Should they ban burka? On one level, of course not. Anyone should wear what they want. In Europe, pretty much all the people do this. Hence from that framework, it seems intolerant and irrational to dictate the individual's clothing. Whereas in the Middle East, and Qatar, it is a question of complying with the demands of the political ideology of Islam. It is clearly noted that in countries where this ideology is dominant, people are not permitted the liberty of choosing their own clothes but instead are forced and sometimes even coerced into following such precise rules, even though they played no part in creating them.
Islam is - obviously - a religion, but it is also politics. It is a world view, a system of government, governance and foreign policy and it has reached the level of protection that it has through a kind of Trojan horse loophole, such as this:
"Hey guys, it's just a religion (think prayers, forgiveness and doing good deeds) and isn't everyone entitled to their religion?"
Sure they are.
But then actually it's also a system of taxation, inheritance, law, foreign policy and gender apartheid with strict red lines around acceptable topics for discussion which are enforced with riots on the streets and the burning of embassies.
It is also clear from examples from around the world that once the ideology becomes dominant and entrenched, the type of arguments used to enforce it dramatically shift - no longer are we trying to accommodate difference and multi-cultural minorities, now it is 'an Islamic country' and everyone must respect these values. What's more, no country in the history of the last 1400 years that became a Muslim country ever reverted to becoming a non-Muslim one.
I think that the Europeans, and particularly the native British, have assimilated themselves to Islam very well, and thanks to their sacred institutions of political correctness, in maybe 30 years or so their assimilation to these values will be pretty much complete: halal food in all schools, pork off the menu for everyone, alcohol restricted to non-Muslim areas only and not on Islamic holidays or Ramadan for instance, Islamic holidays being turned into bank holidays, that sort of thing.
Because practically no-one has the courage to stand up and say these things (don't want to be called a racist!!!), or try to defend the way of life and traditions they grew up with, (after all everything exotic is GOOD in our post-colonial world, and everything of our own is BAD) it's really only now about a shift in population demographic. That's the only thing standing in its way. And these attempts to ban the burka are therefore mostly drastic last-ditch attempts to stop the spread of an ideology which is spreading at an accelerated rate through Europe. Islam conceives of individual liberty in a way that is fundamentally different to the way that post-Enlightenment Europe does. And because of the Trojan horse nature of the whole thing, how can the Europeans speak of banning burkas and keep a straight face? They were the ones who preached freedom of the individual in the first place, for goodness sake!
The next 100 years of Europe will be very different to the last 100 and this burka banning nonsense is the metaphorical locking the door after the horse has bolted. My bet is over time you'll find colonies of middle class elite Europeans types popping up as new immigrants in places like Miami, New York and Buenos Aires, with those left behind being represented increasingly by the BNP and other far-right organisations whose intentions are dark, to say the least. Indeed the permanent exodus of middle class Dutch from Amsterdam who are uncomfortable with the Islamification of their society is reaching 300 or so every single day. Rather than winning the argument and risking being called a racist, it's easier to get on the plane I suppose. So Amsterdam, the city of Easy Virtue, maybe not so easy for much longer!
So the question still stands. Should they ban the burka?
Should they ban burka? On one level, of course not. Anyone should wear what they want. In Europe, pretty much all the people do this. Hence from that framework, it seems intolerant and irrational to dictate the individual's clothing. Whereas in the Middle East, and Qatar, it is a question of complying with the demands of the political ideology of Islam. It is clearly noted that in countries where this ideology is dominant, people are not permitted the liberty of choosing their own clothes but instead are forced and sometimes even coerced into following such precise rules, even though they played no part in creating them.
Islam is - obviously - a religion, but it is also politics. It is a world view, a system of government, governance and foreign policy and it has reached the level of protection that it has through a kind of Trojan horse loophole, such as this:
"Hey guys, it's just a religion (think prayers, forgiveness and doing good deeds) and isn't everyone entitled to their religion?"
Sure they are.
But then actually it's also a system of taxation, inheritance, law, foreign policy and gender apartheid with strict red lines around acceptable topics for discussion which are enforced with riots on the streets and the burning of embassies.
It is also clear from examples from around the world that once the ideology becomes dominant and entrenched, the type of arguments used to enforce it dramatically shift - no longer are we trying to accommodate difference and multi-cultural minorities, now it is 'an Islamic country' and everyone must respect these values. What's more, no country in the history of the last 1400 years that became a Muslim country ever reverted to becoming a non-Muslim one.
I think that the Europeans, and particularly the native British, have assimilated themselves to Islam very well, and thanks to their sacred institutions of political correctness, in maybe 30 years or so their assimilation to these values will be pretty much complete: halal food in all schools, pork off the menu for everyone, alcohol restricted to non-Muslim areas only and not on Islamic holidays or Ramadan for instance, Islamic holidays being turned into bank holidays, that sort of thing.
Because practically no-one has the courage to stand up and say these things (don't want to be called a racist!!!), or try to defend the way of life and traditions they grew up with, (after all everything exotic is GOOD in our post-colonial world, and everything of our own is BAD) it's really only now about a shift in population demographic. That's the only thing standing in its way. And these attempts to ban the burka are therefore mostly drastic last-ditch attempts to stop the spread of an ideology which is spreading at an accelerated rate through Europe. Islam conceives of individual liberty in a way that is fundamentally different to the way that post-Enlightenment Europe does. And because of the Trojan horse nature of the whole thing, how can the Europeans speak of banning burkas and keep a straight face? They were the ones who preached freedom of the individual in the first place, for goodness sake!
The next 100 years of Europe will be very different to the last 100 and this burka banning nonsense is the metaphorical locking the door after the horse has bolted. My bet is over time you'll find colonies of middle class elite Europeans types popping up as new immigrants in places like Miami, New York and Buenos Aires, with those left behind being represented increasingly by the BNP and other far-right organisations whose intentions are dark, to say the least. Indeed the permanent exodus of middle class Dutch from Amsterdam who are uncomfortable with the Islamification of their society is reaching 300 or so every single day. Rather than winning the argument and risking being called a racist, it's easier to get on the plane I suppose. So Amsterdam, the city of Easy Virtue, maybe not so easy for much longer!
So the question still stands. Should they ban the burka?