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Secularism in continental Europe bans religion from public life and confine it to the private sphere. It can best be exemplified by France which banned headscarves in public schools. The other democratic country that bans headscarves in public places is Turkey. France has a cultural belief in integration and assimilation; this differs from multiculturalism in the U.K. and Northern Europe. Multiculturalism not only allowed ghetto life but justified it. It allowed immigrants to believe that they could enforce Sharia law rather than adopt western laws and shared values. July 7 in London suggested that multiculturalism has failed.The French belief in integration equally failed. Their ghettos (in the suburbs) are based on poverty. Their immigrants do not understand themselves as being citizens of the Republic.
The three French schoolgirls who created the headscarf issue by going to their public school spoke fluent French, did not speak Arabic and wore modern dress as well as putting on modern scarves. By publicly claiming a Muslim identity as opposed to a French identity they were rejecting the French assimilationist ideal of homogeneity. A French identity is thus inconsistent with a religious believer; that is a fundamentalist version of secularism.
In the French rioting around the suburbs of Paris (October 2005) they did not rage about issues of the Middle Eastern (Israeli-Palestinian or Iraqi) problems, did not burn flags only cars not caring about Muslim or non-Muslim cars; they were rejecting being treated as minorities. Very few of them go on a regular basis to the Mosque. They all spoke fluent French, very few spoke Arabic. Their complaint was not being considered French and consequently not being able to find employment.
