Italian American Secularism

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This paper will now proceed to the societal comparative analysis between the levels of secularism between Italy and France. Two cases will be analyzed in this section of the essay, the French hijab bullshit and the Italian crucifix being displayed in public buildings bullshit. The law allowing for the crucifixes to be displayed inside the classrooms, the Italian courts, and hospitals was passed in 1924 by Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini (Thomas, R. Murray, 2007). After the Second World War in 1948, Italy passed a new constitution, which officially made the state a secular one (Thomas, R. Murray, 2007). This did not entirely change the role of the Catholic Church in Italy as it continued to experience special privileges such as the …show more content…
105 2012). Italy’s Constitutional Court ended this debate as to whether the crucifixes should be displayed in public buildings in December of 2004 (Paparella, E. 106 2012). The Judges argued that that Abel Smith was not entitled to raise in court the issue of crucifixes in public places (Paparella, E. 106 …show more content…
Page 106 2005). In November of that same year, the Conseil d'État (legal adviser of the executive branch and as the supreme court for administrative justice) ruled that the scarf's contradicted the principle of Laïcité (French secularism) on which the French republic is built on (Scott, Joan W., Page 107 2005). In September 1994, a new memorandum, the "François Bayrou memo" was published and it outlined the difference between "discreet" religious symbols, which were appropriate for the classroom setting, and "ostentatious" religious symbols (Hijab), which became prohibited in the public societal sphere (Scott, Joan W., Page 107 2005). In 2003, the President of France at the time Jacques Chirac decided further this notion of French secularism by passing a new piece of legislation that would prohibit any religious affiliation in public schools (Scott, Joan W., Page 107 2005). This new law also known as the veil law would include the banning of large crosses, Hijabs, the Star of David, Jewish Kippa, from being present in public (Scott, Joan W., Page 108 2005). In 2010, this law was furthered to include banning the wearing of full-face coverings, including burqas and niqābs, in public

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