Half a century ago, in the mythical swinging sixties, it would have been hard to imagine
religion being one of the most contentious and polarizing issues in 2 1 st century Europe.
Yet that is the reality we live in today. For a while, the ECJ, tucked away, as they say, in
peaceful Luxembourg, was sheltered from this reality. That changed dramatically when it
was confronted with references for a preliminary ruling concerning the wearing of the Islamic
headscarf at work in two distinct but similar cases: Achbita and Bougnaoui. The question the …