By DAVID RISING, Associated Press Writer
BERLIN - The Muslim headscarf should be considered a political symbol and legislation banning public school teachers from wearing it should not extend to religious symbols that are part of the country’s “Christian tradition,” a German Catholic organization said Wednesday.
The statement was the latest development in a nationwide debate that began in September after Germany’s highest court ruled veils are allowed unless existing legislation outlaws them. The Federal Constitutional Court further said any new laws must treat all religions equally.
The Central Committee of German Catholics said banning all religious symbols “would ignore the meaning of the Christian tradition of this country.”
The headscarf should be seen as a “symbol against the equal rights of women, and thus against our free democratic constitutional structure as well as the values of our society,” the group said.
Why don’t they mind their own business and deal with homosexuality scandals in their churches? Why are they making statements about other faiths if they don’t know what it is? Muslims say that scarf is religious and obligatory and Catholics are saying that it is not, but political. WTH do you know?
well its germany..does not have the best track record in modern times in terms of religious tolerance.
I must say these idiotic moves by these countries may make it clear to some of us who did not see that similar idiotic actions in KSA, Iran etc were hurting minorities there...whether citizens or temporary residents
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The headscarf should be seen as a "symbol against the equal rights of women, and thus against our free democratic constitutional structure as well as the values of our society,"
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What a stupid thing for a catholic group to point out [and I can say this as a catholic]. Nuns are subordinate to male priests, and their habits (penguin outfits) include a very similar headscarf. Once again proving my theory that the germans love david hasselhoff, err I mean my theory that religious fundamentalists are all freaking idiots.
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*Originally posted by Fraudz: *
well its germany..does not have the best track record in modern times in terms of religious tolerance...
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Well, this statement is from "Catholics", not government.. Its ironic, as mentioned by Stu above as well.
I've gotta admit that I haven't been keeping up with all this from the start.. but on this latest episode (above) everyone I talk to here is in agreement that these people pushing this are backwards hog-farmers.
Several moderate folks are concerned about the "Muslim invasion", but every sane person sees this as a stupid response. Some are against hijabs, but you'll find those same people are also against crosses and any other public religious evidence. Here in the south they tend to be more religious, but even then they're not half as religious as people in America (at least their political mechanisms aren't so influenced by it, when it is it's usually in some hyperrational reformation sorta way).
Despite all this, i can't predict how far these dumb excuses for restricting Muslim rights will go. The debate is getting more and more on the national level so once it gets there maybe it'll meet sufficient backlash.. if only to prevent Germany from taking on a bad image internationally.
But then again, like Fraudz said, hopefully witnessing this stupidity being carried out by others will be enough to make certain Muslims realize how dumb their states' policies are.