Rev. to Justice

Women’s equality – inherently different between western and Islamic cultures, so hard to compare how women’s equality, as viewed in the West, is necessarily brought into question by the Burka. In terms of Islamic culture, to suggest that the Burka poses an obstacle to the equality of future generations would be to wipe away centuries of historically and religious symbolism -

So, Burka as a religious symbol, or Burka as a mode of suppression?

There is another argument here, which fights for the freedom of every country to have it’s own cultural identity:
Fully Liberated Muti-culturalism, or limited multi-culturalism? Every country has the right to exhibit their cultural and social values (in the UK we have the Queen and English tea, in Holland they have the clog and marijuana, in Brazil everyone loves football, in Russia everyone is a spy) and no country should, unless certain laws or actions amount to physical or psychological harm upon its citizens, should be held hostage by another country’s cultural, political or religious values. So, for instance, if one were to emigrate and start a family, surely they wouldn’t expect that country to have to bend over to any special demands that they may have brought from their own homeland with the exception of a flag for nostalgic reasons perhaps, and they would surely expect their children and the generations after them to live in such a way as to be acclimatised - in so much as the law is upheld - to the cultural values of the country that has adopted them.

Even if a person hasn’t emigrated, but decides to become a Muslim and decides that they must cover their face, well then it is their problem to find a society that can empathise with their religious customs and allow them to externally display their full identity. The same could be said, for example, if a person felt uncomfortable living under a the roof of particular political regime – if the politics aint changing any time soon, then perhaps that person should move to a place where they can live comfortably without feeling suppressed or antagonised by politics they fundamentally disagree with – unless, of course, there is real cause for revolutionary change. Then, every man, woman and child should stay and fight for their freedom and right to basic human rights.

When we travel to Arabic countries where girls legs on show (however hot and smooth their thighs are) are seen as a sign of disrespect, we teach our children to accept these laws, just as we might be forced to accept that some countries have stricter laws on alcohol or drugs – like in the US you can’t drink before the age of 21, so as a person under 21 you must drink alcohol where you won’t be found by the authorities, otherwise you face the consequences.
So, what I’m getting at here is, if as a person you feeling strongly that you must wear a particular type of clothing - short skirts perhaps - or even smoke dope legally, then you must choose a country that accepts yr conditions – or do it indoors where you’ll not offend others - and not expect any country to accept yr views and values.

It is a shame that certain countries have harsher views on multi-culturalism than those displayed in the UK, but I believe that these are very rare in the world and have their advantages and disadvantages within our society. But, if the French wish to have a society where people’s faces must be shown- for whatever reasons, security, equality etc - especially in classrooms, airports or shopping centres, then that is the choice of that countries democratically elected leaders and as a citizen, if yr religious values are suppressed in some way, then you must either accept the conditions within the country you live or leave –

One cannot expect other people’s cultural and social values to be blighted by religious anarchy. Either way, it’s all a show of control by the state – just as a ban on cigarettes is. Funny how they tell us we’re not allowed to smoke ANYWHERE because cigarettes are bad for everybody’s health, but we can still buy the damn cancer-sticks from the shops.