Monday, August 2, 2010

The Burqa Ban

I have to admit that I was a bit torn and confused on how I felt about the Burqa ban that has been passed in countries such as France, and a proposed ban in Spain.  Even our northern neighbors are thinking about it.  I was thinking about it from a religious freedoms issue to a perceived nationality issue.  So, back to Crommunist's post on PZ Myers' visit to Vancouver, he asked PZ about it.  PZ said, paraphrasing,
While there were arguments to be made on both sides, his default position is to side with human liberty – women should be allowed to wear what they want, even if the establishment doesn’t like it.
I have to admit.  That is good.  I agree.  Isn't the Islamic issue of the Burqa in general really a feminist issue?  Human liberty seems to be a pretty good fall back position from which to evaluate ones personal values when the issues are not so clear.  Shockingly, Saudi Arabia has OK'd it for women to reveal their faces in anti-Burqa countries.  Ironically, female rights progress in Saudi Arabia prompted by the wrong reason.

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