France bans the Burka

[pchams]

There's no safety issue involved. You know it, I know it, the other posters know it, and the French haven't been shy about the fact that they know it.

So stop wasting time with this crap; if it's the best argument you've got, it's pretty much an admission that that you know this is wrong.

If you don't think that identity has anything to do with safety, then we will have to just agree to disagree.

 

[Fiona]

Link?

Well the bill is called "the bill to forbid concealing one's face in public" according to the telegraph.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...ench-MPs-vote-in-favour-of-banning-burka.html

Again I do not know the title in french and so do not know how accurate that is: but it is also what was reported on the bbc this morning

 

[manxman]

From your own link:



You're right, it doesn't ban the burqa, it just bans the burqa anywhere but in the house.



Oh, please. Safety isn't the issue, and you damn well know it.

Strictly speaking they can wear a full face burqa anytime they like.
All the french are saying, is not in public in THEIR country.

 

[Fiona]

Strictly speaking they can wear a full face burqa anytime they like.
All the french are saying, is not in public in THEIR country.

And that includes many moslem french.

One of the things which was reported here this morning was that only about 2000 women wear the burka in france: and a large percentage of them are converts

 

[pchams]

Strictly speaking they can wear a full face burqa anytime they like.
All the french are saying, is not in public in THEIR country.

Not just theirs:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Most+Cdns+agree+with+Quebec+burka/2732224/story.html

 

[steve s]

Do people wear masks to get their driver's license pics?

Are the women even allowed to drive?

Steve S

 

[Fiona]

Belgium has already passed such a law, and legislation is pending in Spain and Italy

 

[geni]

If you don't think that identity has anything to do with safety, then we will have to just agree to disagree.

One of the general priciples of a free society is that the identity of people walking down the street in a law abiding manner is none of the goverment's business.

 

[WildCat]

Are the women even allowed to drive?

Steve S

I've seen women driving around here with full face veils and head coverings. Nothing but eyes showing.

 

[manxman]

Belgium has already passed such a law, and legislation is pending in Spain and Italy

What, when in rome they will have to do what the romans do?.

 

[dudalb]

And of course all this will do is give a huge boost to the Islamic Extremist elements in France and elsewhere,with their "The Evil Infidel West is Out To Get Us" line. They just got the best gift they could have got from the French Government.

 

[ponderingturtle]

Why is it an issue to wear a balaclava or mask into a bank then?

Or worst of all wearing them on a ski slope. Never trust anyone wearying a mask. That is why you should shoot anyone skiing wearing a mask.

Also ban all motorcycle helmets that cover the face. It is important for identification.

 

[Thunder]

the face covering is NOT...the burka.

get it right folks.

 

[Cleon]

Strictly speaking they can wear a full face burqa anytime they like.
All the french are saying, is not in public in THEIR country.

So by definition if you're Muslim, you're not French? It's not their country, too?

**** that. **** a whole bunch of that.

 

[lionking]

Democracy at work. What's wrong with that?

 

[Thunder]

if the Saudis can outlaw churches and synagogues, the French can outlaw face covering.

not the hijab, not the kufi, not the body covering, just the face cover.

Muslims need to get a grip.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

...
You're right, it doesn't ban the burqa, it just bans the burqa anywhere but in the house. ...

Hey, they could cut a hole in the face piece and still wear the Burka.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Democracy at work. What's wrong with that?

We've had this discussion before. Democratic societies draw many other lines. You can't go naked anywhere you please, for example. 'Separate but equal' was a banned cultural practice in the US. There were many people opposed to the civil rights laws in the US that took the freedom of the Woolworth's lunch counter owner's democratic rights away.

Sarkozy views the Muslim dress as oppressive to women. People argue the women choose it. Others (like myself) think the long term benefit of changing this cultural practice is worth the short term argument women should be free to decide.

The problem is, all women are not necessarily 'free' to decide. In addition, the ban makes the statement that certain oppressive cultural practices are not OK. Just like 'separate but equal' was not OK, neither is the 2nd class status of women just because it is a cultural or religious tradition.

 

[Thunder]

Muslim women can cover themselves from head to toe. I don't care.

i just wanna see people's faces when they walk down the street.

we have the right to privacy....NOT anonymity.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Muslim women can cover themselves from head to toe. I don't care.

i just wanna see people's faces when they walk down the street.

we have the right to privacy....NOT anonymity.

Care to elaborate on why I can't be anonymous in public?