"Raison D' Etat"

It seems to me that the real reason - one that is not publicly admitted - that the French government wants to ban those Islamic veils and clothes that cover women's faces and bodies is not so much that it may be a symbol of female oppression, but one of public security.  As far as I know, most countries do not allow people to walk around with their faces covered because it makes the identification of criminals impossible.  Given the fact that people from Islamic countries have been notoriously involved in terrorist activities, it's only common sense that this "religious" practice is incompatible with public safety.  Of course, this particular rationale is not offered in support of the ban, for fear of being accused of discrimination on the basis of religion.

The truth is that there are times and circumstances in which "discrimination" is allowed, and this is one of them.  When a religious practice is in conflict with critical societal concerns, such as public safety, it has to be superseded by the public interest.  France is not a theocracy.  People who come from countries which are have the right to practice their religion up to the point in which it interferes in major ways with the life of the country.  If they find it intolerable, they can always go back where they came from.

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