vitalwholeness

And so the French have decided that certain head coverings are not suitable for Muslim women. Soon enough they will be levying pricey fines for wearing something that smacks of their religious tradition. Montesquieu had lots to say about liberty, solidarity and fraternity, but it seems the French have forgotten the liberty part. They mistakenly believe that expunging religious difference is the path to true freedom, that denying religious uniqueness will transform their humanity into even greater freedom possessing creatures. But this requires, of course, denying freedoms to insure an ideal of freedom that is liberated from the chains of those silly old religious traditions. But let’s back up.

Anyone who knows a thimbleful of French history knows that the revolution included throwing off the shackles of religious influence. The liberators demonstrated this, in one way, by stacking a mountainous pile of wooden chairs in the nave of Notre Dame and setting it afire. There now. We’ve taken care of that old menace.

And clergy were prohibited from wearing symbols of their vocation – clerical garb, collars, etc – in public. Much like Muslim head coverings today.

Do I personally – philosophically speaking, theologically speaking – subscribe to this  position? Of course not. But it’s not my religious system, not my understanding. Do I think they should be enabled to figure it out for themselves, within Islam? You bet.

Now there’s libertad for you.  Wake up and smell the French Fries. Your freedom is no freedom at all. It’s an ideology, a secular religion imposed by the state.