Pupils will be banned from wearing abayas, loose-fitting full-length robes worn by some Muslim women, in France’s state-run schools, the education minister has said.

The rule will be applied as soon as the new school year starts on 4 September.

France has a strict ban on religious signs in state schools and government buildings, arguing that they violate secular laws.

Wearing a headscarf has been banned since 2004 in state-run schools.

  • Cornpop@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I get this completely. This is nothing new for France, they have been blocking Christians from wearing crosses and Jews from wearing kippah’s for a very long time, it’s only reasonable that the Muslim population gets treated equally. Schools should remain completely secular, I am in complete agreement with France there.

    • bouh@lemmy.world
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      They banned crosses for Christians because they ban Muslim headwear. They had to do something for Christian or it would have been the most obvious racism.

      • Cornpop@lemmy.world
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        Read the article. Crosses have been banned for a long time, before the Muslim headwear.

        • assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world
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          There’s an exception for the most common kind of religious expression for Christians. Small crosses are permitted. If you want to be fair, you need to ban them too.

      • Cornpop@lemmy.world
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        Read the article. Crosses have been banned for a long time, before the Muslim headwear.

  • Moyer1666@lemmy.ml
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    I’m not sure I like this. I sort of get not allowing religious symbols to be worn, but you’re forcing people to dress in a certain way. I don’t think the government should be able to do that

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      This is where I landed. They should simply continue to permit children to remove it at school if they choose, while they are under the guardianship of the state.

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      I feel like conflicted is the “correct” way to feel. On one hand, the government is literally enforcing clothing laws. On the other hand, this may prevent children from being forced into something they did not choose. I feel like a religion wrapping up your child in cloth so they lose their individually as a human being is cult-like behavior.

      It would be better if the religion just wasn’t allowed to make them do this, but then they would just “suggest” women do this. This “suggestion” of course is actually coercion at best.

        • Rukmer@lemmy.world
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          The accompanying image appears to be showing a head covering? I am visually impaired though so correct me if I’m wrong.

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              This article clarifies that they sometimes do and sometimes do not include a head covering, so thanks for that clarification. The information under the rationale heading is what I had in mind when making my comment. I was in a Christian cult that controlled the way we dressed, and wanted us all to be very uniform (no personality, that would detract from God’s message) and modest (we’d be tempting men of skirts weren’t long, etc.).

      • arc@lemm.ee
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        France has been enforcing secularism since the turn of the 20th century. If you turn up with a turban, or a yarmulke, or a cross you’d be sent home too. If parents feel so aggrieved that the state disallows religious symbolism & clothing on state property they can send their kids to a private school.

        • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
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          I’m playing Devil’s advocate honestly. I’m much more comfortable with Quebec’s take than France’s (which is similar but one step above, in Quebec it only applies to government employees in a position of authority)

  • EvilHaitianEatingYourCat@lemmy.world
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    I am mildly in favor of that. Kids can’t decide what to wear it’s their parents who do.

    This will simply reduce the artificial divide between those wear that type of stuff and who doesn’t.

    I also don’t believe it’s a freedom endangering, because they’re aren’t spontaneously people wearing abayas or burka or whatever just for the pleasure of it, I interpret the fact of wearing it as religious propaganda and artificial separation.

    • visak@lemmy.world
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      I don’t know the law in France, but I’d worry it’ll cause religious parents to just keep their kids out of state school and do some form of private religious education, causing a greater divide. The best counter to these attitudes is exposure to diversity and other viewpoints. Maybe the kids going to school and seeing that there are other ways is better.

      • Estebiu@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        “Maybe the kids going to school and seeing there are other ways is better”. Yeah, but they aren’t the ones deciding how they dress. They parents are the ones that do.

        • visak@lemmy.world
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          Of course. And if the parents dress them in that and keep them isolated the kids will pass that on to the next generation. If the kids go to school and see there are other options, maybe they’ll choose to be different when they’re independent or raise their kids differently. This is why cults always seek to isolate their members – exposure to diversity breaks the cycle.

    • mycroft@lemmy.world
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      Nah, girls just won’t be sent to schools.

      This will be “the last straw” for many of their fathers.

      Some will go, and their parents will begrudgingly accept (or turn a blind eye to their daughter dressing down as soon as she’s near school.). The majority reaction will be similar to what you see in other nations that don’t respect women enough to let them keep their autonomy.

      • babeuh@lemmy.world
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        That’ll get the fathers at least 6 months in prison in France, probably more for negligence etc.

        And homeschooling requires a very good reason why they can’t go to school (pretty much always a health condition, and that needs proof) there are annual inspections and every other year the reason for homeschooling is verified.

      • hh93@lemm.ee
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        Just not sending the children isn’t an option in pretty much every place in Europe

    • Lols [they/them]@lemm.ee
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      can you explain why other people wearing culturally traditional clothing is “religious propaganda and artificial separation”? do you feel this way about other traditional garb, or is it just the scary muslims?

      • EvilHaitianEatingYourCat@lemmy.world
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        Yes i can explain. Literally nobody else does it. And if someone would, then my position will be the same: wear regular clothes in public institutions.

        • Lols [they/them]@lemm.ee
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          i think enforcing the local culture by telling women what they can and cannot wear is bad, actually

          can you explain why you disagree with that stance

          • EvilHaitianEatingYourCat@lemmy.world
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            we are talking about underage girls here, not exactly adult “women” so I reject the idea that those girls could choose/buy their outfit. Regardless, I disagree because:

              1. We are choosing between either parents imposing a robe, or the state imposing a robe; wearing that robe would clearly differentiate the ethnicity/religious background of the pupil, while wearing regular “whatever everyone else is wearing” would help the integration and erase the boundaries. Note that parents cannot just withdraw the kid out of school, so they have to integrate; private education is almost never an option
              1. It avoids the whole can of worms like “professor didn’t like my muslim robe, that’s why I got bad grades”
              1. Personal take: I HATE religion. Yes, churches too, I have enough hate for every religious nut out there. And no need to tell me “abaya is not a religious dress”, who are you fooling.

            Ideally, I agree, State should just fuck up and let people live. But that’s not taking into account any local context, and nobody lives in a vacuum, people live in some particular society. As an immigrant myself, I do think that it’s best for foreigners to integrate to host country as much as possible.

        • TopRamenBinLaden@sh.itjust.works
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          What about the Jews and their Yamakas? The Catholics and their Rosary? Other religions have certain dress codes and accessories, too. They are just not always a full body covering.

          I would hope that schools in France ban other religious items like those if they are banning Muslim clothing and accessories.

    • bouh@lemmy.world
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      If there was a uniform at school it would be different. Here it’s fashion police. Specifically targeted at Arab culture.

      It’s an atheist theocracy. Also called fascism.

      • EvilHaitianEatingYourCat@lemmy.world
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        It’s obviously targeted, but at religion not a specific ethnic group. Moreover, that law will make those pupils look like anyone else, so if anything, this will reduce the stigma

        • bouh@lemmy.world
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          It’s not targeted at religion because it’s not a religious dress. Ergo it’s a culture that’s targeted and it’s blatant racism.

          Stigmatising people for their culture or religion never integrate them.

          We should teach fascists how to read what’s written on our townhall though.

          • EvilHaitianEatingYourCat@lemmy.world
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            It’s clearly associated with religion, so technical details do not matter. This law is literally erasing the difference between all, stop repeating the same argument guys, it’s not stigmatizing anyone because they all damn look the same

  • mycroft@lemmy.world
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    For a 200 year old law, it’s pretty straight forward. And for all it’s flaws, the Nth revolution didn’t like the Catholic church for … reasons, so they wanted to make a law to get them out of politics and make them liable for their shenanigans. Thankfully they didn’t discriminate when they wrote the law.

    https://www.gouvernement.fr/sites/default/files/contenu/piece-jointe/2017/02/libertes_et_interdits_eng.pdf

    1. PROHIBITIONS AND LIMITS TO INDIVIDUAL FREEDOMS IN THE FRAMEWORK OF “LAÏCITÉ”

     The principle of secularism means that the State and religious organisations are separate. There is therefore no state-run public worship. The State neither recognises, nor subsidises, nor salaries any form of worship. Exceptions and adjustments to the ban on funding are defined in the legislation and case-law; they concern in particular chaplaincies, which are paid for by the State1

     No religion can impose its prescriptions on the Republic. No religious principle can be invoked for disobeying the law.

    • TGhost [She/Her]@lemmy.ml
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      Laîcite is the right for each, to practice his/her religion, without the state interfering, if not against laws and in the respect concerning other peoples. Without being prosecuted for this…

      They now change the word to be against Muslims in France. Because “laicite” is always use against them.

      Novlangue.

    • assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world
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      No religion can impose its prescriptions on the Republic. No religious principle can be invoked for disobeying the law.

      I don’t see how wearing cultural clothing would be imposing anything. I have Indian heritage – would I be banned from wearing punjabis in public, despite it having no religious bearing at all?

      • ClumZy@sh.itjust.works
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        You’re not from the religion that has been plaguing the country with terrorism for years, that’s the difference. I know it’s cultural, but we have history. Something like 2 years ago a teacher got beheaded. Since then we’re seeing lots of “cultural expression” in schools. This is not the french way. In France you act like French, period.

        • assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world
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          I was unaware that everyone from that religion was a terrorist and supported that beheading. The cornerstone of liberty and democracy relies on not judging people by their heritage, culture, nor religion. It’s unconscionable to persecute by association.

          All this will do is create more tension and resentment. It isn’t how you end terrorism. It’s how you create it. If you want to maintain a philosophy of “in France you act French”, so be it. But recognize in doing so, you’re adopting the same way of thinking as America’s conservatives. And that should give you significant pause.

    • bouh@lemmy.world
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      Except banning anything at school is the opposite of what’s written here: the Republic forbid wearing some dress because it’s wrongly associated with religion.

      The government is turning atheism into an oppressive religion.

    • Lols [they/them]@lemm.ee
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      if the state doesnt recognise any form of worship, why are they seemingly banning perceived symbols of worship? how does any of the law you quoted justify banning folks from even wearing perceived religious symbols?

      unless this isnt a religious symbol anyway, in which case the above law is even less relevant and this is a blatant case of cultural discrimination

  • jerd@lemmy.world
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    Religious freedom is a human right. Self determination is a human right. As long as whatever you do does not cause a negative impact on other people (see the second right) or society at large, then gtfo.

    • gnygnygny@lemm.ee
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      There is no “second right” in France. The law is simple : Don’t wear visible religious sign at school. There are private religious schools if you disagree with the public system.

      • bric@lemm.ee
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        Is it so insane to think there could be a school with both religious and areligious people at the same time? A secular school that doesn’t support a religion, but allows students to express themselves how they choose? When did that become a radical idea?

        • gnygnygny@lemm.ee
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          It’s not insane, but this separation has been done in 1905. In France the state is separated from the church (and by extension the religious). It’s not radical it takes roots in the principle of equality.

          • bric@lemm.ee
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            Separation of church and state is always a good thing, I’m not arguing against that, but this feels like a whole different level. If anything, this is the state taking an active role in changing the rules of the church. That’s not separation, that’s state sponsored atheism

            • gnygnygny@lemm.ee
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              The public schools are the one from the state. Those one are separate from the church. But everybody can go tothe private schools those can be religious or not.

              That’s secularism, not atheism.

    • Estebiu@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      “Self determination is a human right” There’s nothing I agree more on. Unfortunately some muslim communities do not agree, and the men and the women aren’t on the same level. Many women are forced to port the abaya and other vests that cover their figure in entirety, and I don’t think they should be forced to if they don’t want to. 85% of the muslim women in France that I know do not want to port it, but they’re obligated by their family. Banning it entirely is not the perfect solution, but it’s a step in the the direction of eradicating religions in France. The time of Christianity and Islam is way beyond us.

      • Lols [they/them]@lemm.ee
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        i like the slow stumble from “self-determination is a human right” to “eradicating religions in france”

        “85% of the muslim women in france ᵗʰᵃᵗ ᶦ ᵏⁿᵒʷ” really adds to the experience too, thank you

        • Estebiu@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          Yeah, sorry, I didn’t exprime myself correctly here. Let me rephrase it:

          If you want to be christian or muslim, please be, I don’t have nothing against you. But I’m not ok with parents forcing their religion down the throats of their kids.

          And, let’s face it, religion it’s at an all time low, especially with newer generations like mine, and I don’t like how boomers force their kids to “go to church”, “dress in a certain manner”, ecc, when the kids don’t even believe.

          • SCB@lemmy.world
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            Parents get to raise their kids. For instance, your parents raised you to believe that stripping someone’s rights protects their rights.

            They were wrong to do that, but they get to do that

            • Estebiu@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              My parents are Catholics, and it’s also for that that I’ve begun disliking religions altogether.

              Is banning dresses at a state-level a thing that shouldn’t ever happen? Yes.

              Do I agree with the banning of a robe that strips women of their identity? Still yes.

              We humans are contradictory existencies

              • SCB@lemmy.world
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                Lol I like to joke that nothing turns you against Catholicism (or religion in general) like growing up Catholic.

                I’m a hardliner on freedom and (safe) expression, full stop, but I def get where you’re coming from.

    • Aux@lemmy.world
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      You can practice your religion inside your home. Once you’re out in public you should respect others and hide your religion away. This is the way!

      • Darthjaffacake@lemmy.world
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        Not having to hide who you are is a human right, I get where stuff like this is coming from but if there was a rule to hide all symbols of sexualities to protect people it’d become pretty obvious that it’s homophobic. Being able to exist in public shouldn’t require making changes to yourself.

      • Flyswat@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        I don’t deny that there are occurrences where some girls are forced. What about the 95% others?

        You can’t put forth a law punishing the majority for a “likely”. What happened to the “Liberté Egalité Fraternité” which this liberticide law is obviously trampling?

        The population has been fed the islamophobic narrative long enough to have such laws pass without anybody thinking about how ridiculous they are (replace hijab/abaya with dreadlocks or other piece of clothing… What do other people care?). The divide is so deep and constantly maintained by the politicians who, since they find no real answers the actual problems plaguing the day to day life of citizen, prefer to turn them against each other: divide to better rule.

        • SCB@lemmy.world
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          France has never once, in the history of the country, ever given half a shit about doing the right thing or not disenfranchising people.

          They have a very cool history but France is a shit show top to bottom.

          Basically all of their governing tenets only exist to prevent the French from just living in a state of constant revolution.

            • SCB@lemmy.world
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              Never said it was and never would. Every country has its crazy shit. France’s is just very visible.

              As an American, I can relate to that.

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        name a video game that doesn’t have some element of religion in it. pac man? ghosts = belief in afterlife. space invaders? I’d call “belief in aliens” a religious belief of sorts. bubble bobble? maybe?

        you also gotta reprint every single piece of American paper money.

        what about my tarot card collection? you gonna lock me in jail because I think the art is cool?

        what about how I listen to Bach or Mozart in the bath?

        you gonna arrest me for saying “Jesus fucking christ” when my cat brings up a hairball?

        I also enjoy “what we do in the shadows”, Yellowjackets, home alone, lord of the rings, dune… all banned by you.

        Even chess has a bishop, king and queen…

        There’s no need to be a redditeur about it, nearly everything is a religious experience or adjacent, and I say that as a secular person and atheist myself.

  • MildPudding@lemmy.world
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    Wow. As a religious minority it’s incredibly depressing to see how many people on here support this violation of religious liberty.

    • TheGoodKall@lemm.ee
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      Yeah I agree with you. It’s one thing to say the school can’t promote a religious creed to the pupils, it is another to limit self-expression of dress when it doesn’t impact other students

    • SuddenDownpour@sh.itjust.works
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      It’s been part of France’s political culture that religious signification has no place in public institutions. Given that Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Britain offer ways to religious groups to punish others through the legal system for not accepting their criteria regarding what constitutes legitimate criticism [*], but France doesn’t, I’d argue that France is doing something right.

      In 2018, a youth in Spain was condemned to pay 480€ for publishing an edited photograph of a Christ image with his own face.

      This event emboldened fanatic religious organizations, which sought charges against an actor for saying “I shit on God and Virgin Mary!” in a restaurant. Fortunately he wasn’t declared guilty, but he suffered a judicial process of 2 years. This doesn’t mean they didn’t achieve their goal: they sent everyone the message that you should think twice the next time you consider you have freedom of expression.

      If you let religious people think their beliefs must be protected from any criticism, many of them will start to see their privilege as the norm, and eventually encroach the freedoms of everyone else.

      • finkrat@lemmy.world
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        France may be good for not respecting a religion and disallowing abuse of religious systems that would attack the freedom of non-religious/minority-religious citizens, but are going to the opposite side of this problem. Abayas don’t hurt anyone and, from what I can tell/correct me if wrong, are used as a religious observation. France is going out of their way to impose restrictions on elements that are generally harmless that these people may see as a religious necessity, attacking the freedom of religious citizens. There has to be a balance and they’re off on the other arc of the pendulum swing here.

        • SuddenDownpour@sh.itjust.works
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          Abayas don’t hurt anyone

          Enforcing Muslim girls and women to hide their hair does definitely hurt someone: those who want to leave religion. It is a very common problem for ex-Muslim women and teenagers to suffer harassment both at home and elsewhere from bigoted Muslims who think they do not have the right to apostate. As soon as you stop complying with an enforced form of clothing, you’re signalling those people that you’re a sinner.

          old.reddit.com/r/exmuslim/comments/9cnyvl/help_muslim_security_guard_at_work_told_my/

          • DarthBueller@lemmy.world
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            It’s obvious that the “we should give women from oppressive backgrounds the choice to volunteer to oppress themselves in public schools” folks didn’t grow up in an oppressive religion. It is actually quite easier to understand if one thinks of ALL religions as cults for a moment, to remove the veneer of the sacred.

            What technically could be called a “choice” is often far from it. On the mild side, maybe your momma or daddy isn’t “forcing” you to wear an abaya/floor length jean dress/bonnet/whatever, but if you choose NOT to wear it, you face disapproval and pushback from co-religionists. On the harsh side, choosing not to wear whatever garb can lead you to being harshly punished, ostracized, even beaten.

            Giving the kids half a chance to form a self-concept that is larger than their family’s own religiocultural worldview is a kind of freedom, and yes, it diverges greatly from the US view of “religious freedom,” which is includes the freedom to try and indoctrinate one’s kids to ensure that there will be a future generation of primitive baptists/mainstream evangelicals/US anglicans/muslims/etc. that continue to teach that women are subserviant to men.

      • Leer10@sh.itjust.works
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        Yeah honestly. As much as we’ve struggled with developing and even enforcing it today, I think America has a good balance between freedom to practice and freedom from state sponsored religion

        • SuddenDownpour@sh.itjust.works
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          Probably not the best moment in that country’s history to make that claim

          https://web.archive.org/web/20230719103441/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/08/opinion/supreme-court-religion.html

          This term, the Supreme Court decided two cases involving religion: Groff v. DeJoy was a relatively low-profile case about religious accommodations at work; 303 Creative v. Elenis was a blockbuster case about the clash between religious exercise and principles of equal treatment. (The legal question was technically about speech, but religion was at the core of the dispute.)

          In both cases, plaintiffs asserted religiously grounded objections to complying with longstanding and well-settled laws or rules that would otherwise apply to them. And in both, the court handed the plaintiff a resounding victory.

          These cases are the latest examples of a striking long-term trend: Especially since Amy Coney Barrett became a justice in 2020, the court has taken a sledgehammer to a set of practices and compromises that have been carefully forged over decades to balance religious freedom with other important — and sometimes countervailing — principles.

    • x4740N@lemmy.world
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      Yeah its why I’m downvoting people, they seem to think Christianity is the only religon in existence and that anyone who follows religon ends up like those domestic terrorists in america

      It reminds me of athiest reddit

      • SulaymanF@lemmy.world
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        And the real reason is unmasked. This isn’t “freedom,” this is pushing atheism. There’s a reason the US Supreme Court has struck down similar policies for nearly a century, because it privileges atheism over any religion.

        • Aux@lemmy.world
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          The US Supreme Court has struck down similar policies because US population are religious zealots.

        • Vespair@lemm.ee
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          You say that as if atheism is just another religion, which is missing the point. It’s not an unreasonable bias if the government agrees with me that 2+2=4 and that those trying to convince you 2+2=3 are doing you intellectual harm. I know religious people love the “but atheism is just another kind of religion!” adage, but it doesn’t hold water. Nobody is being denied human rights in the name of just atheism, nobody is being oppressed by just atheism.

          Remember when we were kids and we were told not to judge people by how they look or other factors they can’t control, but rather to judge them by the things they say, do, and think? Yeah somewhere religious people started this lie that religion is some intrinsic part of being, like sexuality/sexual identity, but this isn’t the case. Religion is a choice. Religion is a belief. Exactly the kind of thing you should judge people for, same as any of their other beliefs or opinions.

          The idea that a government shouldn’t endorse atheism, or at least legislate from an atheistic point of view, is insane to me, tbh.

          • DarthBueller@lemmy.world
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            Religion isn’t a choice - you can’t choose to believe something. I used to be obsessed with my religion and my relationship to god. Then I had a nervous breakdown, saw a shrink, and was diagnosed with depression and ADHD. Two weeks into taking wellbutrin, ALL CARES about my immortal soul and god and whatever just turned off entirely, like a giant breaker being thrown. It was amazing, and made me realize that people’s brain chemistry has as much to do with them being religious as cultural factors.

            • Vespair@lemm.ee
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              I don’t agree with your interpretation of constitutes an intrinsic quality. I do agree elements within organized religion exist to prey on various vulnerabilities, including those related to brain chemistry, but I don’t think those pressures or vulnerabilities absolve you the responsibility of thoughtfulness and choice. I have suffered from a genuine mental illness my whole life, and that fact does contribute to my choices and and may explain some of my behavior, but it never absolves me or excuses my behavior. Religion may arguably be a difficult or loaded choice, but it is absolutely a choice. A person isn’t a Baptist in the way that they might be inherently and intrinsically gay; a person chooses to be Baptist, even if that choice is one of passive cultural acceptance.

                • Vespair@lemm.ee
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                  Whether a person believes they have divine inspiration or not, it is still their choice to follow it. In fact, that’s a key tenant of the faith in question. A deluded person is deluded; we don’t have to and shouldn’t indulge their delusion as if it was reality. And to be clear I’m not talking about religion here, I’m talking about genuinely mentally ill people as you describe. If a mentally ill person truly believes they are a duck it does not mean they are a duck, even if they choose to behave like one. When a mentally ill person believes they know the holy spirit Spirit it does not mean they know the holy spirit, even when they choose to behave as such.

    • DarthBueller@lemmy.world
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      Protecting the society’s Overton window concerning women from being shifted toward any religious group’s preferred direction (let alone a minority group that has a terrible present tract record insofar as female equality is concerned) is a real hard thing to get right. Quite honestly, having grown up as a fundamentalist evangelical Christian and having spent years deprogramming myself from my childhood indoctrination, I would have zero issue seeing the same laws equally enforced against public expressions of religion in this country as well. Any space children have from their family to form their own opinions, without being forced to “other” themselves through religiocultural garb, is good space.

    • howsetheraven@lemmy.world
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      In a way I get it, your way of life is being discriminated against. But with thousands of years of history and present day to go off of, I still feel it’s a good thing.

      I kinda compare it to smoking cigarettes. There are a ton of people who do it, but it’s so obviously unhealthy. I won’t go on with the analogy, but you can get pretty grim with it.

      You can have a fulfilling and culture filled life without blind hope for a greater power and possibly being negatively influenced by that belief; either through authority figures in your church or you’re own interpretations of religious teachings.

      Another thing I saw mentioned was that it’s a state run school. Separation of church and state is something I vehemently agree with. So while it might suck for you, your grandchildren will be better off because they’re not losing anything.

  • samus12345@lemmy.world
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    France has a strict ban on religious signs in state schools and government buildings, arguing that they violate secular laws.

    Is this a case of being lost in translation or something? I wouldn’t consider religious garb to be a “sign.”

  • Floey@lemm.ee
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    The same “I know what’s best for them” and “the law applies equally to everyone” arguments in favor of bans on drugs that many in liberal spaces will detest, they will happily use when supporting shit like this. We all know that everyone doesn’t suffer equally under laws like this. Religion may be the opium of the people, but does that mean we should be the narcs? You don’t eradicate religion by banning it. You eradicate it by having secular institutions provide the things people go to religion for, like a sense of purpose, assistance, and community.

  • punseye@lemmy.world
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    I think some are forgetting, these bans are in schools, outside these schools you can wear whatever you want

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    Even if one despises religion above all, as one should, there is no sufficient reason to ban this type of stuff.

    On the other side, it is time to give these morons back what they have brought upon others and thus deserve.

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    Can’t just let women wear what they want. Clearly lacking a penis makes them incapable of deciding what clothes to wear.

    • felykiosa@sh.itjust.works
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      It s not only female its everyone . No one can were religion cloth. That just normal you are in a public place .

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        That’s not how it’s actually enforced. This is making new laws and regulations picking on a minority.

      • bouh@lemmy.world
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        Banning clothes in public space is fascism.

        I guess then we will force them to wear a special star and send them in special “protective” camps?

          • bouh@lemmy.world
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            I’m French. But I know what fascism or racism are so I understand it can be a bit unsettling.

            Et si tu me crois pas à cause de l’anglais on peut faire le débat en français, mais j’avoue que parler avec des fascistes ignorants m’emmerde pas mal.

    • isthingoneventhis@lemmy.world
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      They literally ban ALL forms of religious depictions in France. Women just get forced, by a religion, to wear specific clothes to adhere to arbitrary standards set by some old dead dude(s). This is super par for the course and makes a lot of sense for them. The only thing oppressive here is the religion that forces women to wear shit to fit some ideals/standards, especially children who don’t know any better and are forced into it/don’t have a concept of doing anything else.

      • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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        To stop women from being forced to do something by the dead we force them to do something by the living. Makes perfect sense.

        I once pulled a gun on someone and ordered them to be free.

  • arc@lemm.ee
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    France has adopted laicite for years and frankly it’s the right thing for secularism. It doesn’t stop people worshiping whoever or whatever they like in their spare time, or wearing whatever religious garb they want. But not on government property including state schools.

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      I’m with you but I think anglo-saxons don’t get it because of a cultural thing.

      What’s sad is that they just keep criticizing without trying to understand France approach to laicité and cultural assimilation, thinking somehow that their view is the right way (which is kind of insulting). Makes me think of the whole trevor noah dispute against the french ambassador about the french football team being “african” (which most french people find to be insulting). There are french things it seems that americans/british will never get, which is fine, but please don’t act as if your moral compass is superior.

      Also it’s surprising that many France’s left-side parties are against this, they used to be the more fervent supporters of laicité. The fact that this is more of a right-wing thing make that rule seem more about stigmatization even in french debates somehow, where it IMO shouldn’t be.

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    Organized religion and their tools and symbols of opressiin have no place in modern society. The enlightenment is 300 years old now and we still have whackos like all the Americans in this thread talking about “religion is freedom”. Its not freedom, its a fucking lie and it exists to control and oppress.

    Vive La France, bring on more of this

    To paraphrase: humanity be free when the last stone of the last church falls upon the last priest.

    • Leer10@sh.itjust.works
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      It’s letting children wear headcoverings. I don’t see how that’s religiously infringing on non headscarf wearers.

      • 0ddysseus@lemmy.world
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        Its infringing on those children’s right to have a sane, rational upbringing in which they aren’t oppressed by old men and used as social currency, which their only value being their bodies

          • SCB@lemmy.world
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            Nah you just agree with the oppression

            You’re like a Trump supporter in the US talking about “freedom” but then getting angry at trans people. Your side even uses the same arguments - “they don’t have the right to teach their children to be this way!”

            It’s all oppression.

            • bric@lemm.ee
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              This. The whole point of freedom is that every person gets to choose for themselves, and the government should be preserving that choice and limiting elements that take choice away. It’s morally reprehensible to support choice only when it’s choices that you agree with, that’s how state religions became a thing in the first place.

                • bric@lemm.ee
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                  Another commenter mentioned how similar some of the arguments are with far right anti-lgbt arguments are, and I don’t think there’s a better example of it than your comment. “I don’t want to ban it, I just hate it and don’t want to see it, so let’s ban it from anywhere I could run into it”. " ‘You say freedom to love you you want’ I say ‘You’re putting it in my fucking face and letting LGBT activists decide laws that directly affect my family and I’. Get that gay shit out of my face. Sick of it". Don’t you see how that type of rhetoric can be problematic?

                  I’m sorry, but you’re going to run into people in the world that do and say things you don’t agree with, that’s part of life. If you want to fight to keep it out of government and laws, I’ll be fighting right there with you, but once you extend it to people you’re just silencing and oppressing. Freedom is even more important when you don’t agree with the choices people are making, if you can’t agree with that then I don’t want to be anywhere near the “free” world you help build

    • EvilHaitianEatingYourCat@lemmy.world
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      No it’s not. making something mandatory for a group of people makes that group of people well separated from the rest. here is exactly opposite : they are trying to make them look like anyone else.

      • funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works
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        this ban is as dumb as banning heavy metal, dungeons and dragons, skateboards, backwards baseball caps, etc etc

        it’s all just trying to look tough enough to court right wing racists on targets too vulnerable to fight back.

        if you want to protect vulnerable young girls, you don’t start by ostracising them from the community.

          • funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works
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            how is saying someone from a group of people can’t dress in attitudes that identifies them as a member of the group not ostracising? it’s the very definition.

            • EvilHaitianEatingYourCat@lemmy.world
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              Because “ostracizing” means “to exclude” someone. While imposing a common dress standard is to include everyone. so petty much the opposite of “ostracizing”

              • generalpotato@lemmy.world
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                A common dress standard would be called a uniform. This law isn’t mandating uniforms, so you’re incorrect. It’s excluding religious groups, so yes, ostracizing.

                • EvilHaitianEatingYourCat@lemmy.world
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                  Ostracising means to exclude. The law forces the blending. The mental gymnastics you need to find “exclusion” in that is buffing. Again it’s not excluding anyone, it tries to male them blend with the rest. Blend. Mix. Nobody is excluded. I never mentioned uniforms, neither the law, i don’t know why you bring that up. Yes, uniforms obviously make everyone uniform but we aren’t talking about it. Dressing regularly also make everyone look “regular” or “secular”, we don’t need uniforms.

                  If anything, the groups of people are literally excluding themselves by wearing stuff nobody else does.

                  Looks like at some point people are just repeating the same argument for everything and opposite of it.

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        “trying to make them” is a problematic phrase and why this doesn’t make sense. Nobody should be “made” to do anything, if people are choosing to look different they should be free to do so.

      • SCB@lemmy.world
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        You know what makes everyone look alike? A niqab.

        Someone call the Taliban and let them know they’re defenders of freedom.

          • SCB@lemmy.world
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            Plastic surgery does not make everyone look alike. That’s a silly thing to say lol

            Also you’re missing the highly relevant point that plastic surgery is not compulsory

            • EvilHaitianEatingYourCat@lemmy.world
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              Well i made a silly argument to show you how I feel about yours lol.

              Nobody is imposing a cloth on anyone, and even less a religious one. So you can’t use niqqab in your argument against me because that’s literally what i am against!

              You could say for example that’s a cultural thing, and forbidding it would somehow restrict the minority. But then, it’s only public schools, the law doesn’t care (me neither) about adults wearing it outside. (I don’t know why I am arguing with myself on your behalf 🤔)

              What it does care about, is to prevent community bubbles forming within groups of children. Which i totally support.

              • SCB@lemmy.world
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                we’re just controlling what communities people are allowed to form. Nothing oppressive

                Ok lol