The proposition about the veil is raising a very controversial and complex debate that goes beyond the typical black and white devide.
Surprisingly enough, even the Catholic environment is split into different positions.
According to his recent speech in Rome (January 12, 2004,) The Pope himself criticized Jacques Chirac’s government initiative.
The following article says that Pope John Paul II condemned “the secularity that becomes laicism.” In other words, the French new rule is interpreted by the Church as a deviating form of laicism: “a principle of liberty that becomes a refusal of the freedom of every single individual.”
On the other hand, the Italian newspaper “L’Avvenire” published an interview to the authoritative Islamist Samir Khalil Samir, a Jesuit, who said that the veil is part of a phenomenon of “non-integration,” that has its roots in the current European crisis.”
www.chiesa, L'Espresso, "Il velo proibito. La Francia tra laicita' e islamismo"
Posted by Diana Ferrero at February 10, 2004 02:40 PMYou picked up a good story.
I am surprised by your surprise, though. The pope is opposed to a law which formally condemns "ostensible" signs of belonging to any religion. It makes sense. After all, "large crosses" are expressly banned besides Hijabs and Kipas by the new French law.
In the not too distant past, the chiefs of the three main monotheist religions had condemned a book that was considered as offensive by one of them. Today, some hard core US Christians, have begun to side with their Jewish pairs.
Europe, France in particular, is a place where atheism has deep roots that may be challenging for some. It may well be one of the significant differences with the US, especially when considering its impact on public life. In a sense, the new law is an indication of atheist fundamentalism which cannot be better than the religious ones.