“When you walk into a classroom, you shouldn’t be able to identify the pupils’ religion just by looking at them,”
What a dumb fucking reason. Really, that’s the best he could come up with? Why not? What’s so bad about knowing someone’s religion, when they are obviously not shy about it?
I get banning religious symbols from schools, because the institutes themselves are supposed to be non-religious (seperation of state and church and so on), but if the students themselves want to express their religion, let them.
Before being muslim you are French. Disallowing any religious symbols allow people to bond easily because they are not blocked by religion.
They can see something else at school, it allows them to widen their perspective. Either, since childhood, the only thing they’ll do is practice a religion their parents have forced unto them.
After high school, I see no problems about showing your religious symbols because normally at this point of your life, you are educated about a lot of things and able to choose for yourself…
That’s nationalist at best. Why is French more important than Muslim? Because they write the laws? Doesn’t that seem a little unfair?
I hate organized religion, but I don’t give a shit what someone does if it doesn’t hurt anyone else. I also hate authoritarianism that limits people’s options and attempts to force then into some sort of cultural hegymony.
In the Americas (both he us and Canada), we forces native Americans to attend schools to attempt to remove their culture and make them “American.” This has generally been viewed as a horrible atrocity. Hopefully France doesn’t attempt to follow the mistakes of history.
France literally gave me everything: free school, free healthcare, open culture for all, it has literally been a super important part of who I am today thanks to all the things I got access to for free.
It’s the true country of freedom, with intellectuals that paved the way for the American independence, the first to assert the importance of the humans over religious dogma and violence.
You just want to get rid of this because wearing religious symbol « don’t hurt anyone ». Well, let me tell you the truth, those little girls don’t know why they have to wear those scarves. They don’t know that this is a symbol against women’s rights because they weren’t educated about it, so yes it does hurt people.
So yes, this is a nationalist POV, does this make my point less valid ?
EDIT: you are really rooting for this ?? Here’s what those symbols really mean.
France exists as much as Islam exists. It’s a made up belief that enough people agree to follow the rules of. Before modern times, borders were basically invisible and could be crossed freely. Many wars were fought because borders couldn’t be defined well, because they’re made up. I fact, Islam was originally created as a state and religion together as one, so it exists at least as much as France.
Can you touch it any more than Islam though? You can touch ground it says is it’s own, but that was called another thing before and will be called something else after. It’s not called France. There is nothing fundamentally “French” about the ground. If I take a scoop of dirt from France and take it to Germany, it doesn’t maintain it’s France-ness. It isn’t any more real than money is. It’s a useful concept that we all agree to believe in, but it’s not fundamental. The government is something you can touch I guess, but the same is true for leadership in Islam.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but people in other countries (like Germany) where they are allowed to display religious symbols are able to bond just fine. If you can’t “bond” with someone because they’re wearing a cross on a chain or cover their head with religious clothing, that sounds like a you-issue.
Regardless of why they practice their religion, it’s not up to you or the state to tell them how to practice it. Sure some are forced into it by their parents, but banning religious symbols in schools isn’t going to fix that. What it does do however, is stop students from practicing a religion they freely chose.
This law is made by people who are intimidated by things they don’t understand and that probably have their roots in racism and islamophobia.
People in Germany have trouble to “bond” though. Unless you want to ignore the multitude of troubles some immigrants (even second and third generation) face here. To deny these also have to do with religious conservatism isn’t helpful.
That some of the children here are still forced into religion, sometimes living in a basically parallel society, is a problem that shouldn’t simply be brushed aside.
I agree. I’m American and live in an area with a large Indian immigrant diaspora and I’m able to “bond” with them just fine. Many of them wear religious symbols and wear every day, but they’re just normal people. They dress differently, but so do many non religious people also.
The specific religious traditions matter though. The context and rules surrounding covering of girls and women are a more problematic matter. The same goes for other religious practices that are rooted in values that have no place in a secular and more or less egalitarian state.
You have a very odd understanding of what “secular state” means. It doesn’t mean that the state can dictate where or how you’re allowed to express you religion. It doesn’t mean that some parts of religion are to be tolerated, where as those that you see as bad can be forbidden at will.
All it means, is that the state institutions, can’t force you to partake in a religion or activities related to that religion. Kids who voluntarily want to express their religion are free to do so. Whether that kid is forced into following that religion, is not an issue of a “secular state”.
It also means a certain collection of values. And having rules for girls and women that include them having to cover their hair and body “because religion” is going against those values.
And yes, it absolutely does matter in a secular state whether people forcing their children into religious beliefs. At least in school the children should learn that these rules only exist in the minds of their parents or communities. Freedom also means to be free to choose. And grooming your children into religious practices is not freedom.
You can’t have a parallel religious law system in a secular state. So there absolutely should be pressure on people to accept that religious “rules” have no power there.
I think you underestimate the influence of religious symbols. It’s not just any type of clothing. It’s a tool for religious communities that has considerable impact, especially when your parents make you wear it, it has beliefs attached to it and is easily visible to everyone around you.
I mean parents so have a lot of freedom to raise their children as they see fit. And I think that is a good thing. I would not do a lot of things that other people do, but it’s totally in the rights of people to raise their children religiously, and that can include wearing certain kinds of clothes.
Well, that’s were we disagree. I don’t think parents should be free to raise their child however they want to. And it’s also not in their rights in every country.
So much for freedom of religion.
What a dumb fucking reason. Really, that’s the best he could come up with? Why not? What’s so bad about knowing someone’s religion, when they are obviously not shy about it?
I get banning religious symbols from schools, because the institutes themselves are supposed to be non-religious (seperation of state and church and so on), but if the students themselves want to express their religion, let them.
Before being muslim you are French. Disallowing any religious symbols allow people to bond easily because they are not blocked by religion.
They can see something else at school, it allows them to widen their perspective. Either, since childhood, the only thing they’ll do is practice a religion their parents have forced unto them.
After high school, I see no problems about showing your religious symbols because normally at this point of your life, you are educated about a lot of things and able to choose for yourself…
That’s nationalist at best. Why is French more important than Muslim? Because they write the laws? Doesn’t that seem a little unfair?
I hate organized religion, but I don’t give a shit what someone does if it doesn’t hurt anyone else. I also hate authoritarianism that limits people’s options and attempts to force then into some sort of cultural hegymony.
In the Americas (both he us and Canada), we forces native Americans to attend schools to attempt to remove their culture and make them “American.” This has generally been viewed as a horrible atrocity. Hopefully France doesn’t attempt to follow the mistakes of history.
France literally gave me everything: free school, free healthcare, open culture for all, it has literally been a super important part of who I am today thanks to all the things I got access to for free.
It’s the true country of freedom, with intellectuals that paved the way for the American independence, the first to assert the importance of the humans over religious dogma and violence.
You just want to get rid of this because wearing religious symbol « don’t hurt anyone ». Well, let me tell you the truth, those little girls don’t know why they have to wear those scarves. They don’t know that this is a symbol against women’s rights because they weren’t educated about it, so yes it does hurt people.
So yes, this is a nationalist POV, does this make my point less valid ?
EDIT: you are really rooting for this ?? Here’s what those symbols really mean.
because france is a real thing that actually exists.
France exists as much as Islam exists. It’s a made up belief that enough people agree to follow the rules of. Before modern times, borders were basically invisible and could be crossed freely. Many wars were fought because borders couldn’t be defined well, because they’re made up. I fact, Islam was originally created as a state and religion together as one, so it exists at least as much as France.
nah, the name might be made up but you can touch it.
Can you touch it any more than Islam though? You can touch ground it says is it’s own, but that was called another thing before and will be called something else after. It’s not called France. There is nothing fundamentally “French” about the ground. If I take a scoop of dirt from France and take it to Germany, it doesn’t maintain it’s France-ness. It isn’t any more real than money is. It’s a useful concept that we all agree to believe in, but it’s not fundamental. The government is something you can touch I guess, but the same is true for leadership in Islam.
Yes
Sorry to burst your bubble, but people in other countries (like Germany) where they are allowed to display religious symbols are able to bond just fine. If you can’t “bond” with someone because they’re wearing a cross on a chain or cover their head with religious clothing, that sounds like a you-issue. Regardless of why they practice their religion, it’s not up to you or the state to tell them how to practice it. Sure some are forced into it by their parents, but banning religious symbols in schools isn’t going to fix that. What it does do however, is stop students from practicing a religion they freely chose.
This law is made by people who are intimidated by things they don’t understand and that probably have their roots in racism and islamophobia.
People in Germany have trouble to “bond” though. Unless you want to ignore the multitude of troubles some immigrants (even second and third generation) face here. To deny these also have to do with religious conservatism isn’t helpful.
That some of the children here are still forced into religion, sometimes living in a basically parallel society, is a problem that shouldn’t simply be brushed aside.
I agree. I’m American and live in an area with a large Indian immigrant diaspora and I’m able to “bond” with them just fine. Many of them wear religious symbols and wear every day, but they’re just normal people. They dress differently, but so do many non religious people also.
The specific religious traditions matter though. The context and rules surrounding covering of girls and women are a more problematic matter. The same goes for other religious practices that are rooted in values that have no place in a secular and more or less egalitarian state.
You have a very odd understanding of what “secular state” means. It doesn’t mean that the state can dictate where or how you’re allowed to express you religion. It doesn’t mean that some parts of religion are to be tolerated, where as those that you see as bad can be forbidden at will.
All it means, is that the state institutions, can’t force you to partake in a religion or activities related to that religion. Kids who voluntarily want to express their religion are free to do so. Whether that kid is forced into following that religion, is not an issue of a “secular state”.
It also means a certain collection of values. And having rules for girls and women that include them having to cover their hair and body “because religion” is going against those values.
And yes, it absolutely does matter in a secular state whether people forcing their children into religious beliefs. At least in school the children should learn that these rules only exist in the minds of their parents or communities. Freedom also means to be free to choose. And grooming your children into religious practices is not freedom.
This is why not
“Secularism means the freedom to emancipate oneself through school,” Mr Attal told TF1
Seems pretty reasonable to me.
Yes the freedom to do so. You should be free to NOT do that though. You should be free from pressure in both directions.
You can’t have a parallel religious law system in a secular state. So there absolutely should be pressure on people to accept that religious “rules” have no power there.
Yes but forbidding the choice to wear a cross necklace or a headscarf is not exactly freedom is it?
Nobody is arguing for a parallel law system
I think you underestimate the influence of religious symbols. It’s not just any type of clothing. It’s a tool for religious communities that has considerable impact, especially when your parents make you wear it, it has beliefs attached to it and is easily visible to everyone around you.
I mean parents so have a lot of freedom to raise their children as they see fit. And I think that is a good thing. I would not do a lot of things that other people do, but it’s totally in the rights of people to raise their children religiously, and that can include wearing certain kinds of clothes.
Well, that’s were we disagree. I don’t think parents should be free to raise their child however they want to. And it’s also not in their rights in every country.