Good in a sense that the poor women don't have to be covered up in a head-to-toe black garment in the blazing heat of summer. Bad in just about every other sense, though.
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
Burqas are remarkably lightweight, as one would imagine for a raiment developed in the desert.
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
It seems to spoil any kind of ancestral association one may want to make, as well as possible stomping on religious points of view for some.
Well, as long as they aren't Nazi's banning flag flying or some such silly thing.
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
Has anyone on here actually read the Qu'ran? The reason for the burqa is in what Christians know as Genesis, but in th eunabridged version in the Qu'ran, the rest of the Flood story is told. The whole bit leading up to the Flood is barely touched on in the Hebrew and Englishh versions. The burqa is to ensure the angels are never again tempted by the Daughters of Adam. It is as real a belief to devout Muslims as the transubstantiation of the Host is for devout Catholics. And to deny Muslims this expression of their religious belief is simple, unvarnished oppression.
--Jonah
Posted by Da_bang80 (Member # 528) on :
Those crazy Dutch...
Do they really think that supressing Islam will accomplish anything? We all know that this is just more reason for the extremists to hate us. Why are people so blind?
Posted by Harry (Member # 265) on :
Incidently, Rita Verdonk is the actual reason we are having elections now, since her handling of the Ayaan-affair.
The current asylum policies in the Netherlands are really bad at the moment. Deporting people even when they have lived here for years, putting young mothers and children in prison, the Schiphol fire, and just the general idea of treating the unfortunate people seeking refuge in our country as criminals is just.. horrible.
The general tendency of the next election seems to be a cautious step back towards the left. I'll be voting for the Socialist Party next week, and I'm really hoping that the Labour Party and the Greens will join them in a left-wing cabinet. A fourth Balkenende cabinet in 4 years would be unbelievable..
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
"Irregular migrants?" That sounds like something out of Banzai.
A friend of mine is currently working as an au pair in Marknesse. I bet she's all sorts of raging about this, as she was looking to emigrate.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
quote:Originally posted by Peregrinus: Has anyone on here actually read the Qu'ran? The reason for the burqa is in what Christians know as Genesis, but in th eunabridged version in the Qu'ran, the rest of the Flood story is told. The whole bit leading up to the Flood is barely touched on in the Hebrew and Englishh versions. The burqa is to ensure the angels are never again tempted by the Daughters of Adam. It is as real a belief to devout Muslims as the transubstantiation of the Host is for devout Catholics. And to deny Muslims this expression of their religious belief is simple, unvarnished oppression. --Jonah
Sorta. From a strictly legal identification/security standpoint, this is a real problem: there have been instances of female suicide bombers that were wearing burqa. There should be a ban on their use in government buildings (obvious reasons) or other potential target locations...but certainly not a ban on wearing them in general. It's strange- I've seen both sides of this issue use it to further divide Muslims from everyone else. One side views it as a violation of their rights, the other as recieving special treatment. In this particular instance, it's obvious politics and not legitimate concerns one way or the other: someone ran a poll and decided that more votes could be gained by playing to people's fears than would be lost by offending the muslim voting populace.
As to the Qu'ran being the reason to wear them, I really dont think that should be a legal issue- it's not as though angel rape is a statistic to worry about...and the whole "flood" story is far older than the Qu'ran anyway.
Posted by Cartman (Member # 256) on :
Meh. If a woman wants to wear one of those things, fine, unless she carries out a public function (as people generally like being able to see the face of the person they're dealing with). The *only* benefit a ban *might* have is that those women who are actually forced to wear them by their husbands (you need to know a bit of Dutch post-WW2 history to understand why there are such cases) would gain some freedom, but it's mostly just a recurring vote-puller topic that the Right likes to drag out whenever they're losing support or feel like reminding us all about The Muslim Threat™ and how we must remain Brave Vigilant Citizens™ and report any Suspicious Activities™, which is every other week these days.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
"The *only* benefit a ban *might* have is that those women who are actually forced to wear them by their husbands ... would gain some freedom...."
I doubt it. If a guy's already forcing his wife to wear it against her will, and she can no longer go outside wearing it, he'll probably just force her to stay in the house at all times. Either that, or he'll force her to go out wearing it, and then she'll be the one arrested.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
The only time I've seen issue with the Burqa locally is when identification is requires -such as court case wherein a allegedly robbed woman refused to remove her burqa to testify or when another woman was not allowed into a federal building by security.
If the US tried to impose such a ban, everyone would start wearing the silly things out of protest.
Posted by Da_bang80 (Member # 528) on :
That reminds me, has anyone seen the Terror T-Shirts? They're shirts with a picture of a suicide bomb on them (Think Principal Skinner and the Armor Hotdog episode) I saw it on CNN a few weeks ago. Caused quite an uproar. I like uproars, and I want one!
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Oh yeah I saw an Univision interview with the creator of that shirt. His site was already viewed by the FBI and deemed "Terrorist free", so buy away.
Posted by Da_bang80 (Member # 528) on :
Oh great, the FBI deemed the site terrorist free. Now I don't want it...
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
I want a shirt stating I'm "Terrorist Free"- as certified by the F.B.I. (followed by a small disclaimer on their track record on detecting/fighting terrorism).
Posted by The Mighty Monkey of Mim (Member # 646) on :
If you ever find a person/place that will make one for you, let me know. I want one that says "BOB DYLAN IS COOLER THAN YOU."
Oh, and banning burqas is not a Good ThingTM. As Jonah said, all it really amounts to is an imposition on people's freedom, however good the intentions behind it are. Everyone should be encouraged to make her/his own choices about how to represent her/himself through what she/he wears.
-MMoM Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
I agree, it's just difficult to allow them everywhere...a little common sense on the wearer's side goes a long ways. As does common sense by everyone else in a public setting.
Still, this is all politics- even Israel is not going for this (and if anyone would have a legitimate reason, it's them).
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
I thought I'd share this! INFIDELS!
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
But Bob Dylan ISN'T cooler than me. Uglier, to be sure, but not cooler.
Posted by WizArtist II (Member # 1425) on :
AND richer....
Posted by Da_bang80 (Member # 528) on :
quote:Originally posted by Jason Abbadon: I thought I'd share this! INFIDELS!
Oops, I accidently smote Charles, I hope he's not too terribly upset.
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
quote:Originally posted by WizArtist II: AND richer....
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)