Flo said:
I'm pretty sure that there won't be much or a fight over the scarf law, especially given the fact that most muslims in France are in favor. We'll hear and read a lot of screaming and whining from extremists for a while, and it'll all die down, if only because the actual number of those ready to fight is really, really small (the last demonstration in Paris gathered around 1000 people).
I'm glad to hear it. I think this law gives the girls who are forced to wear the scarf a chance to be the same as the other kids for a while. I think it will give a chance for fro the families who might be sitting on the fence over whether or not to support extremists an excuse to back off a bit.
I think that France is actually implimenting a separation of church and state, something that Canada and the States don't have the guts to do.
And Luke, you'll notice that I'm stating my opinions as opinions, not as absolutes. America is a fantastic country, but does not have the best solution for every situation. Maybe check out what happens, and in a few years you can start a "where France went wrong" thread, or possibly a "Let's ban religous symbols in schools" thread.
originally posted by Luke
We have quite a few muslims here in the U.S., and they wear the scarves. They look rather exotic, but they don't distract me to the point where I forget what I came to the grocery store for. And I would think the mulim girls' fellow students would get accustomed to the sight.
Schools aren't grocery stores. Have you forgotten how much importance is attached by the students to what is worn in schools? How much it declares what crowd you're with? France is implimenting a practical solution to an ideological problem.
I really think that the deepest you've got into the roots of the law is from what you've read from the French member's posts. It's something that is (sadly) seen as a sterotypical American attitude, projecting American values onto foreign situations.
If it was a basic human right, I might agree. But if it's an issue of "We do it in the States, so it's wrong for them to do it differently", I'd say, watch and learn. Learn what to try, or what to avoid.
