Fashion Police

And They Are Not Kidding The French have outlawed the public wearing of the Burkha and hijab-women's muslim veils. The ban took effect today, several women defied it and sported it, of all places, in front of Notre Dame Cathedral -literally an 'in your face' sort of showing of defiance. So they were arrested. Carted off in a police van- news cameras everywhere. Would this be a politically inspired law just on paper or would they actually enforce it? Question answered: they mean business. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42528909/ns/world_news-europe/ \ Some of the women threaten to take it to the European Court of Human Rights in Strausberg- which is an org. that hears cases having to do with a wide expression of rights- a brief survey of their current case load includes cases involving a Roma in Turkey who finds discriminatory official published language calling Romas all kinds of names, a lesbian couple from Belgium trying to adopt a child, and other issues of things people in Europe consider "rights." Sarkozy's defense is that this is a 'secular' country- so no overt religious expression at all is permitted in a public context. Very large crucifixes in fact are not permitted in public schools-only small discrete ones. What of a nun's uniform habit? Could a secular government say- we really don't want any public manifestations of religion-and we prefer seeing women's legs-so no skirts in basic black longer than your knee? Could a 'secular' government say- no yarmulkas may be worn on the street? Where is the separation of church-state or mosque -state logic when one religion is allowed to be favored over another? Or is that just the way Europeans want it?