Sarkozy thinks the Burqa is a Threat to Secularism

[deception]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...whether-women-can-wear-niqabs/article1208608/

The niqab , usually worn with a veil that covers the forehead like a tight hood, leaves just a narrow opening and sometimes only a slit for the eyes. Its origins are in the Persian Gulf countries, particularly Saudi Arabia.

The National Assembly, with the support of President Nicolas Sarkozy, recently formed a special commission on the niqab , or, as it is commonly misnamed here, the burka . Its first hearings will be held next week and continue throughout the month, with recommendations expected before the end of the year.

Muslim scholars and political leaders, while openly critical of the niqab , have warned that any move to legislate a ban would alienate the vast majority of French Muslims who have no interest in wearing it.

But across the political spectrum, in the National Assembly and among women's groups, an alternative view has taken hold that French society cannot tolerate women hiding their faces behind garments such as the niqab in the name of religion or free choice.

-in my opinion, european leaders from holland to france have inadvertently radicalized their muslim populations by promoting these austere if u will gestures of secularism

 

[Chutney]

This has been bothering me for a while now. I've never seen a more fundamental misunderstanding of what secularism means. As much as a secular government is meant to limit the influence that religion can have on public policy, it is also meant to promote tolerance and pluralism, by preventing any one ideology from imposings its will onto others. Religious beliefs fall under that tolerance. France (and other European countries) have gotten the first part down pat, but have completely ignored the second.

I can understand banning the burqa/niqab. It comes off as a very oppressive symbol, and its propogation/justification doesn't jive at all with Western conceptions of human rights. But the way the French take offense at the very sight of an individual wearing a hijab/yahmulke/turban/etc. is ridiculous. They seem to think that the only way religion can exist in a secular state is if it's non-visible and completely discreet, which is incorrect in so many ways.