tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6427658749968005709.post9206239992289437554..comments2012-04-09T16:47:15.594-07:00Comments on New in New York: Sad, Not ShockedRachael Levyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17732209426567344278noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6427658749968005709.post-51908392366349652692012-03-24T20:17:08.514-07:002012-03-24T20:17:08.514-07:00Hi! Thanks for your response, and thanks for readi...Hi! Thanks for your response, and thanks for reading my piece on Slate. Yes, I do realize that it was hard for some to understand where I was going with that. It was a hard topic to cover overall in just 1400 words to an audience unfamiliar with the issues/culture at hand, since the issue is very multi-faceted. But basically, to give you the short answer, it stems from the idea that for me, France's secularism reinforces close-mindedness; it doesn't allow free expression of religion. They don't talk openly about religion. When you go to school as a kid, you can't ask the Muslim girl why she wears a veil, if she even likes wearing it, etc, because she simply isn't allowed to wear the veil. Somehow she's supposed to keep her religion only to herself, her family, her community, inside her house -- as if a person's religious identity just stops at the family household doormat, doesn't need to pass that. The French idea that one can be a privately religious person but not publicly is just not practical, as in, for example, when I mentioned that state exams will be put on religious holidays that are very important to Muslims and Jews. When that is the kind of society that is in place, of course certain people are never going to feel like they fit in, that they are never fully accepted for who they are. They simply don't feel free to express who they are, even if it means just wanting to celebrate one holiday per year, but not being able to, because the state says being French and that exam you should take are much more important than some silly religion. I'm planning on expanding on my ideas in another blog post here soon, so stay tuned.Rachael Levyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17732209426567344278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6427658749968005709.post-64114776020499562742012-03-24T19:58:44.404-07:002012-03-24T19:58:44.404-07:00The url of the Slate piece said blame must be shar...The url of the Slate piece said blame must be shared by French culture, and in the actual text it said French secularism may have influenced Merah. That claim struck me as exceedingly bizarre, and while I could simply point and laugh for others, having a comment section on your blog means I can ask what you were thinking. So what is the hypothesized causality that leads from French secularism to Merah's shootings?<br /><br />I should note that I'm also an American and although irreligious, I do not identify as a secularist.TGGPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11017651009634767649noreply@blogger.com