com/diplocharlie/status/1322581661742174209

As @diplocharlie concludes, it's worth watching the entire interview, or reading the transcript before casting judgment on the basis of a single line
French transcript here: elysee.fr/emmanuel-macro… /ENDS