# France likely to ban Muslim headscarves, Jewish kippas etc in schools **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 11, 2003, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/france-likely-to-ban-muslim-headscarves-jewish-kippas-etc-in-schools/218365 "2003-12-11T15:16:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/france-likely-to-ban-muslim-headscarves-jewish-kippas-etc-in-schools/218365/81 "2003-12-15T13:23:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by 2Thick \* > \*\*You shouldn’t take the Internet so personal. > \*\* As someone who proclaimed his scholarly status as a way of getting a leg up on another poster, you need to consider your grasp of language, my snarky little friend. Perhaps you might have wished to type out > [@](#): > > You shouldn’t take the Internet so _personally_ . Stones, glass houses and such, n’est pas? 😉 As for the O.P., I have leafed through the Qu’ran but would not dare to say I’d read it all through. However, if scholars who know the writing well say that there is no command within Qu’ran that instructs females to wear a head covering, how is that open to argument? This is not a Talmudic debate, where the phrasing and numerological significance of each line is open to heated debate. Either the command exists within the sole document, or it does not. I’m fairly amazed that anybody would attack another member here for stating a simple fact, even if this IS G.D. I am inclined to agree with **Apos** , back on page 1. If you say you are a Democracy and freedom of religion is one of the freedoms guaranteed, then I am at a loss to understand how this can be, and you can as a nation ban religious clothing. [The Master Holds Forth On Swastikas, and takes some heat from the less polite Teeming Millions](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_156.html). Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/france-likely-to-ban-muslim-headscarves-jewish-kippas-etc-in-schools/218365/82 "2003-12-15T13:28:10Z")
**GilaB** , would you be so kind as to drop me a quick e-mail? I have a few questions about religious garb, and live in astonishing proximity to an entire villiage of Hasidim. Thanks so much, Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![ThawingSlowly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc29f/32.png) [@ThawingSlowly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThawingSlowly)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/france-likely-to-ban-muslim-headscarves-jewish-kippas-etc-in-schools/218365/83 "2003-12-15T14:13:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cartooniverse \* > **As for the O.P., I have leafed through the Qu’ran but would not dare to say I’d read it all through. However, if scholars who know the writing well say that there is no command within Qu’ran that instructs females to wear a head covering, how is that open to argument?** Because what the qu’ran _does_ say is vague. If I recall correctly, it’s something to the effect that women should only show what’s necessary, and keep the rest covered. Clearly it’s open for different interpretations of what is “necessary”. I think it later states that breasts should be kept covered in the company of men, and the fact that breasts are mentioned explicitly, suggests that showing your breasts _could_ be considered necessary. Breast-feeding in public would be the argument there, I’m guessing. In my opinion, insisting that showing the top of your head is forbidden seems a bit overzealous if **breasts** need to be mentioned specifically to be kept out of the grey area between what’s allowed and what’s not. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/france-likely-to-ban-muslim-headscarves-jewish-kippas-etc-in-schools/218365/84 "2003-12-15T16:50:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by John Mace \* > \*\*Interesting concept. What, exactly, is “France”? The government? > > \*\* I guess you could say that. It is a bit simplistic, but so is my statement. By France, I and those that have said it in this fashion, mean the overall cultural attitudes. (like, for example, America is rather optimistic about the situation in Iraq, whether it be true or false, people make these generalizations quite frequently, and I feel that they are, overall, quite valid) Surely not everybody feels the same way, but there is more unity in France than there is, say, in the USA. Is that what you meant for me to answer in your question or are you asking what France is exactly proud of? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/france-likely-to-ban-muslim-headscarves-jewish-kippas-etc-in-schools/218365.md?page=4)