More than half of French people believe that France is a country of the White race and the Christian religion, a new survey from the prestigious IFOP has revealed.
According to the survey, 53 percent of those asked either strongly or somewhat agreed with the statement that “France is a nation of people of White race and Christian religion”.
However, almost half believe the opposite.
Another 64 percent believe that “Islam is a threat to the identity of France.”
The polling data aligns with previous polls that the vast majority of the French want a halt on immigration. Another recent Harris interactive poll that found that 61 percent of French people in favor of abolishing the RSA, which is the activity bonus and family allowances for foreigners. In the same poll, 56 percent of French people said that migrants take more from France than they contribute.
The highest consensus to be found from the IFOP polling was on whether or not those surveyed believed that questions of identity are being instrumentalized by certain political figures, with 82 percent being either strongly or somewhat in agreement that identity politics is fueling political debate, with 60 percent thinking questions of identity are discussed too much.
In a similar fashion to the significant minority who no longer consider France to be a White, Christian country, the survey showed that two-thirds of those polled were of the opinion that the identity of France was disappearing.
The poll also asked which people in history best represent the identity of their country. Unsurprisingly, the top spot is occupied by former military general and politician Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970) who was president of France from 1959 to 1969. He also established what is now the “Fifth Republic” in 1958.
Compared with the 37 percent who voted for de Gaulle, Napoleon placed in a distant second at 15 percent. The rest of the top ten was dominated by cultural figures, including some figures of lesser international resonance, such as comedian Michel Gérrad Joseph Collucci (1944-1986), a household name in France under his stage name Coluche.
Joan of Arc barely made it into the top ten in ninth position, just ahead of Gustave Eiffel.
