lifting the veil on the debate
I've been watching the reaction to UKIP's latest policy statement with some interest but little surprise. I'm afraid I'm not one of those people who consider the rights of others to repress more important than those they are repressing. I also do not hold any regard for a religion which values women less than men. Nor do I consider it right or sensible that there are people in this country who think they can live by different rules.
One country: one legal system. Stick it or fuck off.
The insistence that multiculturalism is the only way to succeed in this country has not brought about cultural harmony. Far from, for we have home grown fundamentalists who would happily see people who fund their education and benefits smeared on the sides of a tube carriage wall or British soldiers succumb to the red mist.
The covering of an entire face bar a letter box slit is a clear example of an area of British society which has not assimilated. An entire section of the community singled out by the garments they don't so much wear, but smother themselves in. They make themselves unapproachable and many people find them intimidating. I fail to see how it is not repressive to expect women to look like they've misread the instructions on some camping equipment; to not be able to take exercise with other people or to have to go to different cafes because their male dominated society tells them to.
This is a country where we had a female Prime Minister in 1979 and we have not had anyone who is her equal since.
I do not want Sharia law in this country, I do not think the murder of women should be referred to as an 'honour killing' by anyone and I don't see why people should be able to break the laws of this land because of some belief in a being.
As Nigel Farage said on the Daily Politics yesterday, we can't wear a motorcycle helmet in a bank. One country: one rule.
I don't believe in any religion and I don't wish to be governed by any. I don't see why people should be treated differently because of their unfounded beliefs and I think that doing so creates a two tier society which breeds jealous and conflict. This policy doesn't advocate the obligatory wearing of hot pants for all women, it just says that actually there shouldn't be a group of people in this society who wander around like the demi monde, unrecognisable except en masse for their masks. It's an easy one for anyone wanting to avoid detection. I don't agree with the excessive amount of CCTV cameras but I also don't agree with fundamentalist muslims dressing up in Burkhas and veils knowing that they can't be recognised and that as a society we're so terrified of upsetting minorities, being branded a racist and having to listen to Harriet Harman blather on about it that we don't do anything.
And personally, I feel that's a situation which needs to change.
Most importantly, though, I feel this is a subject which needs to be discussed. If anything comes out of this statement it should be a discussion on how different groups in society are treated and it should make the establishment realise that the average Brit, whoever (s)he is, isn't happy with the way things are going. If you ever went down a pub for a pint you'd hear people talk about this. Alas our politicians don't tend to do that as they're too busy trying to close them down.
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5 comments:
Not often I take issue with you Trixy, but I do on this.
I don't believe in any religion either, nor do I wish to be governed by one. As I understand it there is no requirement in the Koran for women to wear the burqa.
I think the point is this; women wearing the burqa aren't hurting anyone, they're not damaging anything or stealing anything. What people wear is entirely up to them.
Do I like the burqa? Not in the slightest. Neither do I like people wearing socks and sandals, but it doesn't do any harm, so where's the problem?
I saw Lord Pearson on TV the other day talking about one of the 7/7 chappies using a burqa to escape as a justification for banning it. Well, supposed he'd been disguised as a clown, would UKIP be pressing for a ban on clown suits?
The point about crash helmets in banks is different. That's private property, if they don't want to admit people to their premises because they are wearing crash helmets, green trousers or a frown then that is their business.
Out on the street it is a different matter entirely, what I, you or anyone else chooses to wear is a matter for that individual alone, whether I agree with their choice of clothing or not is irrelevant.
I was considering voting for UKIP at the next election, but things like this which demonstrate a mania for control in line with Labour, Tories and the LimpDims gives me real cause for concern. If they want to regulate what people are allowed to wear then what else is going to be regulated before and after it?
I've always defended UKIP against accusations that they're a bit racist. But this smacks of not liking people who live, act and dress differently to you, and by making announcements like this it makes it that much easier to make lazy racist tags stick.
Very disappointing.
You know what? When one of your mates is blown to shit by a group of fanatical muslims you just hate them. Don't like what I say, I really don't mind.
I completely agree with you on this one Trixy.
In fact I'd go much further than banning these garments, I'd make them illegal.
Snowolf, in this country our faces and figures are our identity. Women wearing this garment are denying their British identity.
This isn't racist it's pure common sense. If we allow it to continue it will increase and before we know it the matter will be completely out of hand. Rather like immigration really.
Think we're going to have to disagree on this one, but I'm pleased we can do it like sensible adults.
I don't like the burqa at all, in fact, I hate it, but I really don't see the harm it does to me.
If these women choose to wear the burqa (and I'm perfectly happy to accept that some women would find a ban a release from a demand by a husband that they wear it, assuming the same husband 'allows' them out of the house) then I really don't see the problem. If they choose to deny their British identity, well, it is their identity to deny. They're not denying my identity and not encroaching on my liberties, I have no intention of encroaching on theirs.
I completely understand that some people are uncomfortable in the presence of women wearing burqas, but the same can also be said of the Hassidic Jew, the football fan, the skinhead, the punk, the biker. I think that is more to do with the perception of the viewer than the character of the subject.
I'd rather the burqa didn't exist, but I'm very very uneasy about banning it, even if only for the door that the banning opens.
Sure, let's do that, then. I'm an atheist, I find religion rather abhorrent but I find Islam much worse than the others if.
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