Comments

Entry: How Far is "Too Far"? Thursday, September 01, 2005

In recent efforts to stop the spread of terrorism, many schools, universities, and even entire countries have begun to place restrictions on what types of religious symbols can be worn.

Last year France passed a law banning "signs and dress that conspicuously show the religious affiliation of students," but many believe it voilates basic human rights:

http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2004/02/26/france7666.htm

Several French students were expelled for breaking this rule:

http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2004/10/muslim-girls-expelled-from-french.php

http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2004/11/french-school-expels-three-sikh-boys.php

And some have come up with unique ways to adapt:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/this_world/4352171.stm

In November of last year, three boys were expelled from a Malaysian school for wearing turbans. The government doesn't allow the wearing of any religious symbols in order to have peace between their different religious groups in the country, and also to slow the spread of Conservative Islam. (Since when is stopping the spread of religion a government's responsibility?):

http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2005/01/danish-court-allows-employer-to-ban.php

In January of this year, a Danish supermarket chain was allowed to prohibit their employees from wearing headscarves:

http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2005/01/danish-court-allows-employer-to-ban.php

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4196497.stm

After a region in Germany prohibited Muslim teachers from wearing headscarves, the rule backfired when a court ruled that Catholic nuns also had to remove THEIR headscarves:

http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2004/10/german-high-court-headscarf-ban.php

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4005931.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3731368.stm

Turkey for many years has prohibited headscarves in universities, despite the fact that the majority of the Turkish people disagree with the law:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4292771.stm

So what do you all think about these rulings? I think that they will only ENCOURAGE terrorism. The last thing that prospective terrorists need is legitimate reasons to cause trouble, and unfair laws to use to convince people to take drastic actions to preserve their freedoms.

Also as a pentecostal female, who does not cut her hair, and will not wear pants, I wonder how these types of decisions effect Pentecostals in countries such as France. Will I one day have to battle not only my individual school, but also the legislation of my country, in order to preserve my sons or daughters right to wear what they believe is pleasing to God?

4 comments


	bunkerangs September 6, 2005 01:40 PM PDT thank you for the link...i went to the bbc's and i understand it better now. all i can say is, you have to understand the politics behind it. yes, i guess, the govt has no right to dictate what can be or cannot be worn, but here's the quote that i think is very important due to the multi racial make up of malaysia. "The Malaysian government does not allow overt religious symbols in its schools. It is anxious to prevent friction between the country's different groups and discourage the spread of conservative Islam." as for wearing the turban, which turns out is actually nothing related to sikhism...they can wear what we call a songkok, which is good enough. to be fair, i guess, you have to live there and understand the psychological factor behind that decision. other than that, my assumption is right. you can basically wear any religious symbol so long as it's not to the extreme. whether this is fair or not, it all depeneds on how you loonat it...because the students have other options too..not just wearing the serban as it's properly called. they could wear the skull cap, the black songkok..all of which covers the sunnah where one has to cover one's head.


	The Don September 4, 2005 10:10 AM PDT I am waiting for the government to cross to the private sphere and ban religious symbols in religious schools altogether. We haven't had this much yet in the US, but it will come eventually. I see a lot of different symbols here in the DC area, as it is so diverse, and none of it is bothersome, but it probably is to some people. You are right, it isn't the role of government to stop the spread of religion. They can only stop individuals who are a clear threat to its security. Good post, and good for standing up for you ideas!


	Jana September 2, 2005 10:28 AM PDT Bunkerangs: Here are some other links about the ban on turbans in Malaysia: http://www.religionandpolicy.org/show.php?p=1.1.1420&PHPSESSID=19f094ef3ab596ea12364bdc1f998b80 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4034879.stm http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0WDQ/is_2004_Nov_24/ai_n7582199


	bunkerangs September 1, 2005 02:22 PM PDT the article about the malaysia students came as a surprise. i came from the region and well, as far as i know they are all very tolerant of religious symbols. if that is the case, then the muslim girls would not be allowed to wear the headscarves there too...unless we're talking about northern malaysia which is controlled by PAS...tried looking for the article but couldn't find it to be certain. but like i said..it is pretty strange coz the govt there are very tolerant.

Leave a Comment:

Name

Homepage (optional)

Comments