"Conservatives have long pointed out -- and liberals have long largely ignored -- that there are real contradictions between liberalism and multiculturalism."

This criticism is not only made by Conservatives, it also comes from what can be loosely termed "the far left". Alain Badiou and Slavoj Zizek have both been insightful on this and similar issues, and it is frustrating to recognize the extent to which such problems are under-theorized (academese for "ignored") in traditional "mainstream" liberalism.

So how does Michelle Goldberg recommend resolving these "real contradictions"? In favor of individual rights, of course, like any good American would. Well, the French - left and right - are not Americans and they don't share the American values of the primacy of individual rights. They don't privilege individuals over the collective and they aren't willing to accomodate individuals who want to engage in religious practices that they find damaging or hostile to public life. But American liberals can't seem to understand that Europeans aren't just like us. They have a different history, a different experience with religion, a different sense of the importance of national culture, and a different undrstanding of the relationship of the individual to the state.

It's really extraordinary. Whenever an American liberal writes about religion in France, or anywhere in Europe, s/he ends up preaching First Amendment values. Well, the French don't have the First Amendment. And until she can acknowledge that the French value system is different and may actually work for them, Michell is talking to herself.

Anon...

Anytime virtually any American writes about religion in France, or any other country, they start from the p.o.v. of the US. France isn't post-Christian because of a lack of faith...it's because religion became the state became the religion, and was tossed out in 1789 as corrupt and out of touch. Evangelization in France is about as successful as arguing for a return to the monarchy would be in the US.

And it's not just on religion, and it's not just liberals. Just a few days ago, we had a Congressman wishing Iran had a 2nd Amendment.

Ignorance of the world and its complications, attempting to extrapolate US values and laws to other locales...yes, it's typically American, sad to say. Even worse, it's typical in our leadership, too often.

The concerns for feminism in France would be a little more persuasive if these same characters had spoken out on the threat posed by Catholic Nuns who, until Vatican II, wore outfits that resembled burquas more than Dior or Givenchy. Some oders still do, without apparent threat to the Republic.

In America and France, generations of kids were educated by women who displayed only a couple of square inches more of their faces than the burquas. For those who wonder what that was like, consult the movie "Doubt." Essentially, not even a problem anyone recognized at the time or even remembers now.

With Dame Fashion having freed the non-Muslim women of France from the tyranny of millinery and the need to buy hats, the French government has now freed Muslim women and girls from the need to wear headscarves. Again, the hat as a sign of female submission didn't seem to be much of an issue when it was required of women attending Mass or even stepping out of doors without inspiring "comment on the platform" (pace Oscar Wilde).

Of course, the whole obession of religions of all sorts with hair and haircuts is more than a little absurd. Why Parliaments see fit to enter these ridiculous lists is less a measure of traditional values than contemporary bigotry.