My response to Slate.fr's Eric Leser on French secularism (laïcité), intolerance, and anti-Semitism was just published on Slate.fr. Francophone readers can read it here ("Juif et/ou Français: la laïcité comme forme d'étroitesse d'esprit"). A rough translation of the article can be read in English in my previous blog post below, also accessible here.
Later this week, I'll be posting my reflections here on the overall difference between American and French response to the debate, especially as regards my first article that started all the uproar ("Why You Can't Be Both French and Jewish"), so keep on the lookout.
Interestingly (or perhaps not so much, depending on your perspective), the reaction varied widely by country of origin, and also within sub-groups of those countries: Muslims and Jews in France reacted very differently than those same religious minorities in the United States, for example. Meanwhile, "French" French friends of mine, so to speak, tended to react differently than those that we could place in the same category, but who had lived and/or traveled outside of France.
But more on that for later in the week. :)
And as always, I'm open to hearing your thoughts on these matters.
Bien à vous,
Rachael
