A sad day for Australia – An online poll with 12,458 votes has 84% in favour of banning the wearing of the burqa in Australia. This follows comment by an Australian senator:
Outspoken senator Cory Bernardi has called for the banning of the Islamic covering after an armed robbery in a Sydney by a man wearing a burqa and sunglasses.
The head-to-toe covering was emerging as the preferred disguise of bandits and “n’er do wells”, the South Australian senator wrote on his blog, adding it also prevented Muslim women from interacting in normal day-to-day life.
See article Controversial call to ban the wearing of burqas in public.
The new argument is that robbers can dress with burqas for disguise and therefore burqas should not be worn in public. Should we then ban overcoats and big hats and ponchos and . . . ? I think not. Australia must continue to allow the wearing of the burqa in public.
My opposition to the banning of the wearing of burqas is at Belgium burqa ban is Bad.
I agree with banning the burqa. This is a christian nation we should not compromise,im all for accepting everyone but does not mean accept evrything. Our law has become too soft that people treat it as a joke today the excuse is-(its a free country)-yes it is because of our heritage-values-morals
Excuse me Danny, this is NOT a christian nation. We are all free to CHOOSE a religion (or none at all). It is a woman’s right to choose to wear a burqa – fitting with her religious beliefs. You be outraged if someone suggested that you couldnt wear a crucifix.
Open your mind & accept those & their beliefs/culture, they are not hurting you in any way.
Why is it that Muslim women are not being asked how they feel about the hijab/burqa/niqab.
It is amazing that so many people are “standing up” for the rights of Muslim women, yet they have no understanding of what the hijab is, why is she wearing it, and what it means to her. Stripping women of their religious RIGHTS (that’s right folks, don’t forget Australia protects the religious rights of it’s people), is what is un-Australian. The attitude is, “you will be liberated, whether you like it or not!” If people want to stand up for womens rights, then stand up for a woman’s right to practice her religion and wear what she likes. My wife wears the face veil and nobody has a gun to her head forcing her to wear it. Why isn’t she asked about the face veil? Ask her if she is oppressed. Ask her if she feels isolated from the society. My wife is an educated woman and she is a feminist. But, she understands her religion and she knows what true liberation is. The womans body is a sacred thing, and it belongs to her. Sadly, in our society women are being exploited and used to sell everything from cars to chocolate. Tell me, look at Zoo Magazine and all the other magazines on display in every petrol station. Look at music video clips. Look at the mass media as a whole and ask, “is this womens liberation?” Oh, and before you tell me to “go back to where I came from”, I have nowhere to go, I am 7th generation Australian and I love my country. I am a convert, so don’t try the whole, “take your culture back home.” Also, I’d like to point out the hipocrisy of the situation. Many people are saying, “if they don’t like the Aussie culture, they can go home.” Firstly, if this “rule” were true, then we should all leave as I am quite sure that we were not the original inhabitants of this land. Why don’t white people (myself included) go back to Ireland, or England if we don’t like the aboriginal way of life? But what happened? Terra Nulius… Read your history folks. We killed so many aboriginies and destroyed their culture. We thought they were animals. Tell me, why didn’t we assimilate into aboriginal society? Why didn’t we “love it or leave it.” Absolute hipocrisy people. Another thing I hear people saying is “this is a Christian country, not a Muslim country.” Firstly, this is NOT a Christian country. It is a secular democracy. Secondly, is a women covering her head and body something un-Christian? Is modesty un-Christian? Can somebody find me a portrait of Mary (Maryam in Islam, may Allah’s peace be upon her) not wearing the head scarfe? What about the traditional nuns? I was raised a Catholic, and I have never seen a image of Mary uncovered nor have I met a nun who was uncovered. Not to mention the fact that in 1 Corinthians 11:5, Paul states that the women who uncovers her head in prayer has dishonored her head. So is the veil really so alien to Christianity? Finally, the Muslim woman covering herself is a symbol of modesty and chastity. It is a symbol of her committment to God. It is her way of saying, “my body belongs to me, and noone has the right to look at my body except whom I say, and I will not be used as an accessory for some man, nor will I be used as a ‘marketing tool’ to sell things.” So tell me, if this is un-Australian, what is Australian? Stripping a woman down to a bikini? No protection for religious sentiment? Immodesty and promiscuity? Is this something we would be proud of? If we are going to say that the Australian way is freedom for all peoples, then stop being hypocrites and allow Muslim women to also be free to wear what they want to wear, and stop pretending that you know how these “poor, oppressed Muslim women” feel. Speak to a Muslim woman and ASK THEM how they feel…
to stephen-as for your question i dont wear a crucifix around my neck..if my religion says to wear a balaclava do i wear one -why dont i walk into a bank with a balaclava,-its called obey the laws of the land…if we were in the desert or in the snow then by all means wear the burqa. as for opening my mind & beliefs -tried that and realised its that that has ruined this great nation-and to answer your other question i do accept all peoples of this world but it doesnt mean i have to accept their beliefs-as for your question is it hurting us in any way?-yes it is it shows that you are above our law and choose to follow your own rules.
to shah-since when did i say go back to where you came from-but now that u mentioned it maybe you should. what you talking about stripping a woman to a bikini– thats cause your at the beach no1 in stinking hot weather going for a swim. and as for the mass media i do agree with you how they exploit women in wrong ways to sell things,something needs to be done about that-but thats a whole differnt topic. as for the killing of aborigines -the britsh that came & killed the locals they werent true christians were they. as for a woman covering her face its got to do with abey the law of at least showing your face who you are-its a simple task-which everyother religion follows..firstly yes this is a christian nation -look at what is wriiten in its law from the begiining & how it was founded…and no your wifes body does not just belong to her but also to god who created her.jesus christ never said you have to cover your head in prayer,thats that mean all the christian girls today arent devoted to god as mary was-jesus broke that tradition
To Danny,
Firstly,you did not read my comment properly.You missed the points I’m trying to present.Either that or you have trouble understanding.
Secondly,regardless of whether it’s hot or not,the fact is stripping off one’s clothes suggest stripping off one’s dignity and honour. A woman who is dressed modestly is more respectable than a woman who is dressed immodestly(Mini skirts,singlets).You’ll find that in a respected profession,people are dressed more modestly e.g educators.
Thirdly,the point I’m trying to make about exploitation of women is NOT a different topic.Here we’re talking about modesty of women.If a woman does not dress modestly,she is subjected to those things.First the stripping of clothes,then the rest follows.Another point is Islam protects women from all that.And the ban on niqab is going to take that protection away,men staring at her face and get attracted to it thus having evil thoughts.
Fourth,of course we all belong to god and to Him we return.You missed the point which is if my wife or a muslim woman does not want for example you to look at her even by accident regardless of whether you’re attracted to her or not,then you have no rights to.No man has the rights to look at her if she doesn’t want him to.
Fifth,where is your evidence for your claim that Jesus never said to cover your head? I quoted a verse in the bible. And Maryam(Mother Mary) and the nuns at the church proved you wrong. Paul who claimed to have seen Jesus changed the laws.Changed the law of circumcision,eating of pork and the way you pray to god.Read your history!
Finally,about the aborigines,the point is not about how the un-Christian the British were.The point is you can’t assimilate into aboriginal society.Your ancestors killed heaps of them.And now you are saying to the muslims if we don’t like it we can leave? Why didn’t you leave before but instead killed the aboriginals?Go back to England or Ireland where you belonged. And you missed the point about me being a 7th generation white Australian-born with blonde hair and blue eyes.You can’t tell me to go back to my country because this is MY country.
if this is your country you dont seem to care about it-so you are judging a women in a singlet over a women who dresses more covered up,i agree wearing a mini skirt isnt a good idea in the workplace but on the beach thats a different story,but a singlet now your getting too much it says in the bible that even if you have lusted after someone in your thoughts you have already done the act-if thats the case why dont all women lock themselves up in a 3×3 no window cell so they cant be seen-grow up,the problem is not women dressing in a singlet top,the problem is you dont know how to control yourself- heres a thought if you have attractions to a builder working on your home does it mean you have to act on it.heres another thought if god wanted to protect us he never would of given us a choice to choose him -jesus or sourselves in life he gave us our own choices because he loved us so much-thats not oppression thats freedom.. the banning of the burqa is for the simple reason of here in australia you need to show your face of who you are that is all..as for your wife not being seen by any man-i think you do not want people to look at her beacuse you are afraid that shel be free from your oppression..then why did god give her a face-were meant to live in light not darkness. fifth-jesus broke all traditions when he died on the cross & rose on the third day -now he lives in our hearts through the holy spirit & that anvyone who calls on his name -black/jew/muslim/buddist whatever will be saved,,i think the catholics have given you a bit of a bump steer in the truth- i dont konw if its a bible you read it sounds like you read something else -yes you can integrate with the aborigines by showing them how much god loves them but instead they made wrong decisions by killing them
Shah, this is Australia and its not your Country OK! This topic is about banning the Burqa not about aboriginals. Leave that topic to the real aussies. People are scared to go near these people that wear the full burqa, its just so uncomfortable to be around. If i went to a muslim country i would have to cover up but thats understandable, i won’t question it but then again i would never go there. To be honest if the muslim women or your wife didn’t wear the burqa like some don’t, they don’t and won’t get looked at so you have nothing to worry about if the burqa does get banned! Its quite simple if you don’t like it go back home!
@Kim!
who the hell are you to say that its not your country. DUDE its ur not country as well. Australia is the country of Aboriginals. When white people have the full right to do whatever they want others should have as well.
Religion should not be brought into this issue at all.
This is all about security. In this society, we should be able to see each others faces, so we can interact and communicate with each other.
If anyone chooses to wear attire that covers them from head to toe, even wearing gloves, that’s up to them, but their face must not be covered.
It’s dangerous when driving, if you go into a bank, school or any other public buildings, you must show your face
Just imagine if we all chose to walk around with motorcyclist helmets with full tinted visors or balaclavas – do you think the police will not pull us up?
As I’ve said before, leave religion out of this – we are all free to wear what we like, just don’t cover our face.
Dear Correspondents,
This topic clearly raises strong emotions, comments are getting personal, comments that include personal attacks will not be posted and comments will be disabled on this post.
I will write further on this significant issue and seek to address some of the matters raised. When I do, I will make a comment on this article.
With thanks and please let us care for one another as we seek the common good for all who live in this wonderful country of Australia.
Shalom,
John