Here’s the thing: Muslim women aren’t supposed to show their faces (other than their eyes) in public places where men are present. I don’t understand it. I can’t relate to it. (I think it’s a little creepy.) But I respect it — because there are somewhere around a billion Muslims on the planet, and most of their beliefs aren’t any nuttier than mine.
But what happens in a court of law? If you’re covered up, how can a judge know that you’re you? That’s the question British magistrate Ian Murray appeared to be pondering last June when he refused to hear the case of a Muslim woman who appeared before him in full naqib garb to answer charges of vandalizing a housing project from which she had been evicted.
After an investigation that occurred a month later, British Justice Minister Jack Straw formally reprimanded the judge today, even though the defendant confessed and was eventually found guilty.
Here’s where it gets interesting. Jack Straw is himself well-known for insisting that Muslim women remove their head-coverings when they’re in his office.
And yesterday, a firestorm of controversy erupted in London over whether Straw was a hypocrite. I’m voting Yea.
Philip Davies, Tory MP for Shipley, a West Yorkshire constituency with a strong Muslim presence, said: “He is a complete hypocrite. Jack Straw tells everyone that he will ask anyone who wears a veil to remove it, then he turns round and disciplines someone for following his line.”
“Muslim women aren’t supposed to show their faces (other than their eyes) in public places where men are present.”
Nah, that’s just crap. Muslim women are mandated to veil themselves, but this doesn’t necessarily mean the entirety of their face. Often, under the direction of controlling men or even the country’s legal code (Taliban), women will adopt the more concealing Burqa which covers up the whole of the face.
“But I respect it — because there are somewhere around a billion Muslims on the planet, and most of their beliefs aren’t any nuttier than mine.”
Why do you respect it? Why does the systemic oppression of women get a free pass simply because it’s part of a religion? The vast majority of the population, even 6 years after 9/11 don’t know a goddamn thing about Islam, but hey, it’s a religion, so for some reason you gotta respect that, right? Wrong. You are aware that every single Islamic sect that is considered orthodox mandates warfare against unbelievers? The “prophet” Mohammed was little more than a desert bandit who slaughtered thousands of people in order to establish the hegemony of Islam? That terrorists like Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaeda etc. haven’t “hijacked” or “perverted” the “great” religion of Islam, they are merely following the example of Mohammed? I don’t respect Islam, and I suspect if you actually researched what it taught, you wouldn’t either.
This is an anecdote, so feel free to take it with a grain of salt, but I live up in Canada - southern Ontario, to be precise, and I work as a bagger at Dominion. A Muslim woman and her husband came in wearing a veil, and purchased a heavy garden ornament. When the husband went to the back of the store to pick up her purchase, one of my co-workers leaned forward and whispered;
“You know, you don’t have to wear that thing. You’re in Canada now. If your husband beats you, you’re allowed to call the cops.”
The customer looked at the cashier with flashing eyes and proceeded to tell her off in non-accented English for the inappropriateness of her comment. Her husband stood next to me with the garden ornament on the trolley and interrupted with an “um, dear…” and she cut him off in her native language, told him off, then went right back to screaming at the cashier.
Point of the story? Culture is one of those funny things where it’s influenced by religion, media, government, and you can look at the roots of something and say “This is wrong”, but you also have to recognize that cultural practices which meant something terrible in the past are now just something adopted and changed with time. I’m assuming you’re American, and I’m assuming you or someone you know has used the word ‘lynched’ in conversation casually. “Oh, yeah, I fell asleep in class and the teacher looked like she was gonna lynch me…” But of course, not so long ago, lynching was the mob killing of blacks who dared to step out of line.
I agree that Islam is based off of fire and the sword and revenging wrongs, but if you think that mindset is restricted to Islam, I’m sorry — it’s not. Greece and Turkey are constantly blocking each other at NATO meetings because when the Turks made the Greeks ride donkeys instead of horses. It’s ridiculous to hold cultural grudges, but it is not Islam specific.
JESUS will smite the Muslims. He is leading George Bush in a GREAT CRUSADE against them.
“Muslim women aren’t supposed to show their faces (other than their eyes) in public places where men are present.â€
Not true. Muslim women are expected to dress modestly (just as Christian women are instructed to do in the bible). This doesn’t necessarily mean wearing a hijab (headscarf), let alone a niqab (full veil).
The billion Muslims on earth that you refer to have a far greater diversity of culture than you assume. For example, try comparing Saudi Arabia with Turkey. The former is a theocratic monarchy; the latter is a secular democracy. Both are overwhelmingly populated by Muslims, yet the culture of each country could hardly be more different.
Don’t be fooled by the lies that come from culture-warriors like James (above). The terrorism of Al Qaeda or the state oppression of the Taliban absolutely, positively ARE perversions of Islam. Go meet some Muslims for yourself and find out the truth.