Austin Raynor's Sept. 28 column, "Behind the veil," about the French ban on Islamic veils was well-intentioned but misguided.
It seems obvious that any "peaceful religious expression" would allow the participant to end the "expression" without harm to themselves. Here we already see the problematic nature of the veil in society: Husbands currently do and will continue to force their wives into veils, and those who are privileged enough to avoid the compulsion become the target of de facto 'modesty police' in their communities. Existing efforts by European social workers have been unable to convince men that the veil causes health problems to their female family members. As one should expect, always being covered outside leads to vitamin D deficiencies.