Faux Pas Breaches Religious Freedom

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JOSEPH NEY-JUN
Staff Writer
SUSANNA AIGA
Opinions Editor

Though it is 2014, religious discrimination is still a rampant problem in first world countries. According to The Local, a French news site, a privately owned nursery fired Fatima Afif for wearing Muslim headscarves to work and refusing to remove it on Dec. 19, 2008.

The CEO based his decision on France’s official secular policy enforced by its extremely restrictive laws regarding public expressions of faith. According to The Huffington Post, in 2004, France banned Muslim head scarves in public school classrooms, and in 2010, the French government passed a law which prohibits wearing “clothing intended to conceal his/her face” in public. Wearing such a veil would constitute fines up to 200 euros. Although there are no laws regulating religious apparel in private institutions, a Paris appeals court still overturned a high court decision, ruling in favor of the Bay Loup nursery school in Nov. 2013.

The French state should not be using its secular policies to justify such blatant discrimination. As the country with the largest Muslim minority in Europe, it seems that France is targeting this particular group of individuals who are most affected by the “burqa ban.” This discrimination—often in the form of fines and identity checks—even provoked riots in July 2013 in the middle of Ramadan, but the French government still clung to its secular laws. To us Americans who enjoy our freedom of religion, this treatment of any community is unjustifiable, no matter what secular mantra political leaders dish out to the people.

Defenders of the ban use feminism to argue their case. For example, French Minister of the Interior Manuel Valls claimed that the ban “must be enforced everywhere” because it is “in the interests of women.” However, these women view their traditional garments as essential to their identity. Restricting these women’s ability to express themselves seems to be more anti-woman than feminist.

France’s recent events of discrimination remind us in the U.S. of the importance of tolerance. An article of clothing may seem meaningless to one person, but to another it could be an important tradition.