Kintzler: In my book, What is Laicism?, I explain that laicism is not a doctrine in which one believes or does not believe. One can be a Muslim, a Catholic or an atheist, and still be a laicist. Laicism is a philosophical concept which, unlike "tolerance", does not ask how antagonistic freedoms can coexist in a society where diverse communities live side by side. Laicism is about constructing a space a priori that will allow every individual to enjoy freedom of opinion.

This space is defined by the public authority. It produces and enforces the law. And the individual does not need to be a member of a specific group to enjoy freedom of opinion within civil society, because the public authority is entirely impervious in its approach to religious and non-religious forms of belief.