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Muslim wins Italian court ban on crucifixes in classroom
EFL, thisâll play real well in Italy:A Muslim rights advocate has scored a victory over the Catholic Church and conservative Italians, winning a court ruling that will remove crucifixes from the state primary school his children attend. A concordat with the Vatican confirmed in 1984 that Catholicism was no longer the state religion. And laws introduced in 1920s fascist Italy, making crucifixes mandatory in classrooms, have been interpreted loosely since then, though not revoked. The cross is still a permanent fixture in many government offices and hospitals. The judge argued that the 1920s norms were out of date and that the crucifix culture in schools showed that the state had "not the slightest respect" for the role of other religions. Unlike those open and tolerant muslim states. The court case was brought by Adel Smith of the Union of the Muslims of Italy. Of a Scots family, Mr Smith converted to Islam in 1987. Converts are always the most zealous. In public, he termed the crucifix a "small body on two wooden sticks". He wanted Koran prayers displayed at his childrenâs school and lobbied to have an "offensive" 15th century Giovanni di Modena fresco removed from Bologna cathedral and Danteâs Divine Comedy deleted from the school syllabus. He said both showed the prophet Mohammed cast into hell. So heâs for the separation of church and state, but mosque and state are different, of course. Posted by: Steve 2003-10-27 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=20418 |