June 18, 2014 On June 18, 2014 representatives of several French associations published a petition advocating: “Yes to secularism, no to discrimination.” Among the signatories are sociologists Jean Baubérot, Christine Delohy and Saïd Bouamama, along with Hervé Bramy, Patrick Braouezek and journalist Rokhaya Diallo, among others. The petition begins: “We veiled women banned from school…
June 16, 2014 Recent college grads, take note: Mentioning a campus religion group on your resume — particularly a Muslim club — may lead to significantly fewer job opportunities. Two new sociology studies find new graduates who included a religious mention on a resume were much less likely to hear back from potential employers. The…
June 8, 2014 In recent weeks the story of Mehdi Nemmouche, suspected of killing three people at the Jewish Museum in Brussels, has made international headlines. His chilling story illustrates the “plague of radical Islam in prison.” As a child, Nemmouche grew up in a chaotic household and was a repeated offender at a young…
June 5, 2014 In the midst of the “Mehdi Nemmouche case,” the Conseil Francais du Culte Musulman (CFCM) published a “Citizens’ agreement of French Muslims” which condemns violence, lists the community’s goals and intends to clarify its place in France’s secular society. The agreement’s ninth article states: “Muslims in their entirety reject violence and do…
In a recent interview with Fatima Achouri, author of “The Muslim Employee in France,” Achouri examines how observant French Muslims celebrate Ramadan while continuing to work. Achouri discusses Ramadan’s importance as one of the Five Pillars of Islam, and as an obligation for all believers who are physically capable of observing the holiday. Ramadan “highlights…
