In an effort to reign in Islam in France, the French have made burqa wearing in public illegal. Burqa wearing women have been arrested. No burqa wearing men have been likewise taken back to the station, because men don't wear the burqa. Not unless they are pretending to be a woman in order to blow stuff up, that is. But I digress.
I think this sort of law is typical of impotent modern western governments. They don't actually go after the real problem, they instead go after the easy fringe of the of problem.
Women are easy targets. The burqa wearers are immediately identifiable. In Islamic countries, women are very much restricted from being able to move around freely. The same will most likely happen in France to the burqa wearing women. They just won't go out and therefore will become trapped in their homes.
A far more serious problem in France is the takeover of the streets by men Islamic men praying. There is no requirement in Islam for the prayer to be public; a man could easily stop to pray just about where ever he is. But no, that's not good enough. Instead Islamic men will gather and take over streets and pray together as an act of political defiance. Yet they are left to do it and there is no political will to have the law enforced in this regard.
Even worse, this public street prayer is a means to enforcing Islam upon the populace. If you, as supposed Islamic man, are not seen with the others, then people will wonder if you've apostatised. I have read that in France, Catholic priests are very wary of accepting Islamic converts because of danger to all involved.
Freedom of religion is not being respected in France. Muslim women should be free to wear a burqa, if they so choose. Likewise, all Muslims should be free to change religions without fear of violence. This burqa wearing law does not enhance freedom of religion, it merely appeases the unthinking masses who presume that this will keep Islam under control. I think it's far more important to stress freedom of religion instead, and do all that is possible to ensure that anyone wanting to change religions can do so. We might be surprised how many Muslims convert out.
Related links: Telling Muslim women what not to wear ~ Huffington Post
The absence of evidence for banning burqas ~ Guardian
If Muslims ask for Europe’s "empty" churches... ~ AsiaNews.it
I think this sort of law is typical of impotent modern western governments. They don't actually go after the real problem, they instead go after the easy fringe of the of problem.
Women are easy targets. The burqa wearers are immediately identifiable. In Islamic countries, women are very much restricted from being able to move around freely. The same will most likely happen in France to the burqa wearing women. They just won't go out and therefore will become trapped in their homes.
A far more serious problem in France is the takeover of the streets by men Islamic men praying. There is no requirement in Islam for the prayer to be public; a man could easily stop to pray just about where ever he is. But no, that's not good enough. Instead Islamic men will gather and take over streets and pray together as an act of political defiance. Yet they are left to do it and there is no political will to have the law enforced in this regard.
Even worse, this public street prayer is a means to enforcing Islam upon the populace. If you, as supposed Islamic man, are not seen with the others, then people will wonder if you've apostatised. I have read that in France, Catholic priests are very wary of accepting Islamic converts because of danger to all involved.
Freedom of religion is not being respected in France. Muslim women should be free to wear a burqa, if they so choose. Likewise, all Muslims should be free to change religions without fear of violence. This burqa wearing law does not enhance freedom of religion, it merely appeases the unthinking masses who presume that this will keep Islam under control. I think it's far more important to stress freedom of religion instead, and do all that is possible to ensure that anyone wanting to change religions can do so. We might be surprised how many Muslims convert out.
Related links: Telling Muslim women what not to wear ~ Huffington Post
The absence of evidence for banning burqas ~ Guardian
If Muslims ask for Europe’s "empty" churches... ~ AsiaNews.it
I agree with you about the burka/niqab. Women are an easy target. I find it sad that women's clothes are where the French government are pushing back when it's arguable that some women don't have autonomy over what they wear in the first place. These women aren't going to just throw off their veils and go outside, instead the French government has just cut off the outside world to these women.
ReplyDeleteIf we want to push back against Islam the only way to do it is to have a confident, public Christianity and to have a justice system that is prepared to protect people when they exercise their human rights. That means, as an example, that honor killings must be prosecuted and that women have to have support systems to help them escape dangerous situations.