French schools/Muslim head scarves: Assimilation v Multiculturalism [View All]

According to this interpretation, American chose assimilation for our ethnic minorities until we were burned by the war in Vietnam. Then our emphasis changed to multiculturalism for several reasons the article points out.

France, due to the virulent anti-church reaction of the revolution, is VERY strongly opposed to ANY religious involvement in public education. They want a melting pot society free of religiosity. At least, thats what they claim and the ban on religious ornamentation is a way to work toward that goal.

Am I implying that the French are free of bias? Absolutely not! I'm sure they still celebrate Christmas, Easter and other Christian and I'd be surprised if Muslim or Jewish holidays were recognized. Even admitting that, they still are trying to create a civil society where people aren't judged by religious labels. Thats not the worst goal in the world.

The article is worth the time...http://www.iht.com/articles/125356.html

on edit: Ductapefatwa started a thread in GD on the same topic about 4 hours ago, however, the two threads look at the situation from TOTALLY different viewpoints and both offer radically different perspectives.