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Wednesday, February 11, 2004
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WHY IS THIS MAN SMILING?
The government of France yesterday did more to support the Islamic fundamentalist movement than can be readily measured. The measure passed in the parliment, banning "ostensibly religious" clothing in French public schools will undoubtedly radicalize large segments of the sizable French Muslim population that would prefer nothing more than to practice their religion free of government interference.
The government could not have been more effective in al-Qeada recruitment if President Chirac started a training camp in Paris. This act furthers the argument that western democracies are tools of infidels that will never leave observant Muslims in peace. This is the argument that is used to justify terrorism and it is widely accepted in the Middle East. The parliment of France just added an exclamation mark to the end of it. This law, should it be ratified by the French senate on March 2, will lead to the most serious secruity issues since France's liberation in June of 1944. Potentially millions of Muslim citizens will be radicalized by this action and the possibilty of domestically launched terrorist attacks is very real.
Other than abetting international terrorists, the law is illegal. Under the 1948 United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, of which France is a signatory and has the force of international law, no state may unreasonably restrict the right of it's citizens to religious expression. Beyond that, the law is a mockery of democracy itself. The tradition of western democracy rests on a foundation of freedom of speech, religion and expression. This act of parliment spits on that foundation.
It would be amusing to note that this act is supposed to be a response to a rise in anti-Muslim racism and anti-Semitism in France if it weren't so tragic. Apparently, the French government is assuming it can protect the rights of it's religious minorities by destroying them outright.
Since France has actually come out and clearly demonstrated it's contempt for freedom, I propose that it lose it's own Freedom. Give France back to Germany now! If nothing else, Germany was willing to fight for France which is a lot more than can be said for the French.
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