The infamous ban on wearing conspicuous religious icons in French public schools has taken effect, and debate on the subject annoys the crap out of me.

I'm all for freedom of dress, and as far as I am concerned kids can come to school naked, or dressed in duct tape, or in Hitler t-shirts if they want. Smearing yourself with feces should be restricted for reasons of public health, and clothing with flashing lights or sounds should be required to shut off during class time, but beyond that I don't see much problem.

What pisses me off is all the people claiming that this issue is about religious freedom. It's got NOTHING TO DO with the right to freedom of religion. Public school is a public place, and your freedom to practice your religion is limited in public places. This issue is about freedom of expression in general, and religion isn't some kind of trump card that can be played to gain particular privaledges.

If I firmly believed that my head scarf is necessary to keep out cosmic rays there would be nobody leaping to defend my cause when my school makes me to take it off, but if I say God told me to wear it there is suddenly a massive groundswell of support for my rights. If I want to wear conspicuous piercings or tattoos because of a secular belief nobody is going to bat an eyelash when my school requires me to cover them or remove jewelry, but I can get heads to turn if I claim my religion mandates such affectations. No matter how silly my dress code, it automatically is given more credibility when I assert that my mythic Creator figure stands behind the choice.

When somebody tells me they need to wear a hat or a scarf or a cloak because of God's Law it pretty much sounds the same as if they told me Santa wants them to dress a particular way. Personally, I think that belief should count against their case, since it is evidence of their diminished reasoning abilities and possible mental illness, but, in the end, how crazy they are shouldn't stop them from wearing what they please.