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?
The French have every right to ban something in France if the French percieve it to be degrading to women. I see no reason that the French should have to ignore their own values because someone moved in and has different values.
Anonoman put it well. If you want to live somewhere other than your native land, you should be prepared to accept the foreign culture/laws of your new home. Women are so low to these people, some of them kill their own wives/sisters for being raped. How sickening is that? Do they want to bring that aspect of their culture to France, too? Where should France, or any other country draw the line?
The same can be said even from within the borders of our country, too. Strip clubs and bars that are open 24/7 in Sauget would hardly be tolerated in many bible belt alcohol free counties elsewhere in the US. There are many states in this country that allow gambling, where it is not tolerated by others. If you are against it, you are free to pack up and go elsewhere.
I don’t see a problem with the French goverment wanting to outlaw the burkas. The Muslim culture is not French culture and if they want to continue living in France with all that France has to offer them, they should have to live like the French do. You know, when in Rome!!
I wish our country would buck up and make those who come here to live have to adhere to our customs (speaking English, working for a paycheck etc…) but our lawmakers are a bunch of chickens and don’t want to offend anyone. I say good job France!
It looks like most of the objections to the ban are based on the concept of religious freedom. That misses the point – the US has a strong tradition of religious freedom, France has a strong vein of secular humanism. In the US, this ban would never fly. In France? I think it will pass.
Boyd, thanks for the compliments
However, I will point out that head scarfs in school WERE banned in France, back in 2004. But it wasn’t just Muslim head scarfs, it was all “conspicuous” religious symbols, including Sikh turbans, Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crucifixes.
Still, I think this has more to do with trying to moderate and assimilate Islamic immigrant’s than the official reason of equal rights for women. Which brings up the question - What accommodations are due immigrants? The host country provides a new home, citizenship, rights and equal protection under the law. The immigrant renounces allegiance to their former country and agree to abide by the laws that govern citizens in their new country.
To me, it’s not that excessive for France to ask Muslim immigrant’s to work a bit harder to fit in. After all, France has taken them in – something few other countries would be willing to do.
B- thanks, it looks like you totally “get it”
France is just having a backlash due to the entire country slowly turning into a Muslim state. Similar to backlashes in America due to our turning into a Latin America State.
Free is free,
I want you to know that I am not trying to be close minded about this. I understand your point, and it is well taken.
All I am saying is that in my opinion, burqa’s are used primarily as a tool to keep women sheilded from the view of other men, mostly because women within the more extreme sects of Islam are viewed as sub-human, a type of property. Yes, I realize that this isn’t always the case, but I think you can say that it is true for the majority of those who are wearing this garment.
Hey, I could be wrong. Maybe these women really do want to walk around like that all day. And maybe young girls at age 10 enjoy having their private areas sliced up like a tomato with a rusty knife with no medicine or pain killers and maybe they enjoy never being able to feel any kind of sexual pleasure and to be scarred for the rest of their lives.
But I can’t help it, I don’t think they do. I think it is convienient for men to say that it’s a woman’s choice, when in the end it is really the man exerting their control over women.
“Don’t tell me about how suppressed Christians are in the Muslim world. I get it. Try to explain this to Jews and Muslims who are subjugated and characaturized in nativity scenes and passion plays.”
What? Jellio, sometimes you make no sense whatsoever…If you want to rip on Christianity, at least get a little accuracy in your diatribes, will ya?
The article mentions that other religious symbols (crucifixes, skull caps, etc) are banned as well, so at least the Frenchies are being consistent.
Didn’t our President state recently that we shouldn’t be “meddling” in another nation’s internal affairs? Who are we to tell the French what their culture is? To paraphrase an old saying, “When in Paris, do as the Parisians do”. I notice that Nancy Pelosi pulled a scarf around her head when she visited Muslim countries.
Since when is the wearing of HEAD TO TOE covering an integral part of Muslim culture? Yes, the covering of the head as a sign of modesty is a key part of the faith but that is not the same as the equivalent of being inside a black trashbag with eye holes. The only segments of Muslim population that enforce the burqa just happen to be the same sects that promote terrorism(Taliban, Wahhabism, etc). I liken the Muslim headscarves to a Jewish yarmulke or an Amish bonnet and I have no problem with them. The ONLY purpose of a burqa is to remove any sexuality and individual identity from women. How can a woman have an identity if no one but her husband and immediate family ever see her? Without an identity, you are just chattel to be subjugated…
the_Kemist,
Again, someone said exactly how I feel better than I could.
I guess I need to work on my communication skills!
Banning the Burka…
That’s what the American woman needs, she can continue to hide her face of expression and remove her sense of freedom America provides. We can tell our little girls they don’t have the right to go to school and our wives the freedom that they are used too…
I’m sorry but it should be banned… I see no difference in this religious garment and imposing it on young women in a family. It simply doesn’t belong and those ideas are not for true American Principles of choice, liberty, and freedom.