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Free admission
Monday, February 14, 2005
7 pm
Auditorium de l’Alliance
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Tuesday, February 15, 2005:
Stanford University |
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“In God we do not trust”:
Démocratie française et laïcité
Today, it seems that France and the USA are separated by much more than the Atlantic Ocean. The nations may differ in their views towards war in Iraq, but it is each state's respective democratic and economic models which distinguish them most dramatically.
The recent debate in France regarding state secularism may seem quite incomprehensible to the average American. However, it definitely strikes a chord for the French people, whose national spirit emanates from the Revolution of 1789, the separation of Church and State in 1905, and the Republican concept of a "secular, free and mandatory" public education.
On the other hand, religion plays a major role in American society, and it is just as incomprehensible to the French that President Bush was sworn in using a Bible or invokes God in his crusade against "evil" terrorists, and even won the last election mainly on this theme.
Secularism is only in the news today because after a century of a secular state without any problems, Islam, the religion of nearly 10% of the French population, is challenging the Republic's laws with those of the Koran. Clearly there are several models for an active, vibrant democracy. Is it not time for a debate?
Born in 1937, Lionel Stoléru graduated second in his class from the École Polytechnique and then continued his education at Stanford University where, under the tutelage of Nobel Laureate K. Arrow, he earned a Ph.D. in Economics. Then professor of Economics at the Ecole Polytechnique, Stoléru went to work in 1969 in the cabinet of Giscard d'Estaing, who was Minister of Finance at the time, and he then served as an economic adviser to Giscard d'Estaing, who became President in 1974. From 1976 to 1991, he held positions in Chirac's and Barre's administrations as Secrétaire d'Etat au Travail. After his election to Parliament in 1988, he was asked by Prime Minister Rocard to join the new administration and draft a minimum wage law. In 1989, Stoléru worked with the countries of Eastern Europe in the transition to a market economy. During the 1990's, he held senior positions in the governments of Romania and Ukraine.
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