In mid-November, schools in the department of Aisne received a letter prohibiting them from displaying Advent calendars in classrooms on the grounds that they were part of a ‘religious commitment’. The senator of the Aisne department, Pierre-Jean Verzeulen (Les Indépendants), decided to strike back in the face of this new Christianophobic offensive.
A fortnight ago, the directors of public schools in a district in the south of the Aisne department received a letter signed by an inspector from the Académie. The letter contained a clear message: Advent calendars are no longer welcome in the department’s schools. Teachers who decorate their classrooms or rely on the calendar celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ will be called to order by their superiors. I have been made aware of the possible presence of Advent calendars in the classrooms,’ reads the letter sent to Valeurs actuelles. I would like to remind you that Advent is a religious custom: Within the framework of neutrality, which secularism prescribes as a fundamental value of the Republic, I call on you to remind school teachers that no pupil may be confronted with an Advent calendar in a school setting.’ After the controversy surrounding nativity scenes in public places, the inspector implies that the Advent calendar violates secularism and de facto puts pupils in trouble. In a touch of benevolence, the inspector even asks to be informed about any calendars that still exist ‘so that [he] can look after the teacher concerned’. A suffering person?
Pierre-Jean Verzelen (Les Indépendants), Senator for the Aisne, wrote a letter to Anne Genetet, Minister of Education, expressing his horror. ‘I am appalled by the refusal to accept that France is the result of the encounter between a secular and republican morality and 2000 years of Christian history,’ he wrote to her, also emphasising the value of the Advent calendar as a pedagogical tool – learning vocabulary in English, performing mathematical operations, solving puzzles, grammar rules.
Contacted by Valeurs actuelles, the senator believes that today more than ever, given the devastation woke culture has inflicted on French society, ‘we are a secular state, but we also have a sense of duty to preserve a culture and, of course, Christian roots’. With common sense, he recalled that the school calendar (school holidays, public holidays…) is itself inspired by religious holidays. The senator concluded with a quote from women’s rights activist Elisabeth Badinter: ‘A civilisation dies when it retreats’. Minister Anne Genetet should clarify her position later on Monday.