Say, did you hear the one about France caring so much about the freedom of women that they passed a law that is almost certain to result in some of them not being able to leave their homes?
If you say that the joke isn't very funny you're right. But sadly with the recently enacted law against women wearing the traditional head and face covering garments associated with members of the Muslim religion it is likely to have exactly that effect.
The proponents want to carry on about how it is out of respect for women, but the simple truth of the matter is that the law is not only anti-Muslim as others have pointed out, but it is also anti-woman.
Regardless of how many of us in what is broadly termed "The West" may think of many Muslim practices, the simple fact is that passing incredibly restrictive laws like this one is not going to cause Muslim women to suddenly throw off their cloth shackles and embrace liberation. Instead it is going to result in women who despite believing they have to go about with their head and face covered, at least are still able to be out and about amongst other people. Being exposed to other ideas, and other ways of thinking about things. But now women who wear the banned garments will be forced to choose between staying indoors, or breaking the law.
Meanwhile, I can't help but notice that there does not seem to be any law on the books criminalizing Muslim men who wear the dress and facial hair traditional for their religion.
While I am certain that proponents of the law would try to defend it as non sexist by pointing out the much stiffer penalty for men found to be "forcing a woman to wear the burqa", personally I call bullshit, as that part of the law is highly unlikely to be enforced. In fact it is nearly unenforceable. If a woman is veiled in public that is pretty cut and dried. Easy to spot, easy to prove. How pray tell does one spot, let alone prove that she was being "forced" to?
The simple truth of the matter is that one of the prices of living in a free and open society is accepting that some people are going to have ways of acting and dressing that at best make no sense, and at worst are mildly distasteful. Such things are often deeply bound up in the persons culture and traditions and change only slowly, if at all. Attempting to change them at the point of sword, gun, or legislation usually backfires and results in those so threatened digging in their heels and making a point of resisting change. Resulting in a change, that had it been allowed to happen naturally, may have took place in a matter of years, instead taking decades, or even longer.
Bottom line the law is stupid, and will prove I think to cause much more harm than good. I sincerely hope that America will not seek to emulate it, and by doing so add to the already lengthy list of extremely poor ideas we have been guilty of in our attempts to interact with Muslims both at home and abroad.
Keep The Faith My Brothers And Sisters!
The following resource was consulted in creating this article:
Via Newser: 2 Arrested Under France's Burka Ban