Don't Stand Down, Hijab at School

Islam means something. It actually says something, it prescribes things. Islam can have influence and this influence can have actual results.

This should be kept in mind when talking about religious accommodation, for example religious symbols in schools. This is one of the issues in the debate in Quebec. Some complain that preventing women from wearing hijab as teachers or as students, is "very intrusive, very discriminatory." Yes, it is discriminatory against the message of Islam as embodied in the hijab. But, a public school is put together by the public in order to, in some part, educate and raise children. The public always discriminates among the wide variety of ideologies which exist and thereby decides what messages the children are exposed to. If the public disagrees with the message of Islam, they have both the right, as they have the final say as to what transpires in the schools, and the responsibility to not allow that message in the school. There's no absolute reason to accommodate ideologies you disagree with. One doesn't allow a teacher or a student to wear whatever symbol they wish to at school, and no one argues against this. For example, a NAMBLA t-shirt wouldn't be worn for very long in a public school. So, everyone agrees the issue is not in deciding whether to accommodate every point of view, but rather the issue is in deciding which points of view should be accommodated and which should not. The public, of Quebec at least, doesn't want to accommodate the Islamic point of view that some wish to bring to schools. I think they're right: it's a very poor ideology, both in message and in results. Those who agree on this shouldn't stand down.

If the public thinks the message of Islam is bad, then why should they have to allow the propagation of that message at the schools they are in charge of? The French know the answer, and that's why they banned the hijab at their public schools, with a bill "passed by 494 votes to 36." I'm sure if a similar movement was brought in the Quebec National Assembly, it would find similar support.