France ponders a burqa ban
France, which already disallows headscarves in public schools, is beginning to debate whether they should ban the burqa (head to toe-covering garment) entirely. Here's a quote:
"Now Nicolas Sarkozy has sparked another by calling the burqa, a head-to-toe Islamic garment, “a sign of subjugation…of debasement” that is “not welcome on French territory”."
Naturally many are claiming that this discriminates against Islam in a government that is supposed to have a secular, hands-off approach to religion.
So here's my brilliant solution to make it fair: instead of asking only burqa-wearing Muslims to change, why not ask everyone to remove one layer of clothing--a nation-wide game of strip poker!
But jokes aside... While I am certainly no fan of the burqa, I don't see it being socially fruitful to ban such things. Freedom of religious expression is a social contract that must be respected by all sides, whether you agree with your neighbor or not. In fact, you are not likely to agree--that's the whole point.
France ponders a burqa ban The Economist
"Now Nicolas Sarkozy has sparked another by calling the burqa, a head-to-toe Islamic garment, “a sign of subjugation…of debasement” that is “not welcome on French territory”."
Naturally many are claiming that this discriminates against Islam in a government that is supposed to have a secular, hands-off approach to religion.
So here's my brilliant solution to make it fair: instead of asking only burqa-wearing Muslims to change, why not ask everyone to remove one layer of clothing--a nation-wide game of strip poker!
But jokes aside... While I am certainly no fan of the burqa, I don't see it being socially fruitful to ban such things. Freedom of religious expression is a social contract that must be respected by all sides, whether you agree with your neighbor or not. In fact, you are not likely to agree--that's the whole point.
France ponders a burqa ban The Economist