Banning the "burkini" is the biggest attack on freedom in France

I honestly think this is a question that deserves a lot of reflection. First let me premise by saying I don't agree with the ban - it is a suppression of expression. But I will try to play devil's advocate here because I don't think it's so simple. The people on the "other side" see the burqa and all its variants as a symbol of women's suppression in Muslim society. So they see themselves as the good guys in this scenario because they are "freeing" these women.

Of course, the women are often the ones who want to wear these garments in the first place. It's not just men forcing women to wear them; it's a belief system that both Muslim men and women usually share. And so while I think it should be illegal to force someone to wear a burqa, I think it should be legal to wear one willingly. But what is "force?" Is it only physical threat? Or can it be emotional or social? If you are indoctrinated into a particular society, where is the line drawn between belief system and brainwashing?

And... I don't think that's a question many of us are qualified to answer. Certainly not me, and certainly not most of our Governments (unless they do extensive research into Muslim society specifically). What I do know is that I have a Muslim woman acquaintance who wears an al-amira (similar to a hijab) and she just seems like any other girl I know. She doesn't seem oppressed; she doesn't seem like she's from the stone age. I've never asked her about the garment because I'm keen to just treat her like anyone else. She seems like a modern girl with some traditional values not much different than a modern Christian girl. And thus, you could ask the same question about people raised Christian. "Are they being brainwashed?"

I think the only thing we as a society can do is accept other beliefs and the things that come along with those beliefs, provided they are non-violent. There should be outreach programs for people who are oppressed. Outside of that, I'm not sure there is much we can do. There are terrible people in our society, but we can't start restricting our freedoms to try to bait them out. It doesn't work; they'll continue to do terrible things and we'll have suppressed our own society.

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