Sarkozy wants to ban the burqa in France. He thinks it is too repressive. Okay, maybe he has a point.
Then there is his wife Carla Bruni. She has bared it all and her nude photos are available all over the Internet. (It is my blog policy to not show completely nude photos, that is why I have covered it up appropriately) Is that not the other extreme? Okay, Ms. Bruni will say it is her body and she can do with it whatever she wishes including being nude. Give her that right. By the same token should not the Muslim women not be given their right to cover their bodies? This is their belief system and it is their right. It is not hurting anyone? Why not give them their freedom of expression? Why the double standard? Is this not repression by Sarkozy government if such legislation is implemented?
I will include Sarkozy's shenanigans as another one among human follies.
What Sarkozy fails to understand is that it's possible to be Muslim and a woman. Banning the burqa represses women every bit as much as the burqa itself since it prevents muslim women from expressing a part of their identity.
ReplyDeleteSo basically, he's just looking for any excuse he can think of to discriminate against Muslims.
Brent, agree. Sarkozy is not known to be smart. I saw some videos where he loses it with journalists. Man is a moron.
ReplyDeleteSorry, this time, I'm not with you on this one.
ReplyDeleteHow does banning burkas repress women? It's getting the men who make their wives and/or daughers and/or sisters to wake up and stop forcing them to cover their faces in public.
And, women wearing burkas is very restrictive for them; they wouldn't get hired for jobs like that, nor attend school or even receive government services as an impending bill in Quebec suggests.
The fact is, most employers and schools don't tolerate what many young people do today; facial piercings here, there everywhere, green, blue or pink hair, mohawks and/or spiked hair or pants halfway down the butt. We accept those criteria when looking for a job or going to school. We do whatever we can to instill this message in our kids.
Why should burkas and kirpans considered to be any different?
Also, remember there are Muslim countries themselves that ban burkas and niqabs: Turkey and Tunisia and Egypt bans it in their universities and many work places.
Canadian Muslim Congress says they have nothing to do with religion and everything to do with political extremism.
Ban head coverings!
ReplyDeleteSee my link:
http://skinnydips.blogspot.com/2010/04/ban-all-extremist-head-coverings-in.html
CK, it is not political extremism. If you watch CBC regularly then you would know that some women very strongly believe that way. No one is forcing them. If they are free to give interviews to the media surely they are free to not wear veil. It is not much different than Catholic nuns. People must be able to practice their faith as long as it is not injurious to others.
ReplyDeleteAs far as kirpans are concerned I don’t know much about it. People have the right to carry guns. I don’t think a kirpan is more dangerous than firearms. However, I personally don’t believe in guns or carrying any kind of weapon. I have never examined a kirpan so I don’t know if they’re a weapon.
As mentioned previously, Boardshorts are interdit in French public piscines.
ReplyDeleteSD, then you should ban for nuns too. Why to pick on one religion only?
ReplyDeleteIt is part of religion for nuns as it is part of religion for Muslim women.
Hockey is a religion. I'll pick on it all I want.
ReplyDeleteSD, you can pick on hockey anytime you want to. Feel free but watch out for some Canucks they can get mad.
ReplyDeleteSD, now you really worry me. My son wears headgear when he skis so did I.
ReplyDeleteThat's my point, I don't think anybody should be carrying any weapons. The fact that there are many in the US (like Chris Matthews video you had, with the paranoid tea-baggers)is absolutely mind boggling. To me, a kirpan is a weapon, albeit a less dangerous one.
ReplyDeleteAs for nuns, not sure about where you are, but here in Montreal, most don't walk the streets in habits and whimples anymore. They dress pretty much like everyday women(ok, perhaps more modestly)these days. Plus, these nuns never walked through life with their faces covered.
In my view, unless, of course, you have a disfiguring facial injury or disease, such as a burn or other trauma, and you must have your face covered up in bandages (and there are provisions in the law for these people), no one here should have their face covered, regardless of religion or culture or gender.
I don't have a problem with head coverings though, if we go to head coverings, then to be fair, we must ban that little hat (don't what it's called) Muslim men like to sport and ban the yarmulke for Jewish boys. Hell, we'd have to pretty much ban all hats. Not practical.
The burqa is part of the culture of a certain group of muslim women. Banning the burqa represses them by rendering them unable to practice a part of their culture.
ReplyDeleteIf the burqa is used by men to oppress women, banning the burqa is actually even worse because it specifically criminalizes women who, according to the justification of the ban, are supposed to be victims. If Sarkozy wanted to liberate women, he would make it clear that in France, men can't force their wives to do something against their will. He's not targetting men because he just wants to stick it to muslims and muslim women are more obvious targets than muslim men.
Besides, if French culture really was superior, women who were a burqa would just take it off after one or two generations without the government having to do anything.
No matter how you look at it, this law is post sexist and racist in the extreme.
Brent, well put. It does smack of racism. Certain conservatives in France are afraid of the influence of Muslim culture as a lot of Algerians are there. The population of Muslims in France is in millions - I believe 6 million.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of a story I heard. An elderly Muslim woman had just arrived in Canada. One day she was looking out of her house/apartment window and saw this girl in a mini-mini-skirt. She ran after this girl to tell her that she forgot to wear her pants. So the way some people are shocked by veils similarly eastern cultures are shocked by our ways. We need to have a better understanding of other cultures.
I have absolutely no use for extremists of any religion or culture especially those who promote hatred and violence and that includes KKK and now teabaggers. Other than that I believe everybody has the right to his/her freedom of expression, culture and religion.
Thanks for the posting on my blog, LeDaro. Sometimes the printed text doesn't always convey the same meaning as the spoken word. (Insert smiley face.)
ReplyDelete