De-ideologising laïcité: a summit we share, paths we fight over

Public debate on secularism stalls because the word has become a banner: we label, we accuse, we stop listening. A detour through the history and geography of the "wall of separation" shows that one word covers opposite objects. Going back to the purpose of secularism — holding a plural society together — reveals a summit almost everyone shares; our disagreements then bear only on the paths to reach it, and those, in turn, can be discussed. This column opens a series. Op-ed no. 2, published on laiciscope.org; critical material tied to the book "Laïcité through the Lens of Reason" (D. A. Zighed).