Decius wrote:

I think this is a really interesting issue. A woman was fired from her teaching job for wearing a full face veil. She is suing (of course), but the Prime Minister got involved and made some comments about the need for dialog about the integration of British Muslims into society.

On the one hand, you've a right to freedom of religion. But I think it goes without saying that wearing these things goes beyond simple religious expression to the point where it becomes deliberately anti-social. I've been told that Muslim women want to wear them. I'm concerned that this is a bit like the arguement that southern slaves were comfortable and didn't want to be free. The objective truth about the social position of these people is not justified by the fact that they have grown accustomed to it and find it comfortable or even desirable.

I think its probably reasonable to ask that these things not be worn in particular professional contexts. If my religion required me to wear a dead rat on a chain around my neck I imagine I would also have trouble getting a job.

From my understanding, it's both optional and a personal choice. Sort of a personal level of commitment to the religion. Wouldn't this also be a privacy issue as well? Can we make christian teachers take of their blouse?

It might be a mark of separation, but why are they not allowed to have the freedom to retain their culture? If you think about the cartoon war, depicting muhammad's face is a speech issue. If Muslims force everyone to depict Muhammad as holy, this would step on the beliefs of everyone else. There is a philosophical gap in regard to speech between muslims and western culture. Forcing Muslim women to remove the veil makes it worse because it shows the west as hypocrites. It says to them that our freedom of expression stops when it comes to Islam because it's not okay to be a muslim. This is the type of thing that helps recruit terrorists as they start to see the government as evil. It also sways the moderate view to be much more sympathetic to the terrorists.

RE: BBC NEWS | Politics | MP tells veil woman 'let it go'