h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: French Secularism - Laïcité - A2587151
Author: TheDepressedYak - U714420

Well, I've decided to give this a go, my main worry is that the entry is a bit long. Anyway, hope people find it interesting.

Really good.

Explains clearly a concept that is perculiar to those of us in England, where we have a state religion established by the monarchy.

You mention beards in the article which like uncut hair, or shaved heads would be difficult to police, I seem to recall disputes in the past in England regarding long hair. Turbans are also granted a special status in England. (For example a turban wearer does not have to wear a motorcycle helmet.) I presume these would also be included in this law ?

The only piece I would question is this - "In the past, France, perhaps more so than any other country in the Western World, had to fight to free itself from the authority of a Church whose political and social control was virtually complete. For a long time afterwards, the forces of religion were, sometimes unfairly, associated with monarchy and autocracy and were seen as an obstacle to modernisation and democracy" Even more than Italy ?

Excellent article.

I agree with McKay, excellent.

Only my minor 2p:

Explain what the Stasi Committee is before you mention it. Like "The Stasi Committe, named after Joe Stasi, was formed to..." Not that it matters, but a German reader might get confused. In Germany, Stasi used to be the nickname of the 'Staatssicherheit' the political police of East Germany, aka GDR. I caught myself wondering: "It can't be THEY're involved in this. This must be a typo, or a spell-checker gone wild, or a strange coincidence" Later on in the Entry this becomes clearly explained... Much to my relief.

HELL

It is generally assumed that the law would apply to turbans as well, although they aren't specifically mentioned.

I will make the changes you both suggest now, thanks for the positive feedback.

This is excellent.

Maybe just add that secularism and the new law also applies to say, someone working in a benefits office, or the police. There seems to be less controversy about this, as of course you don't have to apply for that kind of job.

sprout

I'm not sure that the law does apply to public service workers. I know the report referred to them, but I think the law is restricted to schools. But if you have some other info, I'd be really grateful to see it.

I don't think this is too long at all, it's as long as it needs to be to explain its subject.

I found it very informative

And...your sentence which includes 'more so than most other countries in the Western World' does contain the word 'most', so I would think it's OK as it is. (Italy was mentioned, but I always thought Italy and maybe also Spain were examples of countries where th RC Church is still VIP and not as separated. I could be wrong though).

Jules

I changed it to put "most" in - I quite liked that sentence.

And so you should!

Jules

Thanks to everyone who's commented, it's great you were interested enough to read the whole thing. At least I know the kind of thing that goes down well now.

A nicely written entry. I don't know enough about it to comment on the content, although it is in tune with what I know. I do have a question, though. The entry says that religious personnel were banned from state schools. Is this law likely to result in the formation of exclusively Islamic, or Jewish schools, where the wearing of the headscarf would be allowed? Do women in France wear the chador?

It's probably still too early to work out all the consequences of the law, although the possibility of the formation of religious schools was mentioned in the newspapers and by politicians. I believe there is currently one Islamic school in France, which, as it is private, will not be affected by the law.

I don't think that many, if any, women in France wear the chador. The majority of Moslem women do not even wear a headscarf.

This is really rather good. It clearly explains something that is a hard concept for an Englishman to grasp as we have historical no experience of such things. There are no significant problems with the entry as it stands, and I see no reason why it couldn't progress to the EG.

Do any of the other Scouts of this parish agree with me?

I think it's a good entry, good length and clear explanations.

Jules (still not a scout - must be asking the wrong people! )

Given that the author has Elvised, I think a move to FM would be more suitable.


Geggs

<./>ScoutRecommendations</.>

* adds it to his growing list of stuff to be moved *

::COUGH::

Post 16

Sorry, itchy trigger finger

Calm down, calm down