Is it liberal to ban the burqa?
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 An article on The Free Society website about banning the burqa ("We may not be comfortable with the choices people make," writes Karen McTigue, "but we must protect their right to make them") has provoked this response from Eamonn Butler, director of the Adam Smith Institute.
"My guess is that libertarians or liberals could take either side. Sure, people can act as they please – but not if others feel threatened by it, as some do by burqas. Also, it is an important principle of personal responsibility that others should know who they are dealing with. Shopping malls ban hoodies because they can be used to conceal the identity of wrongdoers.
"People feel burqas threatening because they don't know who is in them and what they might be up to. There would be a case for banning people wearing masks in demonstrations for the same reason ..."
There is also, of course, the problem that some women who wear the burqa are not doing so as matter of choice.
So, to ban or not to ban? Click HERE to read the original article.
Reader Comments (21)
As someone who lives in Leytonstone which has about 25% muslim population I see daily a burqa. It still always offends me on the basis it seems oppressive to women and shouts at me I'm not British." However I would never ban it, except for security reasons.
However there is another side of muslim culture which does not get mentioned in this country, the woman rules the home with an iron fist and woe betide any man who steps out of line.
A muslim friend of mine put me in the picture and illustrates it by phoning up his wife if we pop out for a drink or wants to stay for another he'll phone her up to ask permission. If she says no, off he goes tube pass at the ready.
There is also, of course, the problem that some women who wear the burqa are not doing so as matter of choice.
Well, exactly. For any liberal to approve of Muslim women wearing burqas can only mean approval of taking away freedom of choice. Which is contradictory.
If Muslim women (or anyone else) freely chose to wear burqas, it would be a different matter. But they don't have freedom of choise. They can't say, "Um, I think I'll put on a nice long burqa today instead of my usual mini-skirt and thigh-length leather boots."
Banning burqas should be about banning bans.
I have had a long term problem with burqas from the point of view that I find them intimidating and potentially threatening, simply, as has been said, because I have no idea who is inside, man or woman!
In todays' society with terrorism being a threat, is it right that this kind of potential disguise should be freely tolerated?
Is the Government creating fear? Women in burqas, WMDs and passive smoking to name a few. They say that we are on the highest alert for terrorism. Is it all about control?
I've often thought that the burqa would be a wonderful disguise for a spot of shoplifting.
My response is here
http://patnurseblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/burka-ban-is-wrong.html
It's wrong to ban the burqa
Dave A has it right. Being a Libertarian means sometimes having to defend the things that we personally find distasteful.
Anyone who finds them threatening I think says more about that person than the burka wearer. Paranoia rules in this country at the moment.
Oh my dear,the Lbertarian fraternity getting all hot and bothered about banning of masks,pity they dont do
a bit more whimpering about millions of ordinary folk
forced to stand outside in the gutter like lepers
just because they smoke . Lets have some all round
libery,not just the tasty bits
North side of the Rubicon
Agree with Cynicus, if smokers are thrown outdoors to the elements and treated like lepers in their own country while enjoying a legal habit, why should foreign cultures who have been given safe harbour in their country be made an exception.
As a person who is totally against bans of any kind, I think it is grossly unfair, in this day and age of enforced bans, that Nanny should be allowed the choice of making a distinction between the lifestyles of its inhabitants especially favouring foreign or non nationals over the indiginous population.
This gross injustice of liberty of the citizen only copperfastens Margot's point of the regionalisation of Europe where Britain with all its history of empire and fair play is now downgraded to a blank piece of canvas to be divveyed up for purpose to the greater powers of the EU.
Guess it will take the French with their gallic balls to ban this for us.
Just like the way they are beginning to ignore the smoking ban for us.
I don't see why the property owner can't decide whether to allow the burkha or not. It might be in some people's interests to be able to see people's faces clearly - in nightclubs and airports for eg. I don't think it should be a matter for the state at all.
One thing about the British - the English part, especially - is that we're not very good at reading bodies. We don't gesticulate a lot, but we do rely a lot on reading faces. It's a cultural thing and explains why many of us feel uncomfortable when we can't 'see' someone. This should be acknowledged and accepted, so that no one is afraid to ban the burkha on his own PRIVATE property. On the other hand, feeling uncomfortable is no reason to ban something so I wouldn't want to see government agencies banning them.
I hope this makes sense :S .
I wish the girls at ASH would wear a burqa !
It would be entirely in keeping with MY Sense of Aesthetics - and THEIR Social Philosophy.
I WOULD, however, ban Scarlett Johansson from wearing one.
There are limits - even to my Libertarianism.........
Arnott should definately wear one.
Eve Gok Kwan could'nt fix that one.
Arnott should definately wear one.
Eve Gok Kwan could'nt fix that one.
I'm thinking of buying a burqa to wear when I go shopping in Tesco......
I don't like burqas, think they look ridiculous, but it is none of my business. I don't wear one and neither does my wife, but I am not in the habit (no pun intended) of telling other people how to live, after all, I am a smoker, so I know how it feels.
Surely it is up to the property owner. Asian shops where all the customers are known would be OK with it, but department stores and banks might wish they could ban it. It definitely shouldn't be banned in the street. Fancy dress masks aren't banned.
It should be considered really bad manners to wear a burqa in the UK even as it is really bad manners for us to wear sleeveless tops and mini skirts in a muslim country.
And another thing ! I live in west london where there are many women in burqas pushing pushchairs round occupying the bus etc and they very rarely speak English, certainly not to each other. But they obviously live here. So I think the burqa is an overt almost agressive sign of positive non integration. If we are to welcome them - which we do - they should respond by doing as we do.
I totally agree Banshee. In some countries it would be illegal for us to wear a Cross or Crucifix, so why should something so blatant be accepted here, when it is far more intimidating and potentially threatening?
I do understand what people are saying about freedom of choice, but as has already been said, hoodies, or the wearing of hoods, are banned from shopping centres, motor cycle helmets are banned from being worn in banks and other places, because they cover the face and are something that can be hidden behind, so what is the difference, accept that the burqa, that covers the entire person can hide gender and weapons beneath it, far easier than a motorcycle helmet or hooded garment.
There should be some consistency rather than exceptions being made for 'so called' religious reasons, especially when those same exceptions would not be extended to Christians in a Muslim country.
Personally I don't find burkhas threatening, and the point that 'women are made to wear them' is a huge generalisation, no doubt true in some cases and less true in others.
What is it that is threatening? that you can't see the face underneath? But there must be parts of the world where no one can see most of the women's faces in the street and they aren't threatened by it. Or that it is a stubborn refusal to integrate?
No ... it's wrong to boast of multicultural diversity and then ban aspects of it that you are not comfortable with.
For me the threat is to do with not being able to see their faces or, in fact, any definition of what is underneath the entire garment.
It may be infortunate, but because so many terrorist threats are associated with people of this and similar faiths, for some of us it automatically rings alarm bells, especially when you have had family murdered by suicide bombers already.
We are currently on a heightened terrorist alert and there has always been the issue of bags being left unattended, as these could be bombs; we know now that fanatics are quite prepared to sacrifice themselves in order to kill and maim as many others as possible, hence the fear for some that the burqa is the perfect disguise.
Belinda, the only people who boast about multicultural diversity are the Government who have a vested interest in it and not the people who make up the silent majority.
Good point Lyn, the english people especially have every cause to fear and to demand a ban in public places of the burka after the London bombings of July 07.