Muslim Canadian Congress calls for Burqa Ban

Well this is interesting from a pandering to imagined homogenuous ethnic voting blocks perspective.

>>  Posted by Blazing Cat Fur at 4:34 PM |  13 comments  |  link to this post |  send email  | 
jaycurrie  – (4:40 PM)  

While I share the MCC's sentiments I don't want the government telling people what to wear.

Period.

If assorted Mohammedans want to force their women into sacks I can see why we might not want them in our country but I can't see, once they are here, forbidding the practice. Nor can I see any reason at all to "accomodate" it.

Xanthippa  – (4:40 PM)  

A fatwa against the niqab and burka! Who would have thunk it!

And from an Egyptian Islamic scholar, none the less...

Blazing Cat Fur  – (4:47 PM)  

Wearing the Burqa is my right! This poses all sorts of problems for our politicians.

skyhook8  – (5:40 PM)  

"Mohamed Elmasry, former president of the Canadian Islamic Congress, said he agrees the tradition has its roots in cultural customs rather than religious teachings, but that the issue is irrelevant in Canada where the practice is not widespread."

YET.

Rose  – (5:53 PM)  

They are a security threat, yesterday my local corner store was robbed by three men and two women holding a baby. Three of the women, one was actually a man, were wearing the Burka. They got the clerk's attention pretending they couldn't speak English and whilst the male clerk helped the females two of the males broke the lock on the office door and stole money and cigs. The clerk didn't notice what they had done until they were gone. Two more stores were robbed by the same group today, the baby is a nice touch I must admit. Burkas eventually shall be used by more criminals and lest we offend anyone we can't even ask them to lift the lid of the personal coffins.

simus  – (7:46 PM)  

I hope this burqa ban won't include Burqa Roller Derby. There's something really unworldly about those pushing, clawing, cursing, sweating, participants flying by with the hems of their burqas almost getting caught by all the skate rollers in the "jam".

Blazing Cat Fur  – (7:49 PM)  

Simus if you have a link please please please provide one;)

truepeers  – (7:56 PM)  

I can agree you have a right to wear what you want in your own home; but the idea that people should be able to work with others and interact in the marketplace without conforming to the need of free people to engage inter-personally and build trust is wrong. Hair covering is acceptable; hiding your face and pretending to expect others to treat with you (not that i think many quite expect that - they expect either dhimmi pc deference, or open acknowledgment that they are culture warriors) is not. And to those who say it's not yet common, every time I'm in downtown Vancouver for any length of time, I see at least a few women totally covered. Scary, since there are more and more over time.

Blazing Cat Fur  – (8:04 PM)  

Burqa clad women are a common sight in Toronto, Elmasry speak with scimitarred tongue.

jaycurrie  – (8:41 PM)  

Well, my sweetie keeps saying she'd rather wear a burqa than her corset...but that's just crazy talk. A corset is an essential call to modesty before God.

truepeers  – (10:40 PM)  

Back in the 30s, i think, Vancouver had some KKK provocateurs in town and City Council passed a bylaw making it illegal to go about in public with your head covered (wonder if it's still on the books). I can't see anything wrong with such laws - it's a limit on freedom that works to expand freedom - and I imagine most would agree; but when one substitutes Islamists or their embattled women, for KKK men...

Minicapt  – (10:43 PM)  

I think Blazing Cat Fur would look really spiffy in a burqa. Especially if it matched his eyes.

Cheers

Xanthippa  – (12:17 AM)  

We currently have laws which limit the level of tint in a vehicle's front windows, so that police can always see the face of the driver.

That is a legal precedent: there is a difference between 'legislating what people can and cannot wear in public' and the necessity for being able to identify each other as we interact in public places. Until we develop a non-visual ability to ID each other (and assess the potential danger to us and our kids if we approach a specific stranger) - like developing a better sense of smell or something - it is a matter of safety for us to see the people we interact with. Not just a bunch of cloth - the person.

Because assessing the danger to us and our kids in how closely we approach strangers - all strangers - is one of our responsibilities, we must not be denied the tools to perform it responsibly. And THAT means that we need to assess the face and/or body language of strangers - something the burka is designed to erase/mask.

I do not like the niqab - but it obscures only one of the two essential 'safety markers', so it is only half as bad as a burka (we can talk about the chador/niqab combo separately).

In both cases, it's a difficult line to draw. But, I am on the side of 'taking down the walls' - in a non-specific, must-be-identifiable-in-public language type way... (As in, banning the anti-social and dangerous 'effect', not the 'clothing-specific' cause.)

Not a perfect solution, but...

And @Jay Currie: I'd much rather wear a corset than a burka!!!! A corset may (will) cause me discomfort and may even increase my physical limitations (I know - I've tried them). But, it will not isolate me socially, prevent me from speaking my mind or reduce me to a possession instead of a person - a burka will do ALL of these! I will always pick 'uncomfortable equality' over 'comfortable slavery'.

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