Let's, with great sadness, bracket the notion that human beings should be free to express their religious beliefs in public, no matter whether other people disagree with them or not. That idea is a non-starter in many European nations right now because of their constricted view of what constitutes public space, as well as their constricted view of what constitutes religion. If your religion doesn't have a public component, like a distinctive manner of dress, naturally all religions should work like yours. This creates a 'secular' public space that is not truly secular since it caters to a mostly Christian view of what religions are. I'm going to have to cede this point for the moment because these nations have lost their minds at the thought that their societies are diversifying in ways they can't control. Instead, I will point out that if the goal is to combat Islamist extremism, the single worst thing you can do is force religious Muslims who want to participate in certain public institutions, like schools and sports, to choose between their religious beliefs and their membership in the wider society. It encourages the belief that observant Islam is incompatible with European citizenship, which is exactly the opposite of the message you want to be sending (those who *do* want to send that message are irredeemable bigots). That in turn makes it more likely that the devout will turn to parochial institutions, some of which are sources of the trouble European nations wish to avoid. Some of them are not. But given that in Europe the parochial school system is small and only for the most hardcore of believers, pushing more Muslims into that system is not a step in the right direction. As in the most recent instance, in which a girl in Switzerland was not allowed to play basketball because she wears hijab, these kinds of decisions run counter to the goals of creating a truly integrated Muslim community.

More often than not, of course, rules like this are made because stated goals of diversity and tolerance are not the real goals of policy. Rather, the irredeemable bigots are in control and are forcing their agenda under the guise of 'protecting' women and other minorities (like Jews, because goyische Europeans really love the Jews, right?). Hey, Europe, you know what would make women and Jews happy? You understanding that it makes us nervous when you arbitrarily restrict the rights of certain groups. Switzerland didn't allow women to vote until 1971. Not a typo. So forgive me if I don't trust the Swiss to have a really solid grasp on human rights issues.

View Original Post at ftlouie.typepad.com/womensports

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