The culture of France stems from a long-standing Christian default. In language, dress, behavior, holidays, etc. There’s no need to ban “Christian” clothing, for example, because Christian clothing is western clothing and it’s everywhere. France can try to use the excuse that these material descendants of older, religious-compliant garments are now “secularized,” but Laicite precludes the potential normalization of other cultural influences entering that space in the name of some sort of French cultural purity.
If people want to wear a hijab not because of religion but because it’s trendy, would that be different? France says no.
But is that any different than a woman choosing to wear a “secular” skirt or dress long enough that you can’t see her ankles just because it looks nice? Do French offices chastise employees if they wear black after someone dies? Do they care as much if someone opts not to wear mixed fabrics, even for religious reasons?
This is why Laicite is flawed, because it only recognizes religions of the “other” as modes of expression while basically giving free reign to Christians to continue expressing their religion because their practices are “normal”.
They hated him because he spoke the truth.
The culture of France stems from a long-standing Christian default. In language, dress, behavior, holidays, etc. There’s no need to ban “Christian” clothing, for example, because Christian clothing is western clothing and it’s everywhere. France can try to use the excuse that these material descendants of older, religious-compliant garments are now “secularized,” but Laicite precludes the potential normalization of other cultural influences entering that space in the name of some sort of French cultural purity.
If people want to wear a hijab not because of religion but because it’s trendy, would that be different? France says no.
But is that any different than a woman choosing to wear a “secular” skirt or dress long enough that you can’t see her ankles just because it looks nice? Do French offices chastise employees if they wear black after someone dies? Do they care as much if someone opts not to wear mixed fabrics, even for religious reasons?
This is why Laicite is flawed, because it only recognizes religions of the “other” as modes of expression while basically giving free reign to Christians to continue expressing their religion because their practices are “normal”.
Don’t even get me started on the church taxes in Germany.