There seems to be a lot of confusion in people’s minds between the concept of culture and religion.
When faced with the decision whether to allow certain modes of dress it can be difficult as in this case. There are the two extremes, we must allow religious freedom regardless, to the opposite position, they must conform to the society in which they find themselves. Obviously most of us would be a little more flexible but where does the balance lie?
First let me dispel a myth, this has little to do with religious freedom. In essence if you look at the fundamentals of religion it is more about the heart than the outward signs. In most instances the outward signs are added by men after the event. Religion begins and ends in the heart so that if you strip all the externals away what is left is the true religion of the person. The external trappings are more to do with culture.
Look at Christianity for instance. Most of the practices vary from culture to culture. Head covering, building structure, priestly garments, beards, sabath, etc etc. All of these are cultural and nothing to do with the heart which is where true religion lies.
The same thing occurs with Moslems. There are many quite diverse practices and these are really nothing much to do with the Moslem religion – they arose due to cultural differences.
So the question changes from religious freedom to cultural freedom. You see we all have religious freedom, that is entirely unfettered. In fact whatever external influences come to bear we can believe what we wish. That is why Christianity prospered under communism. But cultural freedom is an entirely different question.
But a question for another day.