... and the French wonder why people don't like them...

[strangeanimal]

France's National Assembly passes headscarf ban

(EDIT: the ban only applies to students at state-run schools. thanks to hockey_ho for pointing it out.)

what a CROCK. "conspicuous religious symbols", my ass. I'm not the most religious person out there, but give me a fucking break. a person wearing a turban, kipah, crucifix, whatever, is showing THEIR relationship to THEIR god. which is THEIR business.

is a sixteen-year-old girl in a hijab harmful to the average Pierre in Paris? of course not. but, in this brave new world, let's round up everyone wearing headscarves and turbans, because they must be some sort of religious extremist.

and why isn't there more outcry about this? simple... France, even though it has a large minority population, is a Western country, mostly Judeo-Christian. many Jews wear their skullcaps under hats. you can tuck a Star of David or crucifix pendant into your shirt... unless you're on the Grammys, most cross pendants are hardly "conspicuous". so for the average Frenchman, this isn't an issue... to them.

meanwhile, other faiths get nailed because you can't shove a turban under a fedora.

seriously, what's next? is France going to ban dark suits with white shirts because Mormons and orthodox Jews wear them?

I was never a huge fan of France before, but now? the only way i'd ever visit is at gunpoint.

Comments

[strangeanimal.livejournal.com]

is it just state-run schools? I'm seeing "French schools" in articles, which to me implies the whole country.

A personal thing that should not be displayed, or flaunted in a public school.

... but if you ask them, it's not "flaunting" at all. I have close friends who are Orthodox Jews... wearing a kipah is just what they do, it isn't a "look at me, I'm Jewish" statement.

who are these kids hurting by wearing a turban with their uniform? nobody. who is getting hurt if they're forced to take it off or switch schools? the kid.

Re:

[strangeanimal.livejournal.com]

I'll give you that on uniforms.
but it's what's behind the law that irks me... in this story (http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/12/17/france.headscarves.ap/index.html), the quote "For many French, the Islamic head scarf symbolizes Muslim militancy". I have a huge problem if that's their attitude. firstly, a hijab is no more a symbol of militancy than a kipah or a turban.
secondly, (devil's advocate here), if they *do* cause militancy, why only ban them in public schools?
the nugget of what bugs me, is that intolerance is the guiding principle of this policy IMHO.

Re:

[strangeanimal.livejournal.com]

Religion/spirituality is a very personal thing and I feel it has no place in a public setting because the risk of offending someone or appearing to invalidate their beliefs is far too great.

I guess we differ on what's an appropriate setting and what isn't... principle's the same, degree's different.

I guess coming from Quebec makes me hyper-sensitive to this kind of thing... Quebec passed laws that targeted non-French speakers, and France's law, even if it in theory targets everyone equally, clearly is aimed at the Muslim issue.

does the Muslim issue have to be addressed? sounds like it. but I think there are better ways to do it.

[just-colleen.livejournal.com]

I think that whole thing is outrageous...here in Canada we allow Muslims to wear their turbans with their RCMP uniforms, for heavens sake. It's called "diversity". Grrrrr.

[strangeanimal.livejournal.com]

yup.