Reply #47: Again, I know all that.

[jobycom]

I had a lot of Muslim friends in grad school. I don't think anyone even wore a head covering, much less a veil. And I've argued many times around here that it's a cultural and not a completely religious thing, that it's not Islam that forces women to wear complete coverings.

But some still feel like it's a religious requirement, or at least a religious practice that makes them feel better. It's not equivalent to appearing nude (although I'm not really against that, anyway, so it wasn't a good example for me) or smoking marijuana, or polygamy, where the actions were outlawed completely independent of religion. The ban comes from it being a religious practice that the French government feels uncomfortable with. I could argue that fasting might be a bad idea because it weakens a person and makes them a bad driver, and therefore it is okay to ban religious fasting (for any faith). The reasoning might be somewhat sound (at least as sound as bans on drugs and nudity), but it would clearly be motivated by a religious bias.

I'm sure the French can do what they want. It's becoming an issue here, too, though, and we both know it's going to be used to persecute and discriminate, no matter what excuses are given, just like English-only laws or laws against baggy pants or "gang" clothing. Just seems to me it goes in the opposite direction of what we should be trying to achieve, in general.