Nice post, Evil Bob - shed a lot of light on the subject.
I still think the French government is wrong, and now they are wrong on 2 counts.
First of all, if it is to be a truely "secular" school, they should <b>not</b> have stopped classes for prayer time, they should <b>not </b>serve only "purified" meat, etc. etc. Giving into the wishes of a particular religious group is just as bad as banning religious symbols. <b>By doing so, they were effectivly endorsing Muslim influence in the schools</b>, but denying other religious influences (particularily Christian).
So here you have the jist of it - the French govenrnment in an effort to be pro-Musim granted that community a certain amount of leway when it came to public education. When they realized that they had gone to far, they broadly ban religious clothing - not only upsetting the Muslim community (who appear to be used to getting their way in France) but irritating us cross toating Christians in the process - not to mention trampeling on everyones rights in a huge way.
/warning - Christian faith ahead
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I was always told to hide away my cross at school and to keep it hiden.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> Being a Christian is the opposite of this - it is "taking up your cross", making a "public profession of your faith", being willing to undergo trials and tribulations for the sake of Christ - not hiding it under your shirt because it might "offend" someone. The gospel is offensive - a two edged sword. It seaks to divide the righteous from the unrighteous.
Comments
I still think the French government is wrong, and now they are wrong on 2 counts.
First of all, if it is to be a truely "secular" school, they should <b>not</b> have stopped classes for prayer time, they should <b>not </b>serve only "purified" meat, etc. etc. Giving into the wishes of a particular religious group is just as bad as banning religious symbols. <b>By doing so, they were effectivly endorsing Muslim influence in the schools</b>, but denying other religious influences (particularily Christian).
So here you have the jist of it - the French govenrnment in an effort to be pro-Musim granted that community a certain amount of leway when it came to public education. When they realized that they had gone to far, they broadly ban religious clothing - not only upsetting the Muslim community (who appear to be used to getting their way in France) but irritating us cross toating Christians in the process - not to mention trampeling on everyones rights in a huge way.
/warning - Christian faith ahead
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I was always told to hide away my cross at school and to keep it hiden.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Being a Christian is the opposite of this - it is "taking up your cross", making a "public profession of your faith", being willing to undergo trials and tribulations for the sake of Christ - not hiding it under your shirt because it might "offend" someone. The gospel is offensive - a two edged sword. It seaks to divide the righteous from the unrighteous.
/end.