FASHION NEWS FROM PARIS – AT 8:14 A.M. ET:  A new law went into effect in France that is controversial, but makes a stand that, I think, is important in a democracy:

Paris - The French law banning Muslim women from wearing the burqa in public went into effect Monday, six months after France became the first Western country to institute such a ban.

Around 2,000 women are estimated to be affected by the law, which bans people from covering their faces in public but is particularly aimed at the burqa, a full-body covering, and niqab, a veil covering the face with just a slit for the eyes.

Practically, it means that women are barred from appearing in public in such garments, whether they do so of their own accord or under pressure from relatives. The ban includes public parks, restaurants, cinemas and beaches. It does not include private homes, places of worship or cars.

COMMENT:  We in America show special sensitivity toward religion expression.  It's part of our tradition, and we go out of our way to accommodate the faithful.

And yet, the French law is on solid ground.  Masking, for whatever purpose, has a special place in history, and it's not a positive place.  Masking in America brings back images of ugly groups and criminal elements.  We insist that people show their faces, in part so they can be identified if they commit a forbidden act.  It is part of our ethic as a society, and we have a right to insist on it.

Religious accommodation has its limits.  I believe masking exceeds those limits.  In my view, Muslim women applying for, say, a driver's license, should be photographed as would be any other applicant.  Muslim religious leaders should give religious dispensation for those women.

France is the first country to take a stand against religious garb that amounts to masking.  The usual suspects will come out of the woodwork to cry foul, but I hope the French law stands. 

April 11, 2011