Dutch government says it plans to ban burqa

[Hueij]

Originally posted by Oerdin
Then they should never have been allowed to enter the country. If you want to build a new life in a new country then they simply must be able to speak the language before they enter. The US has done that for around 100 years and I can't see how it has harmed anything and I can see many ways how it has improved things.

They should also be forced to show they know something of the native culture, its values, and its history. If they want to make this thier new home then it is reasonable to expect them to know something about it if only so they will fit in better and understand what is going on around them.

Yeah, we all know how great ethnic groups got along in your country these last 100 years...

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Pekka
Oh, and we are not socially pressured to wear certain types of clothes?

Will you be beaten to death if you wear a baseball cap? Many women will be beaten to death if they refuse to wear that horrible mask called a burka.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Hueij

Yeah, we all know how great ethnic groups got along in your country these last 100 years...

All problems aside I contend that things would have been worse if people didn't at least have the common ground created by a common language and shared understanding of how the political and legal systems worked.

[alva]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui


Excellent point about Halloween masks, Slow. I assume this legislation which bans covering up your face in public places means you can't wear a Halloween costume that covers your face to go trick or treating. Would that be ok by your neck of the woods Slow? No Bill Clinton masks or anything...

And of course if it is cold and snowing, no raising of the turtleneck and pulling down the winter hat so that only your eyes are showing. You have to brave the cold, damn it!

Funnily enough, the law we have here (which bans covering your face and was set in place long before anyone had even heard about burka's.) is called the 'carnival law', which allows you to dress up around the time of carnival but not on other times in the year.

And no, no one arrests you when it"s minus 20 outside and your face is covered, just uncover it when entering a bank and such.

[alva]

Originally posted by DanS
I think that banning the burqa is stupid. Regulating acceptable clothing (beyond obscenity) is not part of the gov't's portfolio.

Some of you are fascists of the highest order.

Ah, why is it then ok to regulate it when obscenity comes into play?
Why don't I have the right to go out naked? Not a very pleasant sight or thought I admit, but imo, neither is a burka.
Why should I be forced to conform to your standards?

[Provost Harrison]

Why is there this huge international fixation on this - something that is really quite insignificant. I think they are trying to draw attention away from something...

[LordShiva]

Originally posted by alva
Ah, why is it then ok to regulate it when obscenity comes into play?

It's not.

Originally posted by alva
Why don't I have the right to go out naked?

You should.

Originally posted by alva
Why should I be forced to conform to your standards?

You shouldn't.

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Oerdin
They should go further and ban the head scarves as well as France has.

Of course! Let's ban the insidious Jewish skull-cap and Christian cross if we're going to lower our standards of freedom to that of France.

[DAVOUT]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
Of course! Let's ban the insidious Jewish skull-cap and Christian cross if we're going to lower our standards of freedom to that of France.

Would you be kind enough to explain that to the immigrants who are ceaselesly entering this country with or without authorisation.

[TCO]

Kill them.

[Dr Strangelove]

How about ski masks? Shouldn't they be banned too? Oh, and no more of those quaint masquerade balls which originated in Europe.

Regarding Halloween, do they even do trick-or-treating in the Netherlands. I gathered from the thread on Halloween that this ritual is still largely confined to the USA.

[aneeshm]

The Dutch finally waking up to the menace in their midst:

[Hueij]

Originally posted by aneeshm
The Dutch finally waking up to the menace in their midst:

I hope you are trolling, but somehow I doubt that.

[aneeshm]

Originally posted by Oerdin


Tell that to the women who get acid thrown in their faces for not wearing head coverings/burkas. There are tons of women who's fathers, brothers, and husbands would all take turns beating her if she dared not to wear this symbol of oppression.

And they do that to Hindu women, too, not just their own. EDIT: In Kashmir, that is.

Originally posted by Oerdin

The Nazi arm band is banned because it is a symbol of hate. The burka is a symbol of centuries of male oppression of females. Females are often even killed for refusing to wear it in places like Pakistan and Afghanistan.

It should be banned.

An apt comparison. Nazism is a political ideology which seeks to exterminate all who oppose it. Islam is a politico-religious ideology which seeks to do the same (the commandment to the believers to rest not till the whole world is a Dar-ul-Islam and all that ....).

Banning the hijab: .

[aneeshm]

But I'm torn on this. On the one hand, I believe that the government should not interfere like this. On the other, I know the sort of SHlT that happens when you have an unintegrated minority in your country.