.EVERY FEW years the French get worked up concerning an item of theological clothing that they deem inappropriate in the class. This moment a conflict has broken out at la rentru00e9e, the start of the brand new academic year, over a federal government decision to outlaw coming from state schools the abaya, a full-length robe used by some Muslim women for discreetness. To people in nations with a heritage of liberal multiculturalism, the ban resembles an unacceptable breach of the right to religious expression.
To guardians of a strict version of French secularism, it is actually a measure required to defend the republic from spiritual interference. Why is actually France therefore anxious regarding Muslim wear its colleges?