Headscarves. Yarmulkes. Small items that make a big statement about freedom.
On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of religious rights. In 2008, Samantha Elauf, an 18-year-old girl, was denied a job at Abercrombie & Fitch strictly because she wore a hijab, the traditional Muslim female head covering.
Elauf’s hijab, the court ruled, would not cause “undue hardship” on the business.
The decision speaks to the essence of this nation, from the time of the American colonists more than three centuries ago: freedom, including freedom of religion, even the right not to practice, at the time a revolutionary concept.
Religion has always been a vital thread in the American fabric. As America’s demography has changed, that religious thread has evolved past Christianity and taken on new hues. Muslims are now just becoming widely recognized, alongside Jews, Buddhists, Sikhs and Hindus.
By contrast, in much of Western Europe, religion has become suspect. Although Christian holidays remain public holidays, and Christian imagery is ever present in medieval buildings, openly expressed faith is rare and becoming rarer.
The epitome is France’s secularism, which could be interpreted as another form of religion: a belief in the absence of G-d as opposed to the traditional religious belief in the presence of G-d.
In 2004, France signed laws enshrining its secularity, particularly in the areas of outward expression in schools. Muslim head coverings became illegal to wear at primary and secondary schools. This put many faithful Muslims into an irresolvable quandary: whether to be lax in their faith or keep their girls out of school. This is the kind of choice that French officials force their citizens to face, but that the US Supreme Court does not impose. For French Muslims of deep faith, they may opt to pull their children from school. How does that further integration and mutual respect?
An even more absurd case in France has come to light. In Charleville-Mezieres, a girl was recently banned from the classroom for wearing a “conspicuously” long skirt, whatever that means. This is a girl who removes her headscarf to attend class. Apparently, not good enough.
America has become a beautiful, diverse nation because of our adherence to our founding principle of freedom. Freedom of religion means, in essence, freedom for diversity. Every American has his own religious preference that American society, through the First Amendment, is urged to accept as part of our fabric.
In the US, Samantha Elauf need not forgo her education, her faith or her right to work.
America truly is the Land of the Free.
Copyright © 2015 by the Intermountain Jewish News