tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post4637616664797700366..comments2023-09-23T11:16:00.352+02:00Comments on The Franco-American Flophouse has moved: The Four Pillars of French NationalityVictoria FERAUGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16319699673885400472noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-5098695467266722032014-02-23T12:17:00.676+01:002014-02-23T12:17:00.676+01:00Anonymous, Have to disagree with you. States hav...Anonymous, Have to disagree with you. States have always tried to poke their noses into religious matters. Whether it was trying to create a state-sponsored religion to interfering in the governance structure of denominations (trying to force churches to elect bishops the states liked) to stealing church property to fill state coffers or just to punish them. The list goes on and on and on.<br /><br />In the beginning most churches weren't terribly happy about church/state separation. Today they are big fans. They know that the state cannot shut them up, confiscate their property, lean on them to appoint the "right" people or even exile church leaders they don't like for refusing to support the state.Victoria FERAUGEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16319699673885400472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-14148543728983895892014-02-17T20:49:33.832+01:002014-02-17T20:49:33.832+01:00> the idea of the separation of Church and stat...> the idea of the separation of Church and state has been wrongly extended from its original purpose - the strict neutrality of the state in matters of religion. <br /><br />In fact, isn't it just the opposite: stopping religion from interfering with the state? After all, THAT is what has been the historic and present problem.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-25421184672705762942014-02-12T21:45:15.048+01:002014-02-12T21:45:15.048+01:00@Michael, I think I missed your comment. Damn, so...@Michael, I think I missed your comment. Damn, sorry about that. Yes, that is a very interesting question: how did we go from allegiance to what we have today (citizenship/nationality). Please share what you find and if you come across any good books, let me know.Victoria FERAUGEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16319699673885400472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-48203168766508590682014-02-12T16:16:56.200+01:002014-02-12T16:16:56.200+01:00Great and useful post.Great and useful post.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-59974417083121798732014-02-12T15:57:45.057+01:002014-02-12T15:57:45.057+01:00@Heather, Thank you so much for coming over to th...@Heather, Thank you so much for coming over to the Flophouse and for your insights. Yes, I've seen the same thing in the different places where I worked and sometimes even at church. People of African/N. African/Asian origin who are French and sometimes I wince at things that are said to them or the way they are treated. On the other hand very often the "native" French have no idea whatsoever how hurtful those comments and that behavior is. Tht's why I think Weil is right about "clearing the air."<br /><br />@Darlene, That's fascinating. So it was easier 20 years ago? So why did it change, do you think?Victoria FERAUGEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16319699673885400472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-27439143988492677642014-02-12T13:58:14.907+01:002014-02-12T13:58:14.907+01:00Excellent. I could relate with the feelings of bei...Excellent. I could relate with the feelings of being an immigrant. I am an American expat now Canadian citizen. True it was not hard for me as other immigrants whose first language was not English to blend in. But many Canadians had much empathy for me while I settled in Canada when I first came to Canada. It took me 23 years to finally become a citizen of Canada. I am now here over 44 years. I feel empathy for the new Canadian immigrants today. They face a harder time than I did 44 years ago. There is so much less empathy.Darlenenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-70876722843327348442014-02-11T19:08:37.626+01:002014-02-11T19:08:37.626+01:00Victoria, I am here thanks to Kristin and I am so ...Victoria, I am here thanks to Kristin and I am so very glad that I read your wonderful writing on what is an incredibly complex and -more often than not- taboo subject, especially within France. <br /><br />My companion is French and bears a Maghrébin family name. In the twelve years that I have been in France, I have routinely seen him treated (most especially over the phone) as though he were not welcome in his own country. He handles it as well as he can and yet is shocked each time by the "unFrenchness" of such attitudes. <br /><br />Your words and Weill's talk were helpful for me to take a step back and look at that particular part of French nationality with a fresher perspective. Thank you for that.<br /><br />With my very Best Regards from Provence,<br />HeatherHeather Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01316279029849503437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-84924406316445871982014-02-11T18:22:29.571+01:002014-02-11T18:22:29.571+01:00There may be a subtlety here that is being overloo...<br />There may be a subtlety here that is being overlooked, although I am still in the very early stages of researching it myself: that of the legal philosophy and cultural/historical differences between what in common law jurisdiction is called 'allegiance' and what in civil law jurisdiction is called 'nationality'. <br /><br />To date I have found only one article on this in a relatively specialist law journal published in the UK (where comparative law is obviously more of an issue given that the UK is a common law jurisdiction sitting in a sovereignty-eroding political collective full of civil law states, i.e. the EU).<br /><br />I will have to let you know if I turn up anything more on the distinction. All I have now is my librarian's intuition that I am on to something. <br /><br />Michael Putmannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-85279242916972046312014-02-11T15:41:45.594+01:002014-02-11T15:41:45.594+01:00Hi Kristin, Oh thank you for dropping by and for ...Hi Kristin, Oh thank you for dropping by and for your very kind words. Just for fun here is a post I wrote about Being an American which I think sums up nicely my feelings about the dual nationality question:<br /><br />http://thefranco-americanflophouse.blogspot.fr/2013/07/on-being-american.htmlVictoria FERAUGEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16319699673885400472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-68108469777542668172014-02-11T14:26:08.401+01:002014-02-11T14:26:08.401+01:00Your posts are so beautifully written and thought-...Your posts are so beautifully written and thought-provoking. I need to read more intelligent pieces like these! Re citizenship, this is the first time it ever occured to me that choosing one over the other would be to show true allegience, for better or for worse. What a luxury it is to have the chance to claim both citizenships and to have the privilege to choose one over the other, depending on circumstances. I feel guilty ( ouf, I just remembered I don't yet have that priviledge :-)Kristinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05280603351712810982noreply@blogger.com