This will go over well

France gets a lot of flack from a lot of people for being wildly ethnocentric, but, to be fair, they're no more ethnocentric than we Americans. And, unlike us, they'd never use their cultural standards to judge people of differing beliefs. I mean certainly not in any way that may be deemed by some groups as discriminatory. What's that? Check out the BBC website? Why?

[French President Nicolas Sarkozy] said the burka - a garment worn by Muslims that covers the body from head to toe - "deprived women of identity". The French National Assembly has appointed 32 lawmakers on a fact-finding mission to look at ways of restricting its use. France is home to Western Europe's largest population of Muslims. In a speech, Mr Sarkozy said it was unacceptable to have women in France who were “prisoners behind netting". He said it was not a sign of religion but a "sign of subservience" [Source: bbc.co.uk].

I can certainly see what Sarkozy is saying (though to be fair, most major religions place women in a submissive position [tee hee]). But, while the feminist in me may want to cheer him, the flag-wavin American freedom-fighter in me isn’t entirely comfortable with the idea of restricting a behavior or dress that is directly affiliated with an individual’s religious beliefs. But I’m just being overly sensitive. If history has taught us anything, it’s that nothing is accepted and appreciated all over the world quite like insulting and trying to change people’s religious beliefs. That kind of stuff is always welcomed.