BNN provides English-language US and world news, analysis and opinion from all over the Internet. We strive for high standards, ethical behavior, and the presentation of multiple responsible points of view.
|
Get More Traffic For Your Blog! Blog Explosion brings hundreds of interested visitors to your blog - without costing you a cent. BNN News Archive Page |
Friday, March 17, 2006
Banning burqas in the Netherlands: The inexorable march of progress Okay, I'll even qualify that a bit. The fanatical adherence to Islam. The evidence continues to pile up like refuse during a New York City garbage strike. Cartoon riots, endless terrorism and strife, a fascination with beheadings, the insane preoccupation with the tiny country of Israel, still more cartoon riots, societies that revere and encourage suicide bombers, a profound aversion to post-Dark Ages human progress, and, oh, did I mention riots over some silly cartoons? Atheists might argue that the fanatical adherence to any religion is intellectually stunting, but we’re not talking about the unobtrusive Amish here, who just shun the modern world and keep to themselves. With Islam we’re talking about a religious force that has the power to not only keep a huge swath of the world in darkness and ignorance, but to disrupt and destabilize other parts of the world that have managed to advance over the centuries. It might be appealing to think that when Islam is practiced within the context of decent democratic societies in the West rather than the typical corrupt and dictatorial regimes that constitute most of the Islamic world, that intellectual stunting thing would be muted in favor of rationality. But then you go and read that a recent poll found that 40 percent of British Muslims want sharia law in the U.K. and 20 percent sympathized with the 7/7 London subway bombers, and the only thing you can think is, nope, ‘fraid not. It’s a bit dispiriting if you have high hopes of Islam and the West being able to coexist in some kind of warm and fuzzy multicultural tolerance. Instead, it just looks more and more like a true clash of civilizations that’s becoming as hard to ignore as, well, a New York City garbage strike. But sometimes it's the little things that really nettle. Take, for instance, a 22-year-old Dutch-born Muslim woman named Hope. Her native country, the Netherlands, is thinking about becoming the first European country to ban the burqa and other Muslim face veils. If it does, Hope says she'll resort to wearing a surgical mask to dress in accordance with her religious beliefs. "I'll wear one of those things they wore during the SARS epidemic if I have to," she said matter-of-factly. "I'm very practical." Sure, what could be more practical than walking around in a surgical mask because you were deprived of the "right" to wear a burqa? Part of the justification for outlawing the burqa is as a security measure so that people are readily identifiable in public. That’s because even the extraordinarily liberal and tolerant country of the Netherlands has had its problems with radical Islam. But there's another reason according to Geert Wilders, member of the Dutch Parliament: "The burqa is hostile to women, and medieval. For a woman to walk around on the streets completely covered is an insult to everyone who believes in equal rights." In other words, the burqa represents something that the Dutch may consider incompatible with modernity and freedom, both of which were achieved after many centuries of struggle at a very high human cost, and they don’t consider that to be a trivial thing. It could certainly be argued that in a liberal Western society people have the right to insult the public at large, at least up to a point. On the other hand, given the recent worldwide cartoon riots -- during which embassies were burned to the ground, people were killed and infidels the world over were threatened with beheadings, annihilation and general damnation -- do Muslims have any right to make such an argument without being branded the world’s most egregious hypocrites? Nonetheless, Famile Arslan, a Dutch-Muslim lawyer, believes a ban would only reinforce today’s polarized climate and said that “a country once known for its tolerance is now becoming known for its ignorance.” Really? The burqa itself is an accouterment that utterly epitomizes ignorance and the Dutch don’t want any part of it. If it even occurs to Arslan’s presumably razor-sharp legal mind that women walking around in burqas in the midst of one of the most liberal countries on earth might be even more blatantly polarizing than the banning thereof, she keeps it to herself. But for the Muslim-advocating Arslan it’s all about the West placating Muslim demands at every turn, no matter how senseless or troubling to the host societies. It kinda makes you wonder if she gave a particular hoot about what happened to Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh. Remember him? He was the guy who made a short film that examined Islam's mistreatment of women and for his trouble, he got pumped full of bullets and a dagger stuck in his chest on a public street. Pinned to the dagger was a 5-page explanatory letter from his Muslim killer about why van Gogh could not be allowed to go on criticizing Islam. Theo van Gogh died a brutal death for trying to publicize the plight of Islamic women, but young Hope is going to strap on a surgical mask if the burqa gets outlawed in the name of security and equal rights for women. Hey, the cussed young zealot has every right to be an ungrateful, self-defeating fool, but the question is, why would she? She was born and raised in a secular, liberal country that deals with its problems through rationality rather than religious dogma. Where is her ability to reason and compromise? Could it have perchance been stunted by her fanatical adherence to Islam? She might as well go to Saudi Arabia and become the official poster girl for the muttawa the religious police there who enforce that country’s strict Islamic code. She would no doubt be impressed with the muttawa's upholding of Islamic values and traditions. They once stopped some girls from fleeing from their burning school building because they weren't properly covered. Sure, some of them perished, but Islamic traditions were upheld and that’s the important thing. Decades ago, Western women were burning their bras in the name of equal rights. In the Islamic world, it's the women themselves who can get burned, literally. You’d think people born and raised in a country like the Netherlands would be immunized against the sort of fanaticism that affects Hope. Even her own parents were concerned she had been “brainwashed” or had developed “militant tendencies.” Hope’s response to all the fuss? “Yes, extremism is growing,” she said, “but I am not the problem.” Au contraire, young Hope. In your fanatical insistence to perpetuate a symbol that is incompatible with modernity and the values of your own home country, you are very much part of the problem. Greg Strange provides conservative commentary with plenty of acerbic wit on the people, politics, events and absurdities of our time. See more at his website: http://www.greg-strange.com/ Blogger News Network is advertiser-supported, and your visits to our advertisers help BNN to meet its expenses. Help keep us afloat! posted by Greg Strange at 6:41 AM |
Subscribe to BNN and get a daily bulletin of all our news postings. Interested in writing for BNN? Want information on our news service? Contact The Editor Writing for BNN BNN Editorial Policies Previous Posts
|
1 Comments:
You must not have ever lived in the Netherlands. Your insights are lacking and your piece lacks critical skills to draw the conclusions you have about what goes on in this country.
Do your homework and take another shot at it.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home