.EVERY FEW years the French obtain developed about a product of religious clothing that they deem improper in the classroom. This moment a dispute has burst out at la rentru00e9e, the beginning of the new school year, over a federal government decision to prohibit from state institutions the abaya, an uncut robe put on through some Muslim girls for modesty. To individuals in nations along with a heritage of liberal multiculturalism, the restriction appears like an unwanted infraction of the right to spiritual expression.
To guardians of a rigorous model of French secularism, it is actually a step necessary to protect the state from spiritual disturbance. Why is actually France thus anxious concerning Muslim dress in its universities?