# Examples of Laws Favoring/Oppressing Certain Groups of People **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 16, 2008, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-laws-favoring-oppressing-certain-groups-of-people/449566 "2008-05-16T16:45:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-laws-favoring-oppressing-certain-groups-of-people/449566/41 "2008-05-18T16:23:37Z")
[QUOTE=Cerowyn] But that’s irrelevant when it comes to clergy, except in the eyes of some religions. There’s nothing about being a woman that disqualifies one from being an Muslim imam, Catholic priest or Orthodox rabbi, except for the rules or traditions of those faiths. [/QUOTE] **Cerowyn** , the rules and traditions of a given faith define it, IMNSHO. So claiming that the traditions of a given faith are irrelevant to the role of the clergy within that religion seems a bit surreal. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-laws-favoring-oppressing-certain-groups-of-people/449566/42 "2008-05-18T17:17:22Z")
Many zoning codes in the United States have outdated language where “churches” are a permitted use in specified zoning districts, but there are no provisions for places of worship for other faiths such as mosques, synagogues, temples, and so on. Exclusion of other faiths would be prohibited under federal law (Religoius Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act), but the language of these old codes remain on the books. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-laws-favoring-oppressing-certain-groups-of-people/449566/43 "2008-05-18T17:42:36Z")
[QUOTE=Cerowyn] But that’s irrelevant when it comes to clergy, except in the eyes of some religions. There’s nothing about being a woman that disqualifies one from being an Muslim imam, Catholic priest or Orthodox rabbi, except for the rules or traditions of those faiths. [/QUOTE] And there’s nothing that prevents a person who believes in the divinity of Christ from being an imam or a rabbi - except, of course, the rules and traditions of those faiths. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-laws-favoring-oppressing-certain-groups-of-people/449566/44 "2008-05-18T17:47:47Z")
I don’t know if this fits the OP, but in Canada, some minority groups have constitutional rights to separate educational facilities, publicly funded: Roman Catholics in Ontario, Protestants and Roman Catholics in Alberta and Saskatchewan (depending on which group is the minority in a particular district). Canadian citizens of the linguistic minority in a province have a right to have their children educated in their own language, not the majority language, again in publicly funded schools. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-laws-favoring-oppressing-certain-groups-of-people/449566/45 "2008-05-19T00:50:24Z")
Quite a few **wome** n here in the UK have told me that pretty much all legislation pertaining to divorce and custody is slanted in favour of women. I have heard many stories from women saying that while they were certainly content to benefit from a bias that was not of their own devising, the law didn’t seem either fair or impartial. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2008, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-laws-favoring-oppressing-certain-groups-of-people/449566/46 "2008-05-19T00:58:12Z")
I can’t believe I’m the first person to mention that you can’t enter Mecca without being Muslim. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-laws-favoring-oppressing-certain-groups-of-people/449566/47 "2008-05-21T00:07:57Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] I don’t know if it’s the same way now, but I recall that even being in possession of Chinese writing was illegal in Indonesia. The Chinese characters. Has that law been repealed? [/QUOTE] I believe it was after the Suharto regime fell in 1998, yes, but I’m not finding exact dates. I did find an article from [Indonesia-L](http://www.library.ohiou.edu/indopubs/2000/01/0265.html). about what happened post-Suharto. I recommend you check it out, this is an older but still fascinating editorial from 2000 on the changes related to institutional Chinese discrimination in Indonesia. [This one](http://www.hurights.or.jp/asia-pacific/043/02.html) is a shorter and more factual article from 2003 that provides historical background and more specific examples. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-laws-favoring-oppressing-certain-groups-of-people/449566/48 "2008-05-21T00:55:00Z")
There are on-going court cases regarding the rights of individuals to attend English-language schools in Québec (mostly in the case of immigrants, I believe), but the idea of the laws themselves are not generally considered to be unreasonable by most of the population. Basically the law (regarding public schools) states that everyone must attend French-language schools through to the end of high school except for certain exempted groups. > **[Education in Quebec](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Quebec)** > > Education in Quebec is governed by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (Ministère de l'Éducation et de l'Enseignement supérieur). It was administered at the local level by publicly elected French and English school boards, changed in 2020 to school service centres. Teachers are represented by province-wide unions that negotiate province-wide working conditions with local boards and the provincial government of Quebec. > Formerly, school boards were divided between Roman Catholic and Pro... > [@](#): > > Language in schools > > Quebec has publicly funded French and English schools. > > Under the Charter of the French Language, passed in 1977, all students must attend French-language public schools except: > > ``` > * children who have done most of their elementary or secondary studies in English elsewhere in Canada; > * children whose father or mother did most of his or her elementary studies in English anywhere in Canada; (You must have proof of this, which means if you are coming from another province in Canada, you must get either your elementary transcripts and/or your high school transcripts to prove that one of the parents has attended an English school in Canada or your child will be rejected) > > ``` > > and/or > > ``` > * children of Canadian citizens (Canada Clause) whose brother or sister did or is doing his or her elementary or secondary studies in English anywhere in Canada; (again, proof of this will be needed if you are coming from another province in Canada) > * temporary residents of Quebec; > * First Nation children; > > ``` > > who may attend publicly-funded English schools. > > Schools not funded by the government (sometimes called Independent schools, e.g. Lower Canada College, as opposed to private schools which are subsidized in part) are open to all. > > Since 2006, English is taught as a second language in French schools from Grade 1 onwards, and a few schools also offer English immersion programs for advanced students. English schools offer a wide range of programs that include French as a second language, French immersion, and fully bilingual programs that teach both English and French as first languages. I seem to recall a former teacher of mine musing about how it was interesting that it was a law that put a restriction on the _majority_ population rather than the minority. Is that really unusual, or am I likely misremembering that musing? ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-laws-favoring-oppressing-certain-groups-of-people/449566/49 "2008-05-21T10:46:25Z")
In Cameroon adultry is illegal for women, and illegal for men if it occurs in the marital bed or on a regular basis with the same person. I’d venture in the world of family and marriage laws, you would find a lot of examples. Also, don’t some countries (Turkey, China…) have laws about cultural expressions of minorities? ---
**Author:** ![Coil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Coil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coil)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-laws-favoring-oppressing-certain-groups-of-people/449566/50 "2008-05-21T11:10:32Z")
[QUOTE=shefDave] We can add to your list: people under 21, bankrupts, aliens, and members of the civil service, armed forces and police. [/QUOTE] I’m a bit curious about the last three. Does that mean that for example a civil servant cannot run for parliament? Or is it just that you have to leave your job once elected? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-laws-favoring-oppressing-certain-groups-of-people/449566.md?page=2)