Published on February 4, 2004 By O G San In International
Schools in Ireland have always been used to enforce religious belief. For far too long teachers and administrators have been concerned to turn out “good Catholics” or “good Protestants” to the detriment of children’s education. Religion is a private matter. If parents wish to teach their children about their faith they are free to do so. Teaching religion at school is not only a waste of time and money, it is also an insidious way to impose the majority religion on those who don’t share it.

In recent years schools have become more secular but there is still much work to be done if religion is to be removed from public education. Growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, an inordinate amount of my time at school was spent learning about religion (or rather, learning about Christianity since other religions got scant mention). Prayers were said at assembly and evolution was presented as merely “a theory” which we were free to disregard. I resent that so much time was spent trying to indoctrinate me when I could’ve been learning something useful (like a foreign language).

Because of this, I have always looked on the French system with envy. Education, like all other public spheres, is fiercely secular. By steadfastly keeping religion out of the public sphere, France can be a state of all its citizens be they Jewish, Christian, Muslim or atheist. You can shilly-shally around this issue all you like but it’s very simple – any state which is not secular discriminates against those who don’t share the state religion. No-one should ever accept anything other than first-class citizenship.

I have a lot of sympathy for the strand of thought in France which wants to ban all religious symbols - the hijab, the yarmulke, the crucifix, the turban – from the classroom. I would have no problem supporting this if the argument was cast purely in terms of the need for secularism. Unfortunately this is not the case.

The debate about religious symbols in school is not just about the separation of church and state, it is also about the integration of the Muslim minority in France. Those who wish to ban all symbols often speak of the hijab as if it were the only garment in question. Some see a ban on wearing the hijab as a way to end what they see as the oppression of Muslim girls by their fathers. I’m not going to get into the rights and wrongs of the hijab except to say that it’s the wrong argument to make in this case.

If banning religious symbols in French schools is about secularism then I’m all in favour. If however it’s a way for the French government to impose “western culture” on Muslims then I’m against it. By focussing on the hijab, proponents of a ban have undermined their own case and strengthened global Islamic opposition to the move.

Comments
on Feb 04, 2004
Secular - Of or relating to worldly things as distinguished from things relating to religion. Not sacred or religious. [Source: Webster's New World Dictionary]
"You can shilly-shally around this issue all you like but it’s very simple – any state which is not secular discriminates against those who don’t share the state religion. No-one should ever accept anything other than first-class citizenship."
This is not the way we Americans view the matter. You would have to clarify what you mean by 'state religion' for me to more properly respond as we don't have astate religion in America. Our Constitution prohibits STATE religion and any advocacy for or against a religion. It is termed the Doctrine of Separation of Church and State.
While there is a large majority who practice Christianity, we do not condone the government involving itself in any way with religious beliefs. Recently we had a Georgia State Judge removed from the bench for refusing to remove a statue of the 10 Commandments from the courthouse. Clearly then, while a majority are Christian, the government would not take sides or allow any symbolic endorsement of any religion.
We, for the most part, do not allow our government to have any say in what a person may wear or practice in religious matters. This I assume you would also condemn, believing government should prohibit the right of freedom of religious exercise. I must say, I am rather glad I do not live in France if that is how it is, for we are a people who tend to have faith in a God. For government to oppose this right is to be a government opposed to God.
This is not to say that the French cannot do so for itself. If the Moslems wish to have religious freedom they may not force it upon the will of the people of France. They may pack up and move to a State that does have religious tolerance.
on Feb 04, 2004
The problem with state sponsored religion is not what it does to the state but what it does to religion. Being forced to study religion when you don't want to makes students avoid the church later on. Genuine faith is attractive because it is about God's love for humanity. Phony religion is about rules for other people. What I like best is for the students to be allowed to practice their faith and talk about their faith, but for teachers to keep quiet.

I can understand the French impulse, but in the U.S. it would be a violation of freedom of religion.
on Feb 05, 2004
I'm all for religious freedom. Secularism is all about religious freedom, it's about the state defending EVERYONE's freedom to worship any God they want (or no God at all). The point the French make is that religion has no place in a publicly-funded school. I agree it's a sad day when people can't wear whatever religious symbols they want in the classroom but I have a lot of sympathy for the hard-line French secularism. In the long-term, a high wall between religion and government is a good thing.

As for America, it is a curious case. True, you have no established church but Americans are much more religious than other westerners. The way in which American politicians invoke the Almighty makes me uneasy. Religion should be a private matter not an election slogan.