http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13031397
France bans the Islamic veil how long until it bans other forms of religious dress? Surely it's a slippery slope until it is illegal to wear even small tokens of faith such as a necklace or bracelet?
And what's to stop them eventually banning public worship? or buildings? Will religion go back to what it used to be, underground and counter-cultural? would that actually be a bad thing? The problems with the "main" religions come from their institutionalisation by the state and their enforced universal codes.
However this is not the time to discuss the benefits of underground religion, it is more the time to discuss freedom of expression of faith. how long before they don't just ban religious icons but political or sport or music and TV icons in case of offending anyone? if it time to bring in state uniforms?
Didn't the Nazis ban Jewish forms of dress? and we all know how that ended.
I feel it is important to understand the context in which this ban has been passed. Firstly, it will only affect a few thousand French Muslims, though will serve to antagonise many thousands more. Sarkozy is under a great deal of domestic pressure at the moment over various major scandals, Carla Bruni and the rise of the Far Right - I believe Marine La Pen polled very favourably in a recent Presidential poll of some description.
ReplyDeleteThus, this new ban is a rather unpleasant attempt by Sarkozy to pander to the xenophobia of certain elements of French society, trying to wrest votes back from the Far Right. Couple this with Libya and you have an unstable leader trying to prove his masculinity, albeit with Mirages rather than his penis.
Although I understand the politics behind the decision we must not be lead by an "ends justifying the means" mentality.
ReplyDeleteFascism and racism are still wrong no matter how they are used or disguised.
Also are the voters of the far right really going to be swayed by this law? lets hope they are stupid enough otherwise France may be heading the same way Holland is with its racist and dangerous MPs