The Pros And Cons Of Burqas

Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, said earlier this year that the full veil, such as the niqab or the burqa, "hurts the dignity of women and is not acceptable in French society" (Aljazeera). In opposition to the critics' argument, Alveena Malik, a former faith adviser to the last Labour government , believes, Britain needs to take a different direction from others in Europe and to accept the veil as part of a modern British way of life(Ross). She also believes that the religious practice of the Islamic face veil should be a fundamental right. By giving Muslims the fundamental right of practicing their religion, it would give them the right to express their freedom and religion. If Britain decided to deprive the Muslims of their fundamental right like France did, then Britain would be trying to force the Muslims that participate in wearing the Islamic face veil to conform to their society like France as well. The government says that the reason for the ban on the Islamic face veil is because of security and the values or beliefs of the country in which the Muslims reside in. For instance: France says that the ban may cause France to be a target of terrorism. If France is concerned about the security of the citizens and knows that banning the Islamic face veil would cause a potential problem of terrorism, it seems like France would

When I was first introduced to the topic of France’s ban on the veil, I disagreed with the law. I took a position based on my customs as an American citizen which differs completely to those of France. International critics began to argue that France is violating what people call “Freedom of Religion”, which I agreed with at first. As a foreigner from America, I am accustomed to the American governments definition of freedom of religion. Protected by the First Amendment “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof: or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” (Religious Freedom). You can express your religion in public, during church, mass, or religious meetings. So the presence of religious items such as the

Everyone has rights and freedoms, and we all want those to be respected. For Muslim women, the burqa is a way to feel safe and protected. They feel less likely to be sexually assaulted when they are out in public. Many of these women believe only their husbands should see their body, and they have the right to believe this. A woman should be allowed to choose what she wears and how much of her body is revealed to others. Many women go out into public with very little clothing on, so Muslim women should be allowed to go out covered with a burqa. Muslim women are bringing harm to no one by wearing a burqa. Everyone is comfortable in different things, and we would not want anyone telling us we cannot wear a hoodie if we are cold or a hat. This is the same thing as telling Muslim women that they cannot wear a burqa.

In the article,” comment”,Pat Lancaster, an editorial writer, argues let them discard that they should have the choice to do so but a personal one,as well as needing to uphold personal freedoms. She believes that without liberty,egality and fraternity France wouldn't be the same. She or he supports the claim by giving evidence about equality and emancipation. People culture and who they are being taken away by the government and people of the same culture supporting the ban. She follows this with reasons why they shouldn't ban the hijabs and how other ethics including muslims contribute leading european power .

While many Muslims and certain human rights activist may oppose the ban on the burqa, many French citizens find it completely justified because of French

A nun can be covered from head to toe in order to devote herself to god. But when a Muslim woman does the same she is being oppressed. It may be argued that wearing a burqa benefits only a few and brings more harm than good to society. The real question is who does it harm? That should be the basis for banning this piece of clothing, not one based on fear or an arguably feeble argument that the women do not have a choice. To say that a ban on a specific item like this is undemocratic is an understatement. Following the French senate’s unanimous vote in favour of banning the burqa in late 2010, many European and western countries including Belgium and Spain have made the decision to take the

It could be ok to adjust something but not "to ban" at all. It could be regulated the possibility of seeing the face when entering in public places, not unveiling the entire head. There are many alternatives when seeking a real solution “painless” for both parties. On the other hand, they (unfortunately and deeply sadly) have strong ways to undermine one another. There is the powerful weapon of misinformation. Wide spreading false information about other religion habits, prejudices, and silly stereotypes secularism could undermine freedom of belief. On the contrary, I don’t think that religion could undermine a secular state. This would mean tyranny and it has nothing to do with religion. Never confuse religion with extremist terrorism, they are far away different.

Although Quebec is the first place in North America to propose a ban of this nature, it is not the first in the world. On April 11th, 2011 France put a similar ban in effect. The french law states that women are banned from wearing a Burqa in any public place, facing a 150 euro dollar fine if they do so (McPartland).

At a peak in time where the Muslim population in Europe felt most discriminated, the ban on the hijab was declared in France in 2004. This piece of religious clothing was no longer allowed inside public work settings

People are known to stereotype one other. This article brings to light the fact that people don’t take the time to understand different cultures and just automatically assume things. A burka is not worn by all muslim women and in different countries they have very different meanings. In Turkey wearing one represents your want to overthrow the government by others, whereas most women wear them solely for their god and not for anyone else. Muslim women are no different then American. They are all unique and have their own beliefs and contribute to society and have educations just like the rest of us.

They are obligated to follow what they are told or they will have to face consequences from the government. Satrapi says, “1980: The year it became obligatory to wear a veil at school” (3). After the revolution in 1979. The government decided that everyone must wear a veil to school.

Based on the contending arguments above, there are several reasons why France has banned the Niqab, and thus, multiculturalism can be regarded as a failed policy: public safety, protection of rights and freedoms to others. To preserve public safety, it is extremely vital for a nation to be aware of who enters and exits a nation, and France clearly is keen on the need to visibly identify these individuals who “strike out” from the majority. For example, the repercussions for this ban have coerced Muslim women to completely alter their identities by giving up an element of their religion. Arguably speaking, the France government have stated that the removal of Niqabs will promote visibility and help combat any forms of danger, upcoming threats,

When I was introduced to the topic of France’s ban on the veil, I disagreed with the law. I took a position based on my customs as an American citizen, which differs completely from those of France. International critics began to argue that France is violating what people call “Freedom of Religion,” which I agreed with at first. As a foreigner from America, I am accustomed to the American government’s definition of freedom of religion. Protected by the First Amendment, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise.” (Religious Freedom). You can express your religion in public, during church, mass, or religious meetings. So the presence of religious items such as the burqa's and veil do not disturb the people or government.

Muslim females, starting in their early teens, began wearing head scarves of many different types. The first kind is a niqab. This is a full face veil (Awan para. 17) with an opening for the eyes (Edmonds 2). Secondly, islamic women may wear an abaya. This is a full body cloak that covers everything except for the eyes (Edmonds 2). Also, they may wear a hijab. The word hijab can be used to describe all religious headscarves (Edmonds 2), but it usually refers to a specific headscarf that covers the head and chest area (Awan para. 9). Finally, they might wear a burkini, a full body swimsuit with an attached burqa, so they can participate in summer activities. No matter what type an Islamic women decides to wear; they start wearing them around ten to twelve years old to show their commitment to Allah, and express their purity, dignity, courage, and self

Currently, the French want to ban the wearing of religious symbols in public schools so that there is no social tension, and to keep the main religion in France (Roman Catholicism) ‘pure’ (Gofen 63). But even though the French say they want to keep their culture pure, in reality since the world wars, religions such as Islam and Judaism have in fact become a part of their culture. Once again, the French let in other cultures knowingly, and once the cultural diversity begins, all the religions are apart of a country’s culture. An example of a religious symbol that the French are considering to ban is the Burka. A Burka is an outfit worn by Muslim females that cover them head to toe. Some, who want to ban the burka say that it is disrespectful to women and can be degrading. But, 64 million people in France are Muslim. By wearing a Burka they are just following their religion and are also following tradition (French). One other big controversy regarding religious symbols is the banning of