Man punches nurse for removing wife's burqa during c-section

[riderinthestorm]

119. NO! You're missing the starting point which is that we've ALWAYS decided what religious practices

we will allow in the public square. Furthermore, in the course of evaluating that, the inevitable discussion comes up as to whether a particular practice is religious at all. The two go hand in hand and are part of any debate on what will be allowed in a civil society. Thus the KKK, although a Christian society. is not allowed to "practice" their particular variety of Christian rituals by law. You obviously don't want to acknowledge that we have always judged religious practice and legislated about it from the very start of our little experiment in democracy.

What seems to get religious people's panties in a bunch is that THEIR particular practice gets no more "respect" than someone else's in the course of public debate. Each element should be judged as impartially as we can and a decision rendered imho. Sorry you believe that's disrespectful but in a secular society it's the only fair way. There's absolutely NO Quranic mandate for the burqa. That's a fact. It's not religious just like FGM isn't religious. FLDS polygamy isn't religious. Lynching people isn't religious. Burning witches at the stake isn't religious. These are ALL examples of actions fervent believers once thought were "religious" but now acknowledge as cultural and as such fair game for debate (and just like the KKK hood subject to a legal ban). It took a hell of a long time though for society to even BEGIN to dialogue about these practices in the public square about whether we would or would not accept them. You want me to acknowledge a fantasy in someone's mind as some kind of truth (that the burqa should be recognized as a religious garment). I can't and won't do that since its so patently false and deserves nothing but derision and shame. Call me "disrespectful" then til the cows come home - it's a misogynistic relic of the worst kind without any religious justification. Can I be any plainer? I welcome this debate. I embrace this debate and dearly hope it's not smothered by cultural relativists and patriarchal slaves to the entrenched system.

The religious practices and dress of native people are certainly relevant. You don't want to touch it because it makes you uncomfortable. You're uncomfortable because it's so close to the truth and you have no way to answer without destroying your own argument. Female nudity is powerful - it demonstrates our fecundity and makes clear who really wields power in the world. But the patriarchal religious constructs of the day have ruled out THAT particular religious "dress". If you are going to fight for the right for women to wear burqas because they are "religious" then you should be equally as fierce in advocating for the rights of native women to go about in their native religious garb on a daily basis. If you are not then you are buying into the societal patriarchy. Just don't get in a huff when you are called out on your hypocrisy and your position exposed as untenable. I have no problem looking at both extremes and having a conversation about the role and appropriateness of both ends of the spectrum. Clearly though, you won't.