France and the Headscarf: Now the real fighting starts
Yesterday, the French National Assembly voted for a ban on “conspicuous religious symbols” in public schools by a majority of 494 in favour to 36 against. With the bill polling at 70% favourable among...
View ArticleAt least no one can accuse me of being knee-jerk pro-French
My goodness, talking about the headscarf law has brought up some interesting discussion on the blogs. It appears that my mistake was to think that this was ever about improving the lives of Muslim...
View ArticleReligious education in Europe
Following on from threads on Calpundit and Crooked Timber, and given that Europe seems to be at the centre of the debate over religious education in schools at present, what with the French headscarf...
View ArticleSuspicion and divided loyalties
Perhaps the most damaging effect of 9/11 and all that has followed will be its role in making divided loyalties one of the most dangerous things a person can have. From the beginning, while the ruins...
View ArticleLatin: A solution to the EU’s language problems?
Speaking of the Classics, I recently discovered to my shock and amazement that in Belgium, students still study Latin in secondary school. My Dutch teacher was talking about the structure of secondary...
View ArticleAnother Thread
There is considerable speculation taking place at the moment about the nature of the connections (if any) between the British born bombers and militant jihadists in Pakistan. One of the names which...
View ArticleNot Before Time
Brighton College, a modest private school in the South of England, has announced that Mandarin Chinese is to become part of school’s core curriculum from September. Now all it needs is for the state...
View ArticleBelgium yet again in turmoil over killings
In the night between May 6th and 7th 2006 five skinheads, coming from De Kastelein, a known extreme right café in West Flanders, beat up Raphaël Mensah, a fifty year old Parisian artist of Gabonese...
View ArticleHrant Dink shot dead
Hrant Dink, an Armenian-Turkish journalist who won fame and notoriety for challenging Turkish nationalism, was shot dead in Istanbul yesterday. If you’re not following events in Turkey closely, you...
View ArticleI wish I could translate laïcité into German…
My daughter’s school broke the law yesterday. I don’t mind too much, though, as the law in question is stupid and ought to be abolished. Under German law, religious education is mandatory in state...
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