| It is illustrative of the differences between our countries. To an America, this proposal is tantamount to persecution, since we hold religious freedom and freedom of expression to be so sacred, and will not interfere without manifest need. I have been reading along, in the French press, as this developed, and I confess that I couldn't believe they actually were going to do it, until it happened. In France, social solidarity, and therefore conformism, is much more valued. In America, there are social pressures to assimilate, but it is diffuse and unofficial, largely. We pride ourselves on leaving the Amish or the Hasidim to their customs, and if someone comes into school with a yarmulke and payes (earlocks), he may be made fun of on the playground, but he is afforded official protection. In France, it is not seen as wrong for the school to take the side of the bullies, as it were....... |
