Switzerland overwhelmingly votes for burqa ban with £6,500 fine for Muslim women who rebel

[passiveporcupine]

161. What a lot of people don't seem to understand is that cultural traditions

can be just as strongly held and believed as religious rules. Many of these women have dressed this way since they were old enough to be required to. It's their culture...the only one they've known their whole lives. What if the women want to wear them? What if it's more comfortable for them because it's all they know? I have a friend who worked in Muslim countries and with women who wore burqas and he said they liked wearing them. They liked that their hair and clothing stayed clean when they were walking around dirty dusty streets. I'm not sure that is the real reason they liked them, but whatever their reason, they defended them.

It would be better to say Muslim women are free to dress like other Europeans and their families cannot force them to wear their traditional garb, if they choose not to. Once given a choice, it won't take long (a generation) before all the young women will rebel against the old tradition.

I don't think this is why this law is being enacted. It's a safety issue, because in full garb, you don't know who or what is under that burqa. It could be a woman strapped with dynamite, or a man. You won't be able to see their faces, so they are anonymous and can hide their nervousness and/or fear. I believe this is just a safety issue and has nothing to do with women's rights.

After what happened in Paris, I can understand many people are afraid of Muslims and dressed in a way that keeps them anonymous can be taken as threatening or too large a risk for society. Peaceful Muslims look just like ISIS. How are you supposed to tell them apart? But is that a fair reason to tell them they can no longer wear their traditional clothing? They need to have a legitimate reason that is shared by everyone, not just Muslim women.

The point remains, unless they pass a law that nobody in public can dress in a way that makes them anonymous, it would not be fair to just apply it to Muslim women. You can hide behind a ski mask if it's really cold outside and you are anonymous. You can be going to a furry convention and be totally hidden inside a fox costume and you are anonymous. You can be wearing a motorcycle helmet with a dark visor. Saying that these women cannot wear their burqas because it's not safe is profiling Muslims.

So just pass a law that says your face must be visible at all times, except under certain conditions, like a blizzard or you are on a ski slope or something.

Even if this clothing style is a tradition and not a religious requirement, is it fair to ask people to no longer wear their traditional clothing, as long as it doesn't break an existing dress code? And if you are going to create a new dress code, because of ISIS, make sure it doesn't just apply to one group of people. Write it in such a way that it affects everyone and is not specific to just one culture.