.EVERY FEW years the French get worked up about a product of theological clothes that they deem unacceptable in the classroom. This time a debate has broken out at la rentru00e9e, the beginning of the new academic year, over an authorities selection to outlaw from condition institutions the abaya, a whole bathrobe worn by some Muslim females for quietness. To individuals in countries with a heritage of liberal multiculturalism, the ban looks like an undesirable violation of the right to spiritual expression. To guardians of a stringent model of French secularism, it is a solution important to safeguard the commonwealth from spiritual disturbance. Why is actually France therefore concerned concerning Muslim dress in its own institutions?