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  1. #1
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    France Considers Ban on Wearing Burquas in Public

    France Considers Ban on Wearing Burqas in Public
    Friday, June 19, 2009

    PARIS β€” France wants to study the small but growing trend of burqa wear, with an eye to possibly banning the Islamic garment from being worn in public, the government's spokesman said Friday.

    Luc Chatel told France-2 television that the government would seek to set up a parliamentary commission that could propose legislation aimed at barring Muslim women from wearing the burqa and other fully covering gowns outside the home.

    "If we find that use of the burqa was very clearly imposed (on women) ... we would draw the appropriate conclusions," Chatel said. Asked whether that could mean legislation banning the burqa in France, he responded "why not?"

    In France, the terms "burqa" and "niqab" often are used interchangeably. The former refers to a full-body covering worn largely in Afghanistan with only a mesh screen over the eyes, whereas the latter is a full-body veil, often in black.

    Chatel's comments have helped revive debate about whether wear of Islamic garments is appropriate in France, a country with a long and proud secular tradition.

    In 2004, a law banning the Islamic headscarf and other highly visible religious symbols from French public schools sparked a heated debate on the issue. Proponents insisted such a ban was necessary to ensure France's schools remain strictly secular, while some Muslims countered the law specifically targeted them and unduly punished Muslim girls.

    French Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said Friday that having a parliamentary commission study the issue would be a "good way" to find out how extensively burqas and niqabs are worn in France β€” and what response might be adequate.

    She conceded that legislating on what people can and cannot wear in public was a spiny matter, and also acknowledged it would be difficult to determine whether women wore the full-body veils because they were forced to or because they wanted to, Alliot-Marie said.

    "It's a relatively complex problem," she told reporters.

    The head of France's opposition Socialist party dismissed the issue, saying that in the middle of the global financial crisis, the country's legislators have more pressing matters to deal with.

    France, which once held colonies throughout North Africa, has Western Europe's largest Muslim population. Muslims represent an estimated 5 million of the nation's 63 million people.

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,527561,00.html
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  2. #2
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    Probably the women are forced to wear them, as in the radical Islamic countries and communities women are not worth as much as herd of cattle.
    And who is to say under that burqa is not a man parading as a pregnant woman who is actually a suicide bomber.
    A Florida appellate court rejected the claim of a Muslim woman who wanted to appear veiled in her driver's license photo, with only her eyes showing.

    The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles issued [Sultaana] Freeman, 38, a license in 2001 showing her veiled with only her eyes visible, but later suspended it.

    Freeman sued, claiming the suspension infringed upon her First Amendment rights.

    In 2003, Circuit Judge Janet C. Thorpe agreed with authorities that letting people show only their eyes would undermine efforts to stop terrorists. That same year, Gov. Jeb Bush signed legislation requiring a picture of a driver's full face on a license.

    The appeals court found enforcement of the law "did not compel Freeman to engage in conduct that her religion forbids -- her religion does not forbid all photographs."
    That's a rather strange way to word the problem. Her religion doesn't require her to have a driver's license, I assume. So even if her religion did forbid all photographs, the law wouldn't require her to engage in conduct that her religion forbids. But perhaps her religion requires her to veil most of her face? Then the law compels her to do something against her religion to the same extent that it would if her religion had forbidden all photographs. I don't think the ultimate answer should depend entirely on whether the law forbids what the religion requires, but it would be nice if the court could at least get it straight whether that is what is happening.

    I haven't read the case, only the news report. Maybe I'm being unfair to the judge.
    Labels: law, religion

    posted by Ann Althouse at 4:27 PM

    http://althouse.blogspot.com/2005/09...n-drivers.html
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  3. #3
    Senior Member SicNTiredInSoCal's Avatar
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    .....They should go for it! Maybe it will encourage them to stay in thier own country!

    There is a woman at my kids school who wears one and she freaks the kids out everytime she is at some school event. Her son is a little bit of a "dominator" (or tries to be) towards women. Plus, she actually drives with that thing on....looks hazardous to me since her vision from the side is restricted.
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