.EVERY FEW years the French receive developed concerning an item of theological clothing that they deem inappropriate in the class. This time around a conflict has broken out at la rentru00e9e, the beginning of the new academic year, over a federal government choice to outlaw from condition universities the abaya, an uncut robe used by some Muslim ladies for virtue. To folks in countries along with a practice of liberal multiculturalism, the restriction seems like an unwanted infringement of the right to spiritual expression.
To defenders of a stringent version of French secularism, it is actually an action necessary to guard the republic from theological interference. Why is France therefore concerned regarding Muslim dress in its colleges?