What do you think of the ban on religious symbols (mainly Muslim headscarves) in schools in France?

I think it's an incredibly stupid idea. Note the ban in schools applies as part of a wider bam in publically owned buildings. The supposed justification is that it forces everyone to be equal, and therefore encourages racial harmony by increasing interracial marriage, and the currently accepted model of a diverse society in other countries of "equal but different" is racist by acknowledging the differences. You can't pass laws that tell people whether to fall in love or not. I'd say headscarves play little to no role in actually controlling attraction - they certainly don't stop me thinking somebody's pretty. And what on earth relevance does this line of thinking have to do with schools anyway? This attitude in French society of refusing to acknowledge people's heritage is one of the reasons the riots started - while it wasn't the spark, it certainly was fuel for the fire. It's unreasonable to tell somebody to forget about their roots - the whole reason diverse societies are better is everyone brings something different to the table, and we should be celebrating this, not surpressing it. I also suspect that if Christians were the ones that felt they had a requirement to display a prominent symbol, the protests over the ban would have been such that it would have been unworkable. If a group is too small to make an electoral difference over an issue, politically they do not exist.

It is really barking up the wrong tree. As an atheist, I have nothing against people observing their own religious customs -- as long as they don't push them on me. Why do the French want to incite riots such as just occurred among their Muslim population? -- the whole thing is ridiculous. It stems from an underlying French xenophobia tracing back to the Dreyfus case and before. Not that the US is much better, either.

they shouldnt ahve the right to do that... every1 is free to practice what ever religion they want... they should have no right to ban that

It is really barking up the wrong tree. As an atheist, I have nothing against people observing their own religious customs -- as long as they don't push them on me. Why do the French want to incite riots such as just occurred among their Muslim population? -- the whole thing is ridiculous. It stems from an underlying French xenophobia tracing back to the Dreyfus case and before. Not that the US is much better, either.

they shouldnt ahve the right to do that... every1 is free to practice what ever religion they want... they should have no right to ban that

No, you don't get it. The separation of church and state require that the government does not endorse any specific religion. To have religious symbols out of school is so that parents can feel secure and free in knowing that when their kids go to school, they will not be exposed to or taught about religions other than their own. This protects your freedom-- so that your child doesn't walk into a Pagan teacher's class and see pentagrams hung up on the wall. You have the freedom to teach your child you religion, your own way, in your own time. Schools do not enforce atheism-- because walking into school doesn't make a child an atheist. Schools simply leave the religious issues for parents to attend to. Or do you believe that any thing or any place that doesn't blatently promote your religion is forcing you into atheism? If so... then I just feel sorry for you about that paranoia.