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[shadenight123]

I'm going to play devil advocate too.

If I entered a Mosque with shoes on, would I be kicked outside?
If I read a Torah book, would I be kicked outside the hebrew church? (Sinagogue-something ,right?)

Neither of the two actions harm anyone, but they're prohibited because of religious reasons. (Torah book can only be read by Hebrews, and Mosque are to be entered without shoes)

They are stupid laws. But they are respected for the 'live and let live' agreement between intelligent beings.

Let's reverse the situation, to put it in perspective.

A girl goes to a muslim school without the shawl on because she doesn't believe in Islam. She is kicked out.

The question isn't why the school is stupid in having such laws. The question is why the girl went to an islamic school in the first place if she didn't want to wear the shawl.

[Helgoland]

But beards aren't against Catholic doctrine - this was clearly a case of poorly disguised racism/whateveryoucallmuslimhatin'.

[shadenight123]

But the school regulation prohibits beards.
The school is 'Catholic' but if, on campus, nobody has a beard, then it's their call on the argument. It's a 'stupid' law, but it's there. Now, if you're telling me that some teachers have beards, and they keep them because 'Only religious beards are out' then yes, the school is racist.

[Owlbread]

But Shadenight, in the UK your arguments wouldn't cut it. Regardless of whether the school was Catholic or not; if they ban beards, even for religious reasons, that is considered discrimination and the school will probably be disciplined for it.

[Helgoland]

Then they wouldn't be able to prohibit, say, Jeans either.
At any rate, if this was only a matter of dress code, some sort of solution would have been found without making this a news item. It's discrimination, regardless of what they claimed.

[shadenight123]

But Shadenight, in the UK your arguments wouldn't cut it. Regardless of whether the school was Catholic or not; if they ban beards, even for religious reasons, that is considered discrimination and the school will probably be disciplined for it.

So, technically, if a girl went to an Islamic school in UK, and they threw her out because she refused to wear the shawl, that school too would be accused of discrimination, right?

Then they wouldn't be able to prohibit, say, Jeans either.
At any rate, if this was only a matter of dress code, some sort of solution would have been found without making this a news item. It's discrimination, regardless of what they claimed.

Well, what if the school really has a dress code that states 'No beards' and makes it strictly noticeable in their policy? Sure, it is undwarfenly, but the school has it in its law since...oh, I don't know. Let's say they're Beard-Haters since the 1900, or the 1800, or whenever the school has been founded. If you have a beard, don't go there. If you go there, you know you have to cut your beard. That's like saying you want to have a nice picnic, and then set up camp atop a hornet nest and near a bear cave.
You won't have a nice picnic. Sure, animal protection will kill the bear and smoke out the hornets, but the point is...they were both there first, why the hell did you have to go there to begin with?

This is the point I don't understand. Wasn't there another school? Wasn't there another institution? IF -as the article implies- it's written in the school's dresscode about 'not having beards' then they can't complain about it. I'd like to think the children were told of it before starting school, rather than on the first day of class.

[Max White]

But beards aren't against Catholic doctrine - this was clearly a case of poorly disguised racism/whateveryoucallmuslimhatin'.

Eh, I don't see how a Catholic school deciding it doesn't like beards is any less a part of their doctrine than any other part of any religion to be honest. I mean as an atheist I don't hold any of their views particularly holy, so clean shaven seems about as valid as the rest really.

[Willfor]

Eh, I don't see how a Catholic school deciding it doesn't like beards is any less a part of their doctrine than any other part of any religion to be honest. I mean as an atheist I don't hold any of their views particularly holy, so clean shaven seems about as valid as the rest really.

I realize that my argument may not seem very serious at first, but just hear me out here:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

:/

But beards aren't against Catholic doctrine - this was clearly a case of poorly disguised racism/whateveryoucallmuslimhatin'.

Islamaphobia.

[Owlbread]

So, technically, if a girl went to an Islamic school in UK, and they threw her out because she refused to wear the shawl, that school too would be accused of discrimination, right?

No, they probably wouldn't. Islamic institutions are usually given a wide berth by those with such agendas because the price of offending them is greater than the price of offending a Christian institution.

[10ebbor10]

On a side note, is it possible that the beard thing was part of the schools dresscode without religious motivation. I mean, it's not because it's a Christian school that all the rules have to be enforced. I mean, my school* had a rule against headwear. Has nothing to do with religion, it's merely a tradition dating back to the previous century, when hats were reserved for civilized adults. As respect, the students were not allowed to wear any.

I'm pretty sure the beard thing has a similair explanation.

*Which like 75% of Belgian schools is Catholic

[Owlbread]

It may very well be that it wasn't tied in with some kind of religious reasoning, but the fact is that if you do something like that in the UK it will be considered discriminatory. You have prohibited two people from having beards for religious reasons (they wanted the beards for religious reasons I mean) - that is taboo, and generally considered discriminatory. It is arguably so under law, and will most likely be challenged by the Islamic community.

[Darvi]

Really, any kind of dress code that goes beyong the social norm (nobody wants to see crotchless pants around) are ridiculous and we could do without.

[10ebbor10]

Really, any kind of dress code that goes beyong the social norm (nobody wants to see crotchless pants around) are ridiculous and we could do without.

Problem is, social norm is vague. In the correct social environement, you'd get pretty weird things.

[Sheb]

10ebbor10:Catholic school in Belgian are a weird thing, they're publicly run and are just some weird consequences of the fight between liberals and catholics back in the days.

[10ebbor10]

10ebbor10:Catholic school in Belgian are a weird thing, they're publicly run and are just some weird consequences of the fight between liberals and catholics back in the days.

I know. Doesn't mean there's no relevancy though.

As a side note, the Catholic schools are not an offshoot of said conflict. The other 25% non-Catholic schools are. (Nitpick)