Christ, father Christmas and secularism in France and the United States ; Le christ, le père noël et la laïcité, en France et aux États-Unis
Despite the review of these pages, they cannot be used to compare the case law of the US Constitutional Council and Supreme Court on the issue of state-religion relations. As recently pointed out by a member of the Council ahead of a judge of the Supreme Court, it is scarcely possible to put on the same footing the argued judgments produced across the Atlantic and the decisions of the Council, whose statement of reasons is "more than discussing and demonstrating" 1. The "revolution" of the motivation that would be in motion in 2 remains too recent and limited to contradict this finding. Moreover, the abstract review carried out by the Council does not in any way enable it to be confronted with the variety of cases which lead the Supreme Court to forge and refine case-law. Nor is it possible to carry out an overall study of the multiple questions posed by 'secularism' in France and the United States 3. The subject will therefore be addressed differently, focusing on a particular problem faced by courts in France and the United States. French news has two themes, each of which has to look at a crèche. The first appears to be a false runway. It is in terms of 'secularism' that the issue of prohibiting the wearing of veil is often dealt with in France. However, when it is addressed recently to private individuals, such a measure does not concern secularism but freedom of religion. The rules that give concrete expression to secularism impose an obligation only on public authorities and persons acting on their behalf 4. The numerous judgments of the Supreme Court dealing with these issues, in particular from the point of view of religious exemptions to be granted to rules of general application 5, are therefore beside the point. If secularism is understood as a requirement of government neutrality towards religions, it is another recent controversy that is relevant. In recent years, several French administrative courts have reached opposing conclusions about the scenes of the Christmas nexus in public buildings 6. ...