Ban The Burka

Reduction helps make large amounts of information palatable and memorable, but the problem is that when we reduce a statement to just three words then other people come along, others who have not seen nor considered the original detail, and they draw all sorts of emotional conclusions out of those few reduced words. 

 This is one of the huge problems with Internet memes, with headlines and taglines et al. Take the phrase “ban the burka”. Emotional late comers or trouble causers or simply folks who are just not giving enough thought to these things will immediately flesh out these three words thusly: “Ban the Burka at all times everywhere - make the Muslims submit and deny them their religious freedom”. But is this really what the burka ban is about? The original unreduced idea behind “ban the burka” is really something like this: “ban the burka in all places where anonymity is undesirable to the well-being of society – such as public office, education and law enforcement”. Let me develop this a bit… would a burka be allowed on a minister or even prime minister? Think about it – someone in a veil – their face hidden from the camera – gives a very important country-altering life-changing speech. Do we accept this? How do we know that the person giving the order is our elected official – if we cannot see her face? Would we be happy if Muslim policewomen began to wear burkas? Would you submit to questioning or even arrest by someone whose face is hidden? Really? 

And I know there are teachers who wear burkas – I find this very offensive. Children need to see facial expressions and to interact with adults positively. How does a school even know for sure that the burka-clad woman who has come in to teach that day is the teacher they hired? That they are the one who has a police check and is qualified and safe to teach the children? Another woman, of similar height and voice, could easily walk into a school one day, covered in black from head to toe and claim to be the teacher – who is going to know? Are we as a society going to wait until this happens and a child is hurt or taken? 

This may sound emotional but think of it logically – without a face there is anonymity – and anonymity is disastrous. Ban the burka in schools, public office and position of authority. We need to know who is leading us, who is policing us and who is teaching our children. So from this argument alone we can see that at least some banning of the burka is necessary. I’m sure other cases can be made – doctors? Actors?

I go a step further and say that the burka should not be allowed in public. How easy is it for a criminal to carry a burka in a tote bag, commit a crime and then slip it on and calmly walk past the police? Once again anonymity is disastrous. In a world where terrorists are abroad, the last thing we want is people to be freely allowed to go anywhere with their faces covered. I hate teenage hooded clothing and balaclavas for the same reason.

So where should the burka not be banned? At home and at mosque and at private gatherings. Simple.

I also note that the burka is not mentioned in the Qur’an nor the Hadeeth. It is not a religious requirement (see: Article written by a Leading Muslim Scholar)

But this blog article of mine is really about discernment – especially when it comes to headlines, taglines and memes. I’m urging people to recognize their own propensity to emotional adding when reading a reduced statement, to recognize the presuppositional lens they use when reading anything-(including this blog) and to recognize that we ALL do this.

I leave you with a recent example I saw on facebook:

 

Really? I don't think the Klan wears their coverings to work - do they? Do schoolteachers from the Klan go to school dressed like this? I hate the Klan and everything they stand for – it should go without saying, but clearly this meme is meant to cause emotional hype. And two more things – first it is actually factually incorrect (Klan hood is banned) and secondly this meme commits a bald category error: clan coverings are not the same issue as burka coverings. The cowards who wear Klan coverings would never dare to go out in public alone with one on – except on maybe on the 31^st of October.

So as a Christian I write this article to point out the evil of the burka and to try to get people to see that a lot of stupid things are written online that, with some thought, can be seen to be nothing but emotional hype – unhelpful and destructive. Please stop sharing these types of memes and please do point out the error when one appears on your feed. Evil requires good people to do nothing. Watch, pray and contend for the truth!