" . . . the presidential panel said public services other than schools also have been affected by militancy, with hospital corridors used as prayer rooms, men refusing to let male doctors treat their wives, and women fulfilling national defense duties refusing any rescue operations with men."

And banning head scarves is going to change all this?

Why not just order the daughters of conservative Muslims not to go to school at all? France is so busy being afraid of immigrants from its former colonies that it's not realizing that for many Muslim women, the head scarf equals freedom to leave the house. Maybe in France the Muslim community isn't quite that conservative, but still, banning head scarves (and other religious symbols, such as skullcaps) from schools is a violation of religious freedom. Honestly, it's not like French Muslim girls come to school obscured by burqas -- how is a scarf a threat to national security?

You can praise Western Europeans as much as you want for their social-welfare bent, but they're still way behind the times when it comes to tolerance. In many ways, the treatment that ethnic minorities get in Europe makes America look good.

On this issue, there's room for compromise on both sides. But let's try to be a little more enlightened about others' cultures in the future, no?

French Leader Calls for Ban on Relgious Symbols in Schools