French Muslims Upset With Rules

There has been a pretty good controversy brewing in France about the "rights" of Muslims to practice their religion in contradiction of the rules and laws of France. The latest round of the battle appears to be becoming the right of Muslim girls to were a veil in the French public schools.

One of the things that the French have done very well is to keep their government secular. There is very little religious influence on governmental decisions. Even on a personal level, the leadership never seems to take their cues from any belief other than pure rationalism. On occasion, their dogmatic adherence to secularism has led them to make poor decisions (Iraq was a prime example. For the French, the rational response was to oppose the overthrow of Saddam because of the commercial ties. However any assessment based on any form of values of right and wrong would have led them to support the US, but this is all a topic for another day).

The French public schools were set up as centers of scientific, secular reasoning and education. They don't teach religion of any type. The French government is so anti-religion-in-schools that it is trying to pass a law banning skullcaps and crosses along with the veil (which is the right thing to do, in my opinion).

The Muslim students do have other options, although the other options do have costs. They can attend private, Islamic schools. They can graduate via correspondence schools, as the first person in the article did. It may not be free, but there are other options.

However, if they are going to take advantage of the state funded educational system, they have to understand that they, like everyone else, must follow the rules. If the dress code says no veils - no veils. If the graduation requirements say that you must take biology and must read Voltaire - you have to do it if you want to graduate. Perhaps being exposed to the ideas of the rest of humanity might not be that bad a thing.

France does allow a great deal of religious freedom. If a Muslim woman wants to wear a burqa while walking down the streets of Paris, that's her right. But as soon as she wants to take advantage of the benefits of a state funded institution, she needs to conform to the rules of the institution.

Freedom of religion is not freedom from rules. Your freedom does not extend to the point of tearing apart the rules that allow protect everyone's freedom. We start with the veils, but what's next? Do we stop school five times a day to allow the Muslim students to pray? Do we close schools for every religious holiday?

Schools have a mission of educating students. France has decided that they want their educational system (when the teachers aren't on strike) to be extremely rational and secular. They attempt to teach their students the skills that they will need to compete and survive in today's global environment.

If banning the veil (or the skullcap or the cross) leads to the establishment of more religious schools, so be it. Those schools still have to achieve the same mission - creating well-rounded, well-educated graduates. If the religious schools fail in that mission, then they will eventually lose support.

At least the French government is thinking clearly on this issue.