Ban The Burka?

[vernonk]

Would you like to see the burka banned? I consider it a threat to national security, apart from anything else

[naomi24]

Humbersloop, I live in a rural area, but my life isn't restricted to rural areas.

[tamborine]

If you cant beat em' join em.

See how fast laws change.

[tonyav]

There are certain areas where there is a distinct lack of CCTV, naomi !.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/8034999/Police-apologise-for-putting-200-CCTV-cameras-in-Muslim-area.html

[xstitcher]

Yes.

[jourdain2]

I am hoping that Muslims who wear the burkas will look at the current situation and make their own decision that it is not suitable to wear it if you live in an open, Western society. Seriously, if anyone continues to wear it they must be aware that it is now signalling an antipathy to being accepted in such a society. So they will be signalling a deliberate desire to be different and 'stand their corner'. In that case, they can't be surprised if it provokes some strong reactions because the wearing of it is not a necessary expression of faith.

[ichkeria]

" it's the identity issue that is being discussed, not the concealment of weapons. "

"National security" was mentioned primarily in the question

[humbersloop]

alternatively jourdain, they could all stay tucked up in doors where they properly belong?

[jourdain2]

I've known of too many girls who ended up 'tucked up indoors' humbersloop. Point stands, anyone who now fails to realise that decisions about lifestyle have to be made is being foolish or controlled.

[ichkeria]

So we're not going to allow our freedom of speech to be curtailed but our freedom of dress code must be thrown out the window :-)
Bin those giant panda costumes now
Anyway it isn't going to happen here I can assure you

[ChillDoubt]

Chill,that reply was to another poster,who mentioned concealed weaponry.


It seems no matter what I say on this, it is misconstrued.
----------------------------
I guessed that, my remark was about the thread direction, not a direct reply to yours Mamya, my apologies if you took it that way.

[humbersloop]

many years ago jourdain - many - I wasn't acceptable as tefl teacher to the Pashtu elders in a midlands city because I refused to stand when they entered the room

I'm really not sure that much has changed here to give those lasses that choice, they still don't live in an open western society and they don't have the networks to do otherwise

[Mamyalynne]

No apologies necessary,was a silly remark from me.

[jourdain2]

A very fair point humbersloop, I'm not sure that things have changed that much either. There were girls who were really 'up front', full of themselves, modern and defiant.... they were effectively imprisoned as soon as they were out of school. Banning the burka might mean that they get shipped out of the country (I know that happened, probably still happens) tolerating it means no progress.... Anyone still choosing to wear the burka in the West nowadays may, perhaps, become an object of curiosity and questions? It may change things. At the moment 'rocks' and 'hard places are, I fear, on a collision course so any possibility is worth investigating.

[andres]

Does anyone know at what age girls start wearing the burka?

[sp1814]

Just a point...and I don't know whether this has already been mentioned - there are no edicts which demand that Muslim women wear the burqa. It's cultural rather than religious.

[sp1814]

andres

I looked it up earlier.

It's at puberty, but in some areas they start as young as 6 'to get used to it'.

[andres]

Thanks sp1814. Just wondered because at our local schools the girls don't wear them and some of the girls must be about sixteen years old.. I see a lot of young women wearing the burka when I am in Burnley or Rochdale but their kids are always dressed in western clothes.

[-Talbot-]

there are no edicts which demand that Muslim women wear the burqa. It's cultural rather than religious.


sp, are you telling me they all wear them because they want to?

[sp1814]

andres

Yes, there is a wide disparity between Muslims whose families originate from different parts of the Middle East.

For instance, I was in Morocco on holiday last year, and saw no more than a handful of women in burkhas. In fact, I noticed that not all women wore the hajib (headscarf) either.

[sp1814]

-Talbot-

Actually, you can be suer that some women (through social conditioning) embrace the burkha, and there will be others that absolutely hate it.

I guess that if you live in a society where the burkha is 'the norm', you won't see it as oppression.

For instance, there are tribes to this day in parts of Africa and South America who wear just a piece of red thread around their genitals. To them, that's normal. But that's not to say that every once in a while, one of them wouldn't mind a nice three piece Brooks Brothers suit.