Quebec Prime Minister Pauline Marois has been taking a lambasting in Canada’s English-language media for proposing a charter of values, which would forbid public officials, including teachers, from wearing ostentatious religious symbols.
But, in Europe, from where I have just returned, Marois’s sentiments are nothing new. Last week, for instance, Germany’s highest court ruled that Muslim girls, in the name of universal education, can be compelled to take part in mixed-sex swimming classes at school.
The girls are allowed to guard their modesty by swimming in a full-body suit, which has been dubbed a “burquini.” [The Vancouver Sun] Read more
