France not allowing religious garb in schools

[DJL 235]

This is just a little f'd up. And the world thinks the U.S. is simple-minded?

From Washington Post

PARIS, Dec. 17 -- President Jacques Chirac, warning that growing ethnic and religious divisions threatened to erode France's tradition of equality, called Wednesday for a new law that would ban Muslim girls' headscarves and all other overt religious symbols from the country's public schools.

"Secularism is not negotiable," Chirac said in a somber, half-hour, nationally televised speech. "The schools will remain secular."

"The Muslim veil, whatever name it is given, the kippa [the Jewish skullcap also known as a yarmulke], or the cross, if of manifestly excessive dimensions, don't have a place in the walls of public schools," Chirac said. He said small, discreet signs, like tiny crosses or Stars of David should be allowed.

By taking a firm line against headscarves and growing "communitarianism," Chirac was essentially following the advice of a government-appointed panel, which last week recommended the ban on veils. But Chirac today went further than the commission, saying private businesses should be allowed to ban their Muslim employees from wearing headscarves "for reasons of security or client contact," and patients at public hospitals should not be allowed to refuse treatment from doctors of the opposite sex. Some French Muslim men reportedly have refused to allow male doctors to treat their wives.

He also rejected the panel's recommendation that a Jewish and Muslim holiday be added to the school calendar, now laden with Christian holidays that few here celebrate for religious reasons.

By proposing a new nationwide ban on headscarves and other religious items, Chirac was hoping to settle a debate between diversity and equality that has raged here on and off for the last 15 years, as immigration from Muslim countries has soared making Islam now the country's second-largest religion. Since 1989, French authorities have left individual schools to decide whether Muslim girls could cover their heads, and the result has been a patchwork of regulations, with expulsions accelerating recently as more young girls from Muslim immigrant families appear to be turning toward the veil.

The debate has taken place amid been fears that Islamic extremism is growing among France's Muslim population, now estimated at between 5 and 7 million people. In his speech today, Chirac warned that "fanaticism is gaining ground."

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

[Kennedy 0]

I beat you to the punch on this one.

See "Chirac intolerant?" thread.

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
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