Dounia Bouzar on laicism in modern society

France's second-largest fast food chain Quick offers exclusively Halal meat in eight restaurants, an offer it extended to fourteen other restaurants on September 1. The anthropologist Dounia Bouzar takes the opportunity to discuss France's tradition of laicism: "How to guarantee the freedom of belief of various groups in the same community? How far does the freedom of belief extend without hindering others' freedom not to believe, and vice-versa? Guaranteeing the freedom of belief means allowing citizens to believe, to not believe, and to believe what they want. Laicism is a legal system adopted to allow the French to enjoy a common destiny on the basis of multiple, varied, identities which may also evolve. Laicism was adopted to avoid having a single moral authority, so that no philosophy may dominate any other, be it religious or not."

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