I think this belongs here more so than the Religion forum because the issues are of a political nature.
That said, what do you guys think about what is going on in France? The government has been making some grand efforts to incorporate Muslims into the French political society. Most say that the concept itself is okay but the way they are doing it is absurd. Here is an article loosely related to this issue, I read some others earlier more focused on this but forgot where they are, I’ll post them too if I find them:
Weren't French Muslims fighting for their rights of practising polygamy(polygyny) a while back? Which by the way Islam permits.
What kind of "Fundamentalism" are they trying to suppress?
The problem is that France has been staunchly secular since the early 1900s, when they decided to ban all religion from any state-related activity.
So ever since the law got passed, say, in state-funded schools students and teacher are not allowed to display or wear symbols of Christianty, ie crucifixes.
They've had a recent problem with the Muslim immigrants. Muslim girls in France try and wear Hijab to go to school. The French, however, day that Hijab is a symbol of Islam and thus must not be allowed into schools, just like crucifixes aren't allowed into schools. The Muslims, on the other hand, argue back saying that the state is then stopping them from practicing their faith which requires girls to wear hijab.
What it coms down to is that historically, immigrants to France from all over the world have historically totally embraced French identity. There were expecting Muslims in France to do the same, and are now having problems because Muslims generally don't like to completely intergrate into other societies.
Our faith gives us a unique identity, and completely integrating into other societies can't be done without compromising on faith.