프랑스 공화국과 무슬림 여학생의 교내 히잡(헤드스카프) 착용 금지

초록

This article deals with the relation between the French Republic and the law banning religious symbols from public schools. The Parliament passed this law on March 15, 2004. Although the law aims at banning all religious symbols from public schools, its main targets are Muslim schoolgirls wearing head scarves. What is the fundamental spirit or principle underlying the law? Can we perceive it as a product of the Republics ideal of secularism which have been identified with the separation of the church and state? Or, is it derived from the anti-Islam tendency in French society? The weight seems to incline towards the anti-Islam tendency. French society has become more and more conservative concerning Muslim immigrants since 1989 when the affair of head scarves in Creil took place. This affair, which provoked acute controversy, led the French ultraright party to intensify a policy against Muslims. Even such left groups as the Socialist Party showed a similar reaction. The so-called Islamic Head Scarves Law passed on March 15, 2004 triggers another round of heated controversy with regard to racism against Muslims. Most French Muslims consider this new law unjust and contradictory to the spirit of the Republic, which cherishes the equality of all people before law. This affair is a mirror of the history of the French Republic which has been unfair about immigrants and colonials as well.

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