(ANS - Paris) - "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, these are the three values of our Republic!" We are reminded constantly of this in the context of this traumatic month of January 2015. But these three values are not of the same nature. Freedom and equality are rights. Fraternity, however, is a duty. And these values must be combined. The right to freedom of expression must be related to the duty of fraternity, with the need to respect what this value imposes. Not everything is possible in the name of freedom of expression: respect imposes limits.

                                                              by Fr Jean-Marie Petitclerc, SDB

Fraternity is different from friendship - we choose our friends, we do not choose our brothers. And it is even more challenging than simply solidarity. We can show solidarity by giving ten cents to a homeless person, without establishing a fraternal relationship with him. Fraternity requires respect for the difference of others, considering all as having the same rights.

This duty of fraternity implies the rejection of all that can lead to the humiliation of others. And we know - as history has repeatedly shown - that humiliation leads to violence. Preventing violence of terrorism means first of all a decision to avoid humiliating practices. How many young people today feel humiliated by the school when they are relegated to structures that are stigmatized by their environment! Teachers now complain of "communitarianism" in school, but is it not the law of the "carte scolaire" that has led to communitarianism, when the children of a ghettoized area are required to attend school in the same building? The culture of the neighbourhood then invades the school, and teachers, who often have no knowledge of the laws of the area, feel overwhelmed. It is time to restore a social mix in the schools! The practice of bussing, which was meant to divide the children of a problem area in different schools in the city, was abandoned just when the first results seemed promising.

The state of our prisons is a real disgrace for our Republic. Here again, it must be said, the houses of Islamic radicalization in our country are the prisons!

The fight against terrorism certainly requires the development of our intelligence services, but it is also time for our Republic to take care of the two institutions that produce humiliation: the schools and prisons! Do not forget, in fact, that the three terrorists killed on 9 January by the security forces went through our schools and our prisons.

Published 26/01/2015