France to ban female students from wearing abayas in state schools

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France to ban female students from wearing abayas in state schools
bbc.com

Pupils will be banned from wearing abayas, loose-fitting full-length robes worn by some Muslim women, in France's state-run schools, the education minister has said.

The rule will be applied as soon as the new school year starts on 4 September.

France has a strict ban on religious signs in state schools and government buildings, arguing that they violate secular laws.

Wearing a headscarf has been banned since 2004 in state-run schools.

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As soon as it becomes apparent certain clothes or even hairstyles are forced on people to show they are part of a group, a ban can be discussed. Especially when they are forced on young children.

Every fundamentalist will use the same argument as you do: that these children merely want to express their religious feelings. Sadly, you can't open that door to those that won't force it on their children, to protect those of those who will.

I'm sure a righteous god won't think wearing a uniform is all that important in showing your love.

It’s not about a uniform. Every religion has a defining trait, and for Islam it’s modesty. Muslim men and women often cover their hair or don’t wear shorts, etc. For some reason this angers the French far right, who have discussed things like banning wearing longsleeves on beaches in order to stick it to Muslims. For example, there was an actual debate among French politicians to ban Muslim women from wearing wetsuits on French beaches because somehow this offended French sensibilities. You don’t find that intrusion ridiculous?

Sadly, the ones that would want to wear it to be modest will have to find another way to do that, as there are too many fundamentalists forcing people to wear it as a religious symbol. Protecting the oppressed takes precedence here, especially given the scale

Wanna make Christians switch to something other than a cross too while you’re at it? Because Christian terrorists wear crosses according to your logic. The state shouldn’t be interfering in religions or deciding what is acceptable in the faith or not. Don’t you see how dangerous that is to not separate religion and government in Europe?