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Essay 9 |
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| Regarding the Criminalization of Religious Totems in France | ||
| by RW Spisak Jr. The range of responses available to the French republic's attempt to reduce inter cultural friction by requiring the abandonment of visible symbols of religious piety must be denounced. The arguments with this simplistic anti-democratic measure should be as varied as the names humanity reserves for the divine. This is misguided at best and casts a long shadow toward just the danger of religious theocracy, that it would decry. While the assertion of cultural neutrality is carefully linked with discussion of a few religion's artifacts; none the less, the effort represents a subtle attempt at mono-cultural theism and probably an anti-muslim bias. Mention if you will, the yarmulke and the crucifix as well as the chador, there is little to suggest this is anything less than a response to anti-muslim tension in France. Taken at its face value, this is an affront to the cultural identity of the religious among us. Religious identity, even by the agnostic and neutral values of the state should be respected not challenged. These brand new "representational crimes" in which the government has singled out religious totems as suspect and disruptive of civic order must be denounced. This illustrates what abuses are possible when a largely progressive and mature republic like France, rekindles an ancient bias in favor of an anti--theistic identity that misrepresents the best aspiration of the french experiments in true humane liberty. Richard W. Spisak Jr. human rights activist and friend to France |
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