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World Leaders Call on French President Jacques Chirac
to Reexamine Religious Garb Issue in France: Desmond
Tutu and Many Others Press Chirac to Protect Religious
Freedom

Washington, D.C.

In a letter drafted and coordinated by the Institute=
on Religion and Public Policy, hundreds of religious
leaders, academics, business leaders and other
concerned experts have called on President
Jacques Chirac of France to reconsider the ban on
religious garb in public schools and other public
areas.

"We are encouraged to send our concerns to you, Mr.
President, out of respect for the unique heritage and
traditions of freedom and openness that constituted
the pride of France, a country that through history
has welcomed diversity and proclaimed tolerance and
full respect of the values of human rights,the letter
stated. We agree that fanaticism and obscur antism
threaten the delicate fabric of the contemporary
world.  But in order to counter it, we need not
institute more authoritarian and restrictive
dispositions of the law. On the contrary, we should
rather embrace more broadmindedness and acceptance,
more democracy and freedom."

The letter continued, "A policy of secularism should
not be promoted in any way as a cover for
unintentional intolerance and atheism as a state
policy. To avoid such a twist is as necessary as much
as it is to prevent the misuse of the concept of
freedom that preoccupies you in the address. It is
indeed a fine and fragile balance that needs to be
maintained. A noble endeavor that would truly make
your nation the proud trustee of its rich history of
acceptance and noble ideals. Mr. President, there is
no valid justification for such a law, especially in
the circumstances that prompted the present debate
over religious extremism and its tragic consequences
throughout the world.

Copies of the letter are available from the Institute
at 202-835-8760
e-mail at IRPP@religionandpolicy.org, or on the
Institute'sebsite at
www.religionandpolicy.org.