Germany's top federal administrative court has ruled that schools can require Muslim girls to participate in co-ed swimming classes. The judges argue they can wear a burqini to address any concerns about religious dress codes.
Germany's highly anticipated "burqini ruling" is out. The federal administrative court in Leipzig, the highest in the country for such issues, ruled on Wednesday that schools can demand that Muslim school girls participate in co-ed swimming classes. The court stated that in order to respect their religious dress codes, girls are allowed to wear a full-body bathing suit known as a "burqini."
The ruling sparks the end of a legal challenge by Aisha, a 13-year-old girl from a high school in Frankfurt. The parents of the girl, who is of Moroccan origin, had sought to have their daughter exempted from a co-ed swimming class at the school. They argued that mixing girls and boys in swimming courses could not be reconciled with Muslim dress codes. Two years ago, however, the high school refused to exempt the girl. In a first ruling in the case, an administrative court in Kassel in the state of Hesse affirmed the school's refusal to exempt her from the swimming class and rejected the case, arguing that it was okay to order the girl to participate in the class wearing a burqini. At issue in the current appeal was a fundamental decision between the individual's constitutional right to freedom of religion and the state's constitutional obligation to educate all children.
No Right To Avoid Seeing Boys in Swim Trunks
The girl at the center of the case had attended school in Morocco until she turned eight. Later, she earned good grades at school in Germany and was accepted into one of the country's university-track high schools. After the school rejected her exemption from the swimming class, she simply stopped attending it. This caused her to flunk physical education on her half-year report card. But she managed to get the lowest possible passing grade on her final report card by attending normal gym classes, nearly completely covered from head to toe in a pair of long pants, a shirt with long sleeves and a headscarf.
The federal administrative court in Leipzig also rejected arguments that a girl should not be exposed to male students in swimming suits during gym class for religious reasons. The judges said she had no other choice but to be in the same place with them because, "The constitutional right to freedom of religion does not convey any fundamental right in the context of school to not be confronted by the behavioral patterns of third parties, including those relating to the area of clothing, items that are part of everyday life outside of school and in many places, particularly during certain times of the year."
In Germany, a country that is home to around 4 million Muslims, it is becoming an increasingly more common sight to see Muslim girls wearing burqinis at school and public swimming pools. With the exception of the face, hands and feet, the bathing suit covers the entire body and also includes an integrated headscarf. Although burqinis resemble diving suits, they are actually comprised of several pieces with generously cut cloth, guaranteeing that, even when wet, the material doesn't stick to the skin to reveal a girl or woman's curves.
I live in an area with a large Muslim population and see women/girls in burqinis at our water park all the time. It started a great dialogue with my kids about the religious beliefs of others. I'm with Septimus in that holding to one's religious beliefs while at the same time participating in society at large is a great way to spread a message of peaceful acceptance.
Ehhh.... Islam doesn't really deal well with assimilation. It's complicated, but basically, you can only be the best Muslim possible if you live in a Muslim society. So maintaining things like this as best as possible is definitely important to them.
Granted, these people have chosen to live in a secular society, and I also don't think their religious beliefs should impose on others (like the Jewish men in Brooklyn who made women ride in the back of the bus so they didn't have to look at them). But it's not exactly comparable to other religions and just integrating, IMO.
I think it's a fine compromise. Knowing how to swim is a vital life skill anyway. It's a public health issue.
So are vaccines, & we grant religious exemptions there.
Idk if Germany does. Hopefully not.
Vaccines shouldn't be something you can be exempted from tho. Unless the vaccine would kill you - I mean actually, because a real doctor said so, not because of spacecake opinions.
So are vaccines, & we grant religious exemptions there.
Idk if Germany does. Hopefully not.
Vaccines shouldn't be something you can be exempted from tho. Unless the vaccine would kill you - I mean actually, because a real doctor said so, not because of spacecake opinions.
Oh, I totally agree. I don't think religious exemptions should be allowed for vaccinations.
Sweet baby Jesus, soooooo many people here don't vaccinate and it has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with them being crunchy/"homeopathic" (there's a reason that's in quotes) types who just don't like the idea of vaccines. Do not even get me started on this.
There is no religious exemption on homeschooling though. Homeschooling is illegal across the board and if you try, the authorities will take your children away.
There is no religious exemption on homeschooling though. Homeschooling is illegal across the board and if you try, the authorities will take your children away.
Daamn. Anybody can homeschool in my state. Like, any mother with a middle school education can declare herself a "private school" and homeschool. There is no testing or any sort of follow up to ensure the child is learning anything.
Sweet baby Jesus, soooooo many people here don't vaccinate and it has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with them being crunchy/"homeopathic" (there's a reason that's in quotes) types who just don't like the idea of vaccines. Do not even get me started on this.
There is no religious exemption on homeschooling though. Homeschooling is illegal across the board and if you try, the authorities will take your children away.
That German family that tried to claim political asylum here in the US because they couldn't home school lost
Ehhh.... Islam doesn't really deal well with assimilation. It's complicated, but basically, you can only be the best Muslim possible if you live in a Muslim society. So maintaining things like this as best as possible is definitely important to them.
Granted, these people have chosen to live in a secular society, and I also don't think their religious beliefs should impose on others (like the Jewish men in Brooklyn who made women ride in the back of the bus so they didn't have to look at them). But it's not exactly comparable to other religions and just integrating, IMO.
You have to remember a majority of the Muslim immigrants in Germany are Turks, so they moved from one secular country to another one. Even though you know how I feel about the current situation in Turkey. However to your point the Turks who moved there in large numbers were not from the more secular parts of the country( that is the nicest way I can say it ) and their own interpretation of Sharia is different than say my husbands family.