Friday, December 12, 2003
Where tolerance and diversity break down
A special commission in France has come up with an unprecedented solution to a problem that has been festering for some time. The problem: a growing Muslim community, and growing public unease about it. This festered into a row over whether Muslim schoolgirls could wear a headscarf to school. President Chirac appointed a commission to come up with some answers, and the result was almost pure French. It recommends that no "overt" religious symbols be permitted in schools, and that includes scarves, Jewish skull caps and large Christian crosses. As a trade-off, the commission recommends that Jewish and Muslim holidays be added to the school calendar.
This is a perfect example of how the modern ideas of "tolerance" and "diversity" ultimately end up in a mess. "Tolerance" is supposed to mean that we allow everybody to express their culture. But France could not tolerate that, because of fears that it would permit Muslims to promote their religion (and maybe their own form of intolerance). So headscarves are out. To equalise everybody, in the name of separation of church and state, so are headcaps and crosses. But because the Jewish and Christian communities are actually rather large and powerful in France, they had to find a sop. So, in with everybody's religious holidays. How come a religious holiday is not proselytising while a headscarf is ... go figure!
A special commission in France has come up with an unprecedented solution to a problem that has been festering for some time. The problem: a growing Muslim community, and growing public unease about it. This festered into a row over whether Muslim schoolgirls could wear a headscarf to school. President Chirac appointed a commission to come up with some answers, and the result was almost pure French. It recommends that no "overt" religious symbols be permitted in schools, and that includes scarves, Jewish skull caps and large Christian crosses. As a trade-off, the commission recommends that Jewish and Muslim holidays be added to the school calendar.
This is a perfect example of how the modern ideas of "tolerance" and "diversity" ultimately end up in a mess. "Tolerance" is supposed to mean that we allow everybody to express their culture. But France could not tolerate that, because of fears that it would permit Muslims to promote their religion (and maybe their own form of intolerance). So headscarves are out. To equalise everybody, in the name of separation of church and state, so are headcaps and crosses. But because the Jewish and Christian communities are actually rather large and powerful in France, they had to find a sop. So, in with everybody's religious holidays. How come a religious holiday is not proselytising while a headscarf is ... go figure!
