I thought this was an excellent look at the French situation over at Extreme Catholic.
For those who don't know, the French are moving to ban public, visible evidence of faith in schools from any of the major religions. This is the opposite of separation of Church and State (which by the way is badly misunderstood here in the U.S.). Chirac stated (and I quote), "Secularism is one of the great conquests of the Republic. It is an element crucial to our social peace and national cohesion. We cannot let it weaken. We must work to reinforce it." To say he has a deep misunderstanding of the value of religion and the value of secularism would be an understatement.
Is this the future? France is so concerned about Islamic faith that they are willing to ban all religious sensibilities from schools (which isn't far from what we're doing in some parts of the U.S.). How does this solve anything? I think of the three monkeys, one covering his eyes, one his ears, and one his mouth. Does this solve the underlying problem? No. But at least Chirac won't have to see it. This is the perfect example of why French civilization is in decline.
I'd love to hear your comments.
Jay
I applaud the French. I do not think that anyone should be persecuted however, I do not think that asking girls in school not to wear haedscarves is persecution. This of course applies to 'berkas' as well. You have to remember where thee French came from. Before the French revolution, the Catholic Church was firmly on the side of the ruling class. They were of course the oppressors and, the church was overthrown, just like Louie and Marie. Right now in the US there is a strong tide of religiousity. I wish we could geet rid of George Bush and get someone more secular. Onee day, we will all grow up and cast off all this religious nonsense.