French presidential candidate Zemmour against wearing religious symbols in public

Guest of the “Grand Rendez-vous” –a joint programme by the channels Europe 1, CNews and Les Échos–, the presidential candidate insisted that he would ban “the wearing of ostentatious religious signs in the public space” if he is elected on 24 April, French website Evangeliques.Info writes. “We lived like that when I was a child”, notes the candidate of the Reconquest party.

Secularism is, according to him, above all a “duty of discretion”. He also describes the fact of not asserting one’s religion in front of others as “respect and elegance” Europe 1 quotes Zemmour.

The former polemicist presents an exemption to this measure. “Those who wear the cassock” and “religious professionals” will benefit from it. Indeed, the far-right candidate believes that the ban should concern civilians and not the clergy. “When I left the synagogue, I had my kippah on my head, and my mother told me to put it away in my pocket,” Zemmour said to illustrate his point.

Christian roots

The candidate also extolled “the Christian roots of France”. “Christianity has made France for 1,500 years; even the revolts against Christianity are impregnated with Christianity,” he explained to Europe 1. “This does not mean that one becomes a Christian or that one believes in dogma, but that one is culturally impregnated with this religion,” he concluded.

Whether in France or Europe, the wearing of religious symbols has not finished making people talk. Last summer, the Court of Justice of the European Union issued a ruling on wearing religious symbols at work, stating that the ban is not discriminatory if all religious denominations are subject to it.

The employer may require them, “in a general and undifferentiated manner, to be dressed neutrally”, the Court decided. This prohibition is justified when the employer must “present himself in a neutral manner vis-à-vis customers or prevent social conflicts”.