Religion & Ethics: Content from Across the ABC




Date/Time 26 Dec 2014 2:54:30am
I completely agree. It is one thing to respect religious customs that perpetrate no harm, either on the believers or on non-believers. But when religious customs infringe on basic human rights, they should not be accepted, and should be loudly decried.

Burqas, by their very nature, are discriminatory towards both women (who are assumed to be harlots who should be hidden away) and men (who are assumed to be animals unable to control their primal urges). Feminists in western countries have fought long and hard to obtain equal rights and equal standing for women, and allowing the wearing of burqas (with all that they stand for) is a significant step backwards in the ongoing fight for equality.

I don't accept that any woman truly wears the burqa of her own free will and through her own free choice. She wears it because she has been conditioned by her family and friends to believe that it is appropriate.