ShareThisOn appeal, the European Court of Human Rights recently upheld the expulsion of two Muslim girls for wearing headscarves in physical education classes.
During the 10 years it took for the court to consider their appeal the girls were required by French authorities to continue their education by correspondence courses.
The court held that the restriction on the girls' right to manifest their religion convictions was necessary to uphold secularism in France. Since 2004 French law has banned conspicuous signs of religion in the classroom.
Meanwhile, across the border, German law bans female teachers from wearing the Islamic headscarf. Felix Steiber, writing in Deutche Welle, argues that the restriction is not discriminatory, but only ensures that German civil servants exercise their duties "from an ideologically neutral basis."
In the same newspaper, Peter Philipp of Human Rights Watch disagrees. "What are the government and courts afraid of?" he asks. "That Muslim elementary school teachers will convert little Hans or Fritz to their religion?"
The German Federal Constitutional Court also requires crucifixes to be removed from classrooms should anyone object to their presence. Ironically, no parents have registered a complaint to the headscarves, but they are banned anyway.
Just as lovers wear their hearts on their sleeves, the adherents of some faiths cherish the freedom to wear something to express their identity. The clerk who checks me out at our neighborhood WalMart wears a turban. So does my urologist during consultations, as well as the clerk at the counter in our local post office. All of them are Sikhs. All are men.
As for women, all my teachers in elementary school wore not only headscarves, but full-length habits. They were Catholic nuns wearing a traditional uniform that defined their religious identity. They would have objected to any notion that their dress compromised their teaching of non-religious subjects.
In the Koran (33:59), the Prophet instructs: "Tell your wives and daughters and the believing women that they should case their cloaks over their bodies so that they be recognized as such and not be molested." Thus a head covering serves as protection and as a statement of piety.
Many in non-Islamic societies suspect that the veiling of women is imposed by men to subordinate women, not embraced by the women voluntarily. Undoubtedly, this is true in some, but not all cases. But it is also discriminatory to women when secular authorities restrict what they may wear when they are serving the public as professionals.
In the film "Doubt," actress Meryl Streep plays the part of a nun in traditional dress. Asked whether she felt constrained wearing a head-to-toe habit every day on the set, she replied to the contrary that it helped her to understand her character.
David Yount's latest book is "Celebrating the Single Life" (Praeger). He answers readers at P.O. Box 2758, Woodbridge, VA 22195 and dyount(at)erols.com.
AMAZING GRACE
