Asserted secularism versus passive secularismOn March 15, 2004, France reopened the debate on the separation of state and religion by introducing legislation prohibiting the wearing of signs or clothing indicating affiliation with a religious group in primary, secondary and secondary schools. (“Respect for secularism”) (Parvez 287) Supporters of the legislation, particularly in France, saw this law as an implementation of secularism, the cornerstone of the public school system in France. However, several criticisms have been leveled against the law. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom criticized the French government, saying the law represents an attack on freedom of expression. (Leane 1032) While the French Constitution as well as the American Declaration of Independence are the founding texts of a common democracy throughout the world, their opinions seemed to differ on this issue. After all, Americans printed “In God We Trust” on their dollar bills. How could the French find a simple manifestation of religious belief so offensive that seems incomprehensible to many secular Americans. This different understanding of the law on both sides of the Atlantic can be attributed to a different definition of the term “secularism” in the United States and France. This essay examines the history, legal definition, and implementation of secularism in the United States and France to demonstrate that French secularism is a form of assertive secularism while Americans have adopted a form of passive secularism. It also identifies why these countries differ in their definition of secularism by identifying the presence or absence of an Ancien Régime as the main factor. A state can be defined as a secular state middle of paper. .....city, Alexis. The Ancien Régime and the Revolution, Volume II: Notes on the French Revolution and Napoleon. Flight. 2. University of Chicago Press, 2001.11. Hunting, Lynn Avery. Politics, culture and class in the French Revolution. Flight. 1. University of California Press, 2004.12. Thompson, James Matthew. Napoleon Bonaparte. Blackwell, 1988.13. Gunn, T. Jeremy. “Religion and law in France: secularism, separation and state intervention”. Drake L. Rev.57 (2008): 949.14. Lake, Pierre. Anglicans and Puritans? : Presbyterianism and English conformist thought from Whitgift to Hooker. London: Unwin Hyman, 1988.15. Bowman, Allen. Morale of the American Revolutionary Army. American Council of Public Affairs, 1943.16. Hutson, James H. and Thomas Jefferson. "Thomas Jefferson's Letter to Danbury Baptists: A Controversy Has Renewed." The William and Mary Quarterly (1999): 775-790.