French Constitution

This is a supplement to a number of post on here.

The French Constitution only ever makes two mentions of religion. Both are located in Article One. The first is a declaration that the French Government shall be "indivisible, secular, democratic and social Republic", The second one states "ensure the equality of all citizens before the law, without distinction of origin, race or religion. It shall respect all beliefs." Now there is a lot of information on how they put laws in place and the normal red tape things that go along with a government, but the basic of it is that the two houses, the Prime Minster and the President all had to agree to this law being put in place. So the real test to how this law is received will be when the vote takes place. Also to keep in mind, respect of is not Freedom of. So while we may look at this and gasp, we also never went through the series of wars that France did over religions and about religions. The general population may see this as an affront to the ideals of France, and it really is not our place to judge anyway. This maybe considered to be part of their culture, much like the Freedom of Religion is in ours.

The link to the text of the French Constitution:
http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/english/8ab.asp
Of course, as per normal, I am open to the idea that someone else may see this differently then I do, and civilized discourse is welcomed.