In France, Policy on Muslims Comes to a Head on Scarves

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ^ | June 26, 2003 | CHARLES FLEMING and JOHN CARREYROU

[SJackson]

LYON, France -- When 16-year-old Fatiha wore a headscarf to her public high school here earlier this year, the Muslim girl's teachers were outraged. They saw it as a divisive religious symbol and refused to let her take classes. The school's principal sought help from a higher authority: France's full-time headscarf mediator.

[Kenton]

My goodness, how intolerant! I wonder how the lefties will react to France's slap in the face of multicultural diversity...

[tdadams]

In France today, there are probably a lot of people donning face scarves just so they won't be mistaken for being French. Much better to be a Muslim than to be French these days.

[sarasota]

Headscarf mediators?! They've had to hire headscarf mediators? LOL

[50sDad]

Let me get this straight...France is so Ameriphobic (dang, I thought I had a new word, but Ixquick.com shows 11 hits!) that they have to dump "hamburger" and other words from the lexicon, but will stand by as a bazillion Muslims move in and take over the country? Take that, Mr. Frenchy Frenchman!

[B Knotts]

"But perhaps the Republic is changing," he says, "and we are the last resisters."

This guy has figured it out.

[crazykatz]

Did you know that certain Roman Catholic Churches in France allow muslims to use them for services on Friday's?

[Fishrrman]

Though Muslim, she saw headscarves as a form of "apartheid," a sexist marker to remind women of their place. At the same time, convinced that education was the best chance immigrants had of succeeding, she felt the scarves didn't justify being barred from classes.

This is on the mark. The Islamic requirement of "headcovering" for women is Islam's greatest symbol of the entire cult-religion's "apartheid" from Western civilization and mores.

So long as Islamics are allowed to separate themselves in public with such symbolism, they will never be integrated into the American culture -- or any _other_ "Western" culture, for that matter.

I believe that "extreme headcovering" of women should be _banned_ in the West, including right here in the U.S.A. Not merely discouraged, but publicly prohibited.

By "extreme headcovering" of women, I mean headwear that obscures the face and completely covers the hair. Something as simple as a scarf (or in the case of Mennonite women, a small "skullcap" or a yarmulke for a Jew) would be permitted. This would uphold the concept of religious "expression" without crossing the line to religious extremism -- which is what I consider Islam to be (and I consider _all_ forms of Islam to be "extreme" and dangerous to the West as a whole).

Regardless of our many differences with the French, they are dead right on _this_ particular issue.

Yes, yes, I know about something called The First Amendment.

But again, if we are ever to force assmilation upon Islamics here in the United States (and elsewhere in The West), the very first step will be to DE-symbolize their inherent mistreatment and subjugation of their women. And the first "step" to achieving _that_ will be to -- ahem -- "liberate" Muslim women from their [culturally] oppressive head covering.

I realize that my opinions are my own and that yours may be different. But I'm sticking to mine!

Cheers!
- John

[Savage Beast]

"We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality."

[RussianConservative]

who want to be both French and Muslim

give you guess which more important to them...and it's not France.

[88keys]

I believe that "extreme headcovering" of women should be _banned_ in the West, including right here in the U.S.A. Not merely discouraged, but publicly prohibited.

I think you're on to something there...remember the news story a few weeks ago about the Muslim woman who couldn't renew her driver's license unless she agreed to be photographed without her veil? Not that schoolgirls are too likely to be terror threats, and the woman perhaps not either, but there are security issues as well as assimilation issues here...

[dagnabbit]

I'm taking bets. How many years until the crosses are chiseled off Notre Dame?

I'm going with 14 years.

[sarasota]

Sounds like the Catholics have opened the door for the muslims to walk through and....? Wonder what's next? I'm not sure how to interpret that one.

[crazykatz]

Did you ever see the picture of the Pope kissing a great big green koran held by a mullah?

[crazykatz]

Please go to this thread and check out post 62.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/933730/posts?q=1&&page=51

[crazykatz]

BTTT