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Old 03-03-2007, 12:47 AM   #36 (permalink)
Liara Covert
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Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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One thing I've noticed about secular societies is they encourage tolerance and ask people to not openly profess or demonstrate religious beliefs, yet these secualr societies don't stick always to their rules, and it can lead to a slippery slope.

Consider a case in France where school students aren't supposed to wear clothing that reflects their religion. Jews aren't supposed to wear yammakas, Muslims aren't supposed to wear head scarves, ect. A young girl was sent home because she came to school in a head scarf and refused to remove it. This resulted in much hype in the media. Her family requested exceptional treatment. This girl ended up being permitted to wear a headscarf to school. What about the clothes of other religions still banned?

Consider a case in Canada where an Indian who refused to remove his turban in his workplace for religious reasons. He was able to win a supreme court case to earn the privilege to wear his turban rather than the traditional stetson as part of his uniform with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). So much for traditional, national costumes. What did that country symbol stand for again?

Consider a case in Germany:a husband in a Middle Eastern immigrant couple decided to divorce his wife. He decided his religion enabled him to abandon her and his children without support. They had no local family or friends. The wife didn't qualify for social assistance or medical care, yet her husband thought he could base his court divorce on the highest laws of his former country. This caused more than a few issues in his adopted country. (I've heard of similar cases in Canada where immigrants assumed their home country religious authority had higher authority than the supreme court and federal laws of their adopted country)
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