WHY I'M OPPOSED TO BANNING THE BURQUA

The thinking behind the burqua ban in France seems to be that most if not all women who wear the burqua are being forced to wear it against their will....Also it is viewed as an example of the worst excesses of Islamic society and the inequality of women in these type of societies.

My answer to the first part is that would be okay if France was mandating this in A MUSLIM COUNTRY WHERE THERE IS A THEOCRACY IN PLACE AND GOVERNMENT REPRESSION IS THE NORM….However, France is a secular country with a certain amount of personal freedom….It seems ridiculous to ban a type of dress because it is viewed as repressive in a free society….That just doesn’t make sense.

The burqua ban assumes that the only women who wear the burqua are those that are being forced to….This is not the case….I used to teach Arabs (men and women) and there are professional women who make the decision to wear the burqa because that is their interpretation of Islam….I would bet this is even more the case in a secular society like France.

I’ve seen interviews with women who are lawyers as well as housewives who have come against the burqua ban and the issue of freedom of choice is most important here….I say this as an atheist and someone who generally thinks that religion is a detriment to society as well as believing that women should have to show their faces if they work with the public or want any sort of documentation such as driver’s licenses ….And what I say is the burqua ban imposes on personal freedom….It also seems highly selective….What about other religions whose adherents wear strange garb?