2004-3-5
This is Steve Ember with In the News, in VOA Special English.
This week, the French Senate approved a law to give public
schools the right to ban almost anything worn clearly as a show of
religion. The law passed by a vote of two-hundred-seventy-six to
twenty. The National Assembly, France's lower house of parliament,
passed a similar measure last month. Conservatives control both
houses of parliament.
President Jacques Chirac proposed the legislation. He is expected
to sign the ban into law within fifteen days. Mister Chirac says the
ban is designed to defend the French tradition of separating
religion from civil life and education. He says there is a dangerous
and growing extremist threat against this tradition. There have been
times, for example, where Muslims girls refused to remove their head
coverings in school.
Under the new law, students could not wear headscarves or such
things as large Christian crosses or Jewish skullcaps. French
officials say public schools should be places of education, not
places to display religious or ethnic identities.
But many Jewish, Muslim and Christian leaders have sharply
criticized the legislation. They say it violates freedom of
expression in France, including religious expression. Some foreign
governments, including the United States, have also expressed
concern about such a ban.
The ban has widespread public support in France. But it has
angered many Muslims and led to demonstrations in several countries.
Some Muslims say the ban unfairly targets them. They say that
some of the objects listed are cultural, not religious. Some say
they fear that the headscarf issue may cause some Muslim girls to
leave school or attend Islamic schools.
France has an estimated five-million Muslims, the most of any
country in western Europe. Most other people in France are Roman
Catholic. Several top French officials have expressed concern that
the law may damage relations with French Muslims.
Yet public opinion research finds that not all Muslims in France
oppose a law like this. In fact, some studies find that many,
especially women, support the idea of a ban on too much show of
religion.
Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin says the new law is not
anti-religious. He says it is needed to contain the spread of Muslim
extremism and to protect the laws of the French Republic. He says
France needs to explain the law better, especially on the
international level. Mister Raffarin has also spoken of the need for
a law to require that patients at public hospitals follow Western
rules of medical care.
The new law for state schools would go into effect at the start
of the new school year in September. France's education minister
says he will meet with leaders of religious groups to see if they
can find compromises.
In the News, in VOA Special English, was written by Cynthia Kirk.
This is Steve Ember.