I have mixed feelings about this. In principal I want ours to be a free and tolerant society but for me, the following apply:
• I expect people acting in roles in which it seems reasonable/respectable/necessary to show their faces, to do so (includes health workers/appearing in court etc)
• People who feel they must hide their faces are free to find employment in other roles or to reside in the Muslim world
There are of course other factors at play here e.g.
• From a women’s lib perspective it would be nice to encourage women to be free to present themselves as equals
• Wearing veils, and especially black niqabs or full body burkhas serves as to (further) divide, and in some cases frighten/threaten, people
• Islamophobia
As someone was saying on Question Time, it's up to the entire Muslim community to become more moderate and seek to integrate, which includes mixing with the rest of us, presenting themselves in a more ordinary and approachable manner, and treating women as equals and allowing them to express themselves
In France, where they have banned head covering in all public places this has lead to comparatively little enforcement, threats to/abuse of women who continue to wear the veil in accordance with their beliefs by the public, and some instances of assault on officers attempting to enforce the ban e.g.
“a husband allegedly attempted to strangle a police officer during a check of an entirely-veiled woman in Trappes and the next night a group of 250 youths threw projectiles at a police station. Clashes continued the following night and spread to [nearby towns]”
Source:
WikiJack Straw, a Jewish politician, who as a key Labour Party minister/home secretary presided over a period in which the Muslim population of this country doubled to near enough 3,000,000 and Muslim faith schools were given the green light – lecturing us all the while, as a party/part of the mainstream political establishment, on the merits of multiculturalism (from their NIMBY ivory towers).. this isn’t directed at you
meenu89 but pardon me if I don’t think this guy is the best person to lead the debate
1) You can see my pecker through my trackies/shorts, so what? Maybe don’t gorp?
2) Round here having boobs shoved in my face is
not the norm.. perhaps I should move
3) That is not restoring balance, that is two groups of women operating at polar extremes. Some Western women could certainly exercise a little more modesty/dignity, but the solution is not for the rest of society to go around in tents!
The concept of British citizenship after a period of residency and perhaps a few jokes tests (in the last decade or so), plus multicultural inclusivity as gospel, have destroyed that concept. Every group in society now feels they own the place and don’t see why they should give an inch e.g. the following quote:
I don't know where you're from but here in the UK we don’t have a (single/written) constitution buddy
Couldn’t agree more e.g. I have little sympathy for Westerners who go out to places like Dubai and behave like nobs then cry when they get treated harshly
I empathise with Muslim women for whom face veils are an important part of living a moral/devout life and wouldn't expect them to sacrifice that comfort unless there’s a damned good reason for it
Then again, I don't think that such devout religious types, from distinct civilisations, are best suited to our society in the first place - but that's another story
Be serious
My sentiments entirely
"And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty" – Surah 24 : 31