What justifies the proposed ban on the Muslim burka?
French lawmakers are once again considering a ban on burkas or full veils worn by Muslim women.
Last Monday, President Nicolas Sarkozy controversially told lawmakers that the traditional Muslim garment was “not welcome” in France, according to CNN.
The right of Muslim women to cover themselves is fiercely debated in France, which has a large Muslim minority but also a staunchly secular constitution.
In 2004, the French parliament passed legislation banning Muslim girls from wearing headscarves in state schools, prompting widespread Muslim protests. The law also banned other conspicuous religious symbols including Sikh turbans, large Christian crucifixes and Jewish skull caps.
Despite those who call the proposed ban racist, some lawmakers, who have called for burkas to be banned completely, claim the burkas are degrading to women, according to CNN.
Housing Minister Fadela Amara, a Muslim-born women’s rights campaigner has called the garment “a kind of tomb for women.”
In order for the ban be enacted, lawmakers must prove that burkas are being “imposed” on Muslim women against their will, according to the Independent.com.
The long debate in France represents a clash in cultural values that exists for Muslims whenever they are in the minority. CNN reported that Dutch lawmakers have also tried a ban in 2005.
At its core, this is a philosophical debate about the right and the wrong way to treat cultures we may not necessarily understand.
Do we respect a culture for what it is or do we outlaw certain aspects of a culture based upon basic human values? Does you think the burka aspect of the Muslim culture violates basic human values? Is it fair for a culture to impede on another just because they are in the majority?
Some may even argue that no one can really debate whether wearing a burka is right or wrong because it is a value that is culturally distinct. But if you believe in a higher law that exists outside of cultural values, are the French righteous in banning these burkas? Or are they simply trying to interfere with a culture because they don’t understand it?
Got lots of mixed emotions here. Nothing pisses me off more than people running the streets in turbins and burkas and such but it is part of their religion. Let’s face it, they don’t complain about me wearing my cross necklace showing my faith so I need to be more aware of their cultural things. I am trying pretty hard to accept it but do agree with the French that perhaps school and other places like that need to be monitored a bit more and perhaps policed to the point that the people do not need to wear such apparel. Oh well, I am trying harder to improve and hope this does not cause too many people to click into Political Correct mode.
Anonoman,
Thanks for such a well phrased post. You said exactly what I wanted to say, but you did it much better than I could.
I do find it interesting that so many people now are more than willing to cry foul over anything that is considered religious to either Christians or Jews, but they are more than willing to accept the religious freedoms of Muslims. I find that all three religions have good points and bad points, however it seems that only that bad of Christians and Jews is pointed out (intolerance of Gays, Priest Sex Scandals, etc…), yet only the good is pointed out in reference to Muslims despite their total lack of respect for women (which goes as far as genital mutilation in some extreme portions of the faith.)
We should be expecting better of all people of faith, not just Jews and Christians. No one deserves a pass on this.
Thanks Joey!!!
There is no possible justification for the ban. The ban not only prohibits those wearing the burka in subjugation but also those who choose to wear it. That’s not okay. Something as personal as clothing, particularly when it is a religious issue, should not be interfered with by the government. The problem is not the burka, the problem is the subjugation. Address that, not the clothing. This is just a symbolic move but it severely damages individual rights.
This is just unbelievable. How on earth could they be so indifferent to religion freedoms. This is truly a sign of the times that we are heading into.
Christian in this country have better cease attempting to force their worship down every ones throat and do everything in their power to keep the freedom of religion alive for all in this country no matter your religion.
This Nicolas Sarkozy man is truly anti-God and religion and Christians must get serious in their worship and stop giving people reason to loath us.
Average Jane,
Woman and men that I know who cover their head do it for religious reasons and desire to do it. Don’t be so stupid thinking that because you feel that it is degrading to woman that they feel this way, most gladly do it just as some of us Christians gladly follow some of our practices that some of you think are stupid and can’t imagine why we do it.
I think MAYBE they may be trying to make everyone EQUAL at least as far as how they look. Try to level the playing field and drop the visual things that make people judge you from the outside? Which like it or not people do judge you from the outside all the time……….
Lets turn this around….Arent the France into sun bathing naked? I wonder if a French family were to strip down in a Muslim country to get a good tan would the Muslim world accept it as a cultural different and be ok with it? I doubt it.
Joey, your first comment is incredibly patronizing. Your values are not necessarily shared by everyone else in the world. How do you know what a woman will choose to wear if she ”values” herself? Perhaps she values herself as a modest and loving servant of God, and therefore chooses to cover up? I say again, the clothing isn’t the problem; the problems is the human rights violation by the government in forbidding it; and the issue of whether a woman can choose to wear the burka or is being forced to do so. If being forced, the answer isn’t ban the burka but to, as I said before, address the subjugation directly, which likely causes more problems for the lady than just what she wears out in public.
Karen, the problem with your argument is that it can be used to support the opposite, too - let’s force ALL French women to wear the burka so that no one is “judged from the outside.” You’d object to being told you had to cover up; is it so hard to imagine that others might object to exposure? And as for “They do it, too” that’s a schoolyard argument but doesn’t really justify such an extreme intrusion into what should be an individual’s private decision. All that means is that Muslim countries invade people’s freedom as well.
As usual, Anonaman makes some good, thoughtful points. France has long been a bastion of humanism and societal freedom in comparison with many industrialized nations. One significant proof of France’s relative cultural openness and acceptance has been the number of blacks who have over recent generations emigrated to France from this country, finding freedom and acceptance there that they could not find here. So it is in light of this heritage that I find France’s consideration of this ban to be puzzling, uncharacteristically narrow and culturally domineering.
Perhaps Islamic culture should reconsider forcing women to wear this symbol of the subjugation of their sex, but in my opinion that doesn’t mean that France should jump to the polar opposite extreme of banning the burka.
While I support France’s right to interpret its own societal mores, I hope they reconsider this before they worsen an already-inflammatory cultural gap between the Middle East and the West. Banning the burka would single out Islam in the institution of a clearly discriminatory law. I don’t think you can compare this to allowing polygamy, as the fundamental laws of the nation should prevail (although there are still any number of polygamous households in our own country for which authorities look the other way). Within accepted public standards for decency, personal choice of attire should remain just that - a personal decision.
If France bans the burka, which is a premier symbol of Muslim practice and belief, than they should also ban the public display of the crucifix, the Star of David, and any other attire or accessory that is a clear endorsement of any other religion — and you can bet that won’t happen. Whoever is clamoring for this regulation has a personal agenda that should not become the law of the land.