Finally a step towards clinging onto what’s left of our British culture has been taken.  The powers that be have decided that pupils won’t be allowed to wear the full face, niqab veil.  It’s about time!  I’m all for equality, and for freedom of religion, but there has to be a point where religion cannot be allowed to override the culture of a country where that religion is not the standard religion.  

 

In many Muslim countries it’s against the law to practise another religion never mind wear garments that spotlight part of its followers by making them dress in a veil that hides all but their eyes.  I appreciate that the Muslim religion doesn’t trust its women to make sensible choices, and therefore requires them to hide their bodies, but they live in a country now where this is not really acceptable behaviour.  There are plenty of other countries out there who applaud the use of the niqab to keep a woman in her place, but this isn’t one of them.  If I were to visit a predominantly Muslim country, I would be expected to wear a veil to cover myself up appropriately, and I would do so willingly because I would respect the laws and culture of the country I’m in.  I’m not sure why Muslim people in the
UK Think that they can dictate the rules of their homeland in their adopted country.   It’s way past time our Government took a stand on issues such as this one.

 

Our children go to school to learn social skills as well as educational ones.  How can they communicate with someone who has restricted physical communication?  How can the veiled girls learn to communicate back in a way that their peers communicate – with non-verbal facial and body language?  There’s a fear that once the girls are allowed out of the veiled life, they will start to wear inappropriate clothing – well who’s going to buy the clothing?  There are plenty of options.  If the parents of these girls maintain authority over their children, then they can dress their girls demurely but appropriately for the country in which they live as well as satisfy their religious teachings.

 

I think however that the ruling needs to be a little more forceful and say that the niqab is banned in schools completely.  This means that neither pupil nor teacher can wear it.  If a Muslim woman wants/has to wear it, then teaching isn’t for her.  A child should find a teacher approachable, and the full veil says “stay away” not “come here”.  

 

Yes there’s a chance that some Muslim girls will act out if they are allowed out of the niqab, but that’s not the fault of taking away the garment, but rather a lack of discipline where the child thinks that the veil stops them from doing something rather than themselves.  Non Muslim children learn right from wrong, they don’t need to be put into a fabric box to remember which is which!

Things seem good on the work front.
Hay, check out the new design on the botox for migraines pages

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 21st, 2007 at 12:32 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.