I`ve just read an article in the german weakend issue of the „Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung“, that deals with the question, whether turkish teacher should be allowed to wear „head cloth“ or not. New energy to this long term debate came some days ago, when germany`s president Johannes Rau claimed the right of every civilian to wear the religous symbols he wants to. Different german politicians, among them chancellor Schroeder, considered, that the „head cloth“ is no symbol of peace and freedom like the crucifix, but for some of repression, and were therefore not comparable. Interesting to know is the fact, that President Rau comes from Wuppertal, a small town in central germany, where the catholic church is quite strong. Rau himself is a member of a small group of a „free church“ and by that very well known to the feeling of surpression. But it`s not only a german problem: take France, for instance, where Mr. Chirac has just put through a law against teachers and students with „head cloth“: It was against the laicistic view of the republic, to missuse the religous freedom of France. Will there be european-wide discussion in the future?
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