Cats

I like cats, and draw them on the back of my business cards (putting them to better use).

The Burqa Dance

So I'm pretty uncertain where I lie on this issue. While I do not support the burqa or niqab, I think that going as far as outlawing a garment, and not adhering to the Western liberal principle of giving people the right to express themselves seems like a form of reverse fundamentalism to me. Tolerance is what so-called "progressive" Western European nations pride themselves on, yet this is a popular movement based on intolerance of personal religious faith (even though I take this form of adherence to Islam to be utterly wrong and even embarrassing). Still, I think taking the burqa or niqab as a stamp of religious extremism is an incorrect assumption. A symbolic war is no way of addressing fear of terrorism, and actively excludes populations who already feel hostility from the government for simply existing.

This Times article says, "Critics of the veils have described them as a tool of extremism, a hindrance to women’s rights and an affront to France’s cherished secularity." I understand and obviously support secularism; but it's not like Islamic militants are imposing Shari'a law on the French government. What's really amazing is that the French government feels like it's being invaded by extremist Muslims, which gives you an idea how it perceives and deals with its immigrants.

For the record, I'm okay with the hijab (head scarf), but I don't understand women or girls who wear a hijab but then pair it with a tight pair of jeans and a tiny shirt. I guess that's done more for the appeal of looking exotic or something, but it screams ignorance to me. I've also only ever seen a small handful of women wearing niqabs or full-blown burqas out in public in NYC. It actually scared me a little, seeing someone in a giant sheet, with no face, not really moving, just sitting there on the N train. Not knowing what's underneath gives me the creeps. So, in short, burqas make me cringe; and I do not think that anything was written in the Qur'an that ever intended women to cover up to that extent.

I am still not sure how I feel about the 2004 ban on all religious gear in public schools. In grade school, seeing someone wearing a hijab, a cross, an Om, a star of David, or whatever else was a way of learning about who they were and what they maybe believed. Taking that away from children is removing a form of tolerance that needs to be developed in order for there to ever be dialogue. In any case, it's fascinating how committed France is to its identity as a nation, and what they will strive to do in order to think they are getting all of its different populations on the same page...because I don't think that can ever happen.