Crucifixes allowed in European state schools
According to an article in the Guardian, the European Court of Human Rights has reversed its own earlier decision and now says that it is lawful to display a crucifix in a state schoolroom. The earlier decision caused “uproar,” so the full court reconsidered its earlier decision and concluded that the crucifix was “an essentially passive symbol.” As the philosopher Sidney Morgenbesser might have said, Yeah, yeah, and a Christmas tree is just a secular symbol.
France, meanwhile, has banned religious symbols worn by students in state schools. So here is a philosophy question: Can you both permit and prohibit religious symbols at the same time?