Chirac aprova a lei proibindo simbolos religiosos nas escolas públicas

Os comedores de queijo que não têm o hábito de tomar banho estavam incomodados com o crescente popularidade dos véus entre as meninas seguidoras do Islam nas escolas públicas francesas.

Ao invés de aceitar o uso do véu como símbolo de uma sociedade tolerante capaz de aceitar diferentes formas de encarar o mundo, o governo francês deu como desculpa a preservação de um conceito secular de república e proibiu os estudantes franceses de usar qq coisa ligada à religião.

Pelo menos a igualdade não foi ferida, pois tb estão proibidos os kipas e crucifixos. Mas pelo jeito, fraternidade e liberdade... só da boca para fora. Espero que eles tirem tb todas as árvores de natal das escolas.

Veja tb BBC, Financial Times e Newsday.

Raramente recorto e colo um texto inteiro, mas como os textos do Financial Times saem do ar para o conteúdo pago muito rápido e, pelo tom do texto, o jornal tem interesse de que as idéias sejam divulgadas, acho que eles não vão ficar bravos comigo. BTW, concordo em gênero, número e grau.

Banning the veil
Published: December 16 2003 4:00 | Last Updated: December 16 2003 4:00

Building bridges between Islam and the west is one of the big geopolitical challenges of our time. Part of it involves accommodating Islam in the west. But France, in particular, is finding it increasingly hard to accommodate its large Muslim minority in its tradition of keeping religion out of state schools. Last week a government commission recommended a formal ban in schools on Muslim veils as well as Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses, while also creating new holidays to mark Muslim and Jewish holy days. President Jacques Chirac will give his reaction this week. If his past comments are any guide, he will support the proposed ban on "ostentatious" religious symbols.

The opposition to Muslim girls and women wearing headscarves is not racist; it goes right across the political spectrum. It comes partly from France's century-old attachment to laïcité, the separation of church and state, particularly in public education. But France is also less inclined to give special rights to groups than are other countries such as Britain which, for instance, allows turban-wearing Sikhs not to wear motor cycle helmets. France's attitude stems from its philosophy of integration, based on a direct relationship between individual and state that bypasses ethnic groups or religious communities.

Political theory, however, has taken a hammering as an increasing number of French Muslim girls have come to school veiled. Teachers have been largely left to use their own judgment on whether to exclude these pupils, and they have not enjoyed being put in this invidious position. The new commission has proposed clearer guidance: ostentatious symbols would be banned but discreet religious medals or small copies of the Koran allowed.

The issue is not easy. The views of French Muslim women should be taken into account and they appear deeply divided. Some see the veil as a symbol of female oppression. Others say it defends women by sending out a useful warning against male harassment. But, on balance, a formal ban would seem hard to implement and probably counter-productive. Teachers would have to distinguish consistently, among religious symbols, between the "ostentatious" and the "discreet". A ban would be exploited by those fundamentalists whose influence Paris is keenest to check.

The real issue in this debate is not secularity but integration. Gestures might help, though the interior minister's suggestion of US-style positive discrimination with some high-profile Muslim appointments has not gone down well. Tension between France's Muslims and Jews has grown in line with Israeli-Palestinian clashes but perhaps they could see some merit in taking each other's holy days off work.

There is a more fundamental answer. To the extent that Islam has become a channel of social protest, the obvious remedy is to improve social conditions in deprived Muslim areas.