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French Lawmaker's Op-Ed Argues For Burqa Ban

By Howard M. Friedman

Jean-Francois Cope, majority leader in the French National Assembly and the mayor of Meaux, writes an op-ed in today's New York Times explaining his support for a proposed ban in France on wearing the burqa or niqab in public. In a piece titled Tearing Away the Veil he argues:

The ban would apply to the full-body veil known as the burqa or niqab. This is not an article of clothing ? it is a mask, a mask worn at all times, making identification or participation in economic and social life virtually impossible. This face covering poses a serious safety problem at a time when security cameras play an important role in the protection of public order....

[W]earing headgear that fully covers the face does not constitute a fundamental liberty. To the contrary, it is an insurmountable obstacle to the affirmation of a political community that unites citizens without regard to differences in sex, origin or religious faith. How can you establish a relationship with a person who, by hiding a smile or a glance ? those universal signs of our common humanity ? refuses to exist in the eyes of others?

Full post as published by Religion Clause on May 05, 2010 (boomark / email).