The French Conscience

"It will no longer be up to immigrants to adopt French culture but up to France to abandon its culture, its values, its history to adapt to the culture of others."
Jean-Francois Cope, UMP party

Perish the thought, Monsieur Cope. Former president Nicolas Sarkozy is planning a come-back for UMP. Politics is in his blood. It is what he was destined to, from birth. It is an irresistible calling for him. So why resist? France needs him, after all. France appears to be in mourning for having side-lined Mr. Sarkozy and replacing him with his socialist rival Francois Hollande, whose popularity has swiftly declined to linger in the dump of past and very fleeting glory.

But Mr. Sarkozy? Ah, another story, for all is forgiven, whatever French voters feel they must forgive him for, and they want him to return to the presidency. On this they are in complete agreement, for Mr. Sarkozy is prepared to return to the presidency. France will simply have to be patient and wait a few years for the next election to trounce the undeserving Hollande and return the obliging and eternally popular Sarkozy.

Who will doubtless have plenty to say about a report just unveiled that had been commissioned by the Socialist government now in power, responding to concerns about growing divisions within French society. Racism, according to the report, has raised its ugly head and must be tamped down with the sledgehammer of remorse leading to a capitulation from secularism to recognition of the sturdy and leading role Islam plays in France.

The report recommends capitalizing on the "Arab-Oriental" dimension of French identity. French media should be barred by law from mentioning a person's ethnicity. The government should promote the teaching of Arabic and African languages in state schools. Philosophical debates examining issues such as ethnicity, gender and religion should be introduced in primary schools, with less emphasis on history relating to "white, male, heterosexual" figures.

These proposals would surely give apoplexy to Vladimir Putin, whose recent ravings on "good and evil", equating the acceptance of homosexuality as evil and family values and increased pregnancies as good, and never the twain shall meet has its counterpart in usurping convention and traditions and heritage for the entitlements of newly-introduced migrants, or even those with long-standing presence who disrupt the secular nature of France.

Schoolchildren, went on the report should learn more about slavery and the evils of colonization. They could be taken on frequent visits to a specially created museum of colonization. They must be given an understanding of their blighted past. The unjust law banning niqabs and burqas in public should be repealed forthwith. Headscarves worn by Muslims should be permitted in schools.

Whereupon all would be sweetness and light.

A poll in France earlier this year revealed that 67% of people believe Islamic values to be "incompatible with those of French society," 73% view Islam negatively and 74 % consider it intolerant. Perhaps this unjust and confusing view of Islam in France justified the report. People tend to believe what they see and what they read and they have confused reality with the babbling of journalists writing of Islamism and terrorism and global caliphates.

Muslims in France do not constitute a threat to law and order and the secular and celebrated nature of French equality and fraternity. Do they?