French back a ban on religious symbols at work

[The Straight Story]

19. Ok, serious question here

I read a lot of older books from the 1800's mostly (free on archive.org) - I love old travel journals to places all over the world.

Amazing the stuff you find in them, how people traveled back then, stories of mermaids, no phones or cars, etc and so on.

Some of my favorite are about the middle east and Africa in general.

It was not uncommon that people were in areas where other faiths (most writers were Christians that I have read) were very dominant.

All sorts of symbols, customs, celebrations, etc were based on these other faiths.

But I don't recall anyone feeling bullied by such things, in fact such things were often celebrated and so intertwined in the culture that the authors went into great detail about them (and I can imagine living back in the 1800's reading of such exciting journeys, like the nat geo of the time).

People bullying others over their beliefs (religion/philosophy/politics) I can see and get. But not sure of the whole symbolism thing.

It is one reason I could care less if I see a Menorah or Christmas display at a school or courthouse, etc - it is reflective of the culture and history of the people of that area (and I think such should be all inclusive in the US).

Could you explain to me, so that I can better grasp, how the symbols seem like bullying? And yes, I can get how a noose or a swastika can be seen as such - but then their sole purpose is based around intimidation whereas while faiths may have some terrible items to account for, a large swath of people practicing them are not intending to be threatening in a similar way and use them to celebrate both their culture and history.