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Wasn't it just a year ago when the French banned head scarves by muslims in public schools? With that simple edict, aren't the French stigmatizing muslims within their country. Is that law symbolic of the French attitude towards an element of their own population? How is a muslim supposed to reconcile the conflict between their religious beliefs and French law?

French banned all relgious symbols in public schools, thus, theoretically, making oppression equal for all. Is headscarf more important to a Muslim girl than yarmulke to a Yewish boy (belonging to some of more fundamentalist sects)? Christian cross probably is less important to its wearer. Anyway, I agree that the state being separated from religion means it should not care whether schoolkids wear some religious symbol or other.

That said, I don't think that religious freedom should be absolutely unrestricted. For example, I think that perpetrators of clitorectomy should be prosecuted as if they mutilated their victim in any other way, religion and custom or not. I agree with Ayaan Hirsi Ali, at least in the part about human rights always trumping freedom to exercise religious rites.

But I really believe this is much more about unemployment and general feel of lack of future than religion.
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