Secularism or Fundamentalism

[ruby27]

Yesterday Turkey's parliament has approved two constitutional amendments easing the ban on women wearing Islamic headscarves in universities.

Now I don't want to follow a religion but to not be allowed to does seem to be intolerant. Rowan Williams may be odd as he likes to dress up in strange clothes, but isn't he harmless?

Does the following of religion cause division and hatred and should be banned - fundamentalist secularism rules ok or else!
Or, some people will find any dogma/doctrine/faith to exploit in order to be in powerful positions so banning religion wouldn't make a difference?

[Whickerman]

In fairness to the Turks, they have a very proud secular tradition. The ban was on the wearing of religious clothing in state areas, in this case universities. The fear there is the easing of these rules are the start of a slippery slope. No-one is stopped wearing the scarves outside of state institutions, so it seems up to now they had what we in the west have been looking for - one rule for all.

You mention "Rowan Williams may be odd as he likes to dress up in strange clothes, but isn't he harmless? ". My understanding is, if he were Turkish, he wouldn't have been allowed wear his robes in state areas either.

This rule has now changed, but judging by the tens of thousands of protestors on the Turkish streets I wouldn't be surprised to see that overturned.

See here:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/722431 4.stm

[jno]

Turkey's caught between a public that is mostly Muslim and a system of government that has been determinedly secular since the fall of the Ottoman empire. The current government, elected last year, is Islamic-based, and many people - particularly the army, which sees itself as the guarantor of secularism - fear it wants to make the country officially Islamic again, and this is one of the steps towards that end. I have no idea if this is true, but it may well be. The ban on headscarves was one of the ways that secularism was enforced (there is of course no ban on private Muslim worship).