Germany: Bavaria forbids the veil for teachers.
The state of Bavaria adopted, on November 11, a law forbidding teachers to wear the Islamic veil in public establishments. This region, with its strong Catholic tradition, is the fifth state to adopt an anti-veil law, after Baden-Wuertenberg, Lower-Saxony, Hesse and Sarre. The law was voted in by the Christian-Socialist majority (CSU, conservatives). It is meant, we are reassured, to protect school children from the political influence “of fundamentalist Muslim groups”. The Social-Democrat Party (SPD) and the Greens voted against it.
The new law, in theory, concerns not only the veil, but also the wearing of religious symbols and clothing that could be considered as “a way of behaving, which is incompatible with constitutional values.” The veil of Catholic religious is, however, not a factor. According to the CSU, the Church respects these constitutional values.
In France, the law against religious signs in the schools does not affect chaplains. So said, November 9, the ministry of National Education, Francois Fillon, who adds that this law must not be applied to adults who are not part of the educational community. As examples, he mentions parents of students and chaplains.
