Inventing a French version of Islam?

France now admits it has a major problem: Islamist radical extremism.

After numerous horrifying attacks in recent years, the French government seems to acknowledge that atrocities and terrorism can be driven by religious beliefs and in fulfillment of theological commitments by self-identified Muslims.

France now seeks to reform Islam by government action. The Associated Press reports that the plan is to form a “new body” of Muslims named The Forum of Islam, which will work closely with the government “to reshape Islam in France and rid it of extremism.” All the members of this forum “will be hand-picked by the government and women will make up at least a quarter of them.”

This forum is labeled “new” because France has been trying in vain for years to deal with Islamic extremism. Since he took office, French President Emmanuel Macron has repeatedly called for a French version of Islam. More than once, he insisted, “The influence of Islamism must be eradicated from public institutions.”

But nothing has really changed, and extremism under the umbrella of Islam continues to terrify the French people. We are even told that hundreds of French Muslim citizens fought alongside jihadists in Syria. We should not be surprised.

Some claim that Macron is making a political move to please conservatives and right-wingers to secure his reelection later this year, but this seems simplistic, as people all across the political spectrum see a problem of Islamic extremism in France.

Last year, a policewoman was stabbed to death. A few months earlier, the world was shocked at the slaughter of a Catholic priest, Père Jacques Hamel. This was only 12 days after a self-identified Muslim drove a truck at full speed into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day. The result was 84 people killed and about 100 more injured. This massacre was only eight months after the “Paris attacks” on various locations that left 130 people dead and hundreds wounded. These attacks were a result of ISIS commanders calling for a coordinated wave of terror in the U.K., Germany, and France. All were rightly identified as Islamic extremist attacks, clearly driven by religious beliefs and in fulfillment of theological commitments.

The idea of an Islam for France reflects another desperate attempt by the French nation to deal with its Muslim community—the largest outside the Islamic world. The plan demonstrates that the secular government has finally been forced to acknowledge the significant role Islam plays in the life of many of its citizens. But can a government reshape or reform Islam? Should it try? Is this government’s role?

While we can all hope for successful efforts to see militant Islam substantively weakened, we should be skeptical that governments can reform ideologies. A government can redesign rhetoric about Islam and reshape Islamic interpretations by relying on liberal and progressive Muslims, but politicians can hardly achieve the reformation of Islam. Furthermore, the Islamic masses are not likely to be impressed by the French government’s official version of a new Islam that is completely compatible with modern secular values.

More fundamentally, we should be skeptical because the failure of France’s various attempts to deal with Islamic extremism shows its inability to understand a distinctive Islamic worldview. While many French Muslims would arguably criticize and condemn attacks against non-Muslims, we should think carefully about the Muslim enthusiasts who carry out terrorist attacks. Muslim zealots are driven by a uniquely theological worldview.

In this worldview, France—and the entire non-Muslim West for that matter—is the realm of Satan. For these Muslims, anything French is un-Islamic, and French values are evil. The French government is non-Muslim and thus an enemy.

In a sense, these Muslims live in France, but France does not live in them. Their hearts long for the day when France will be an Islamic state, completely subjugated to Islam’s hegemony. For these religious zealots, the act of assimilation and integration in French society is to be despised and viewed as joining the camp of the unbelievers.

This is a distinctive Islamic worldview. To understand it more, consider an event from 2015. On Nov. 13 of that year, more than 20 members of ISIS conducted several terrorist attacks in Paris, killing more than 130 people and wounding more than 350 others. In the trial of the sole surviving attacker, Salah Abdeslam, he was asked to identify himself. Instead of stating his name, he responded by declaring the Islamic confession of faith, “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is Allah’s messenger.” When the court asked him to state his profession, he declared, “I gave up my job to become an Islamic State soldier.”

This religious commitment clearly stunned secular France. Can they now create a French Islam? Sure, they can—but on paper only. Real life operates by different rules, and worldviews do matter.