There's an image I see doing the rounds on the Internet...in the style of 50's Americana, it says:
'Losing an argument? Shout THAT'S RACIST as loud as you can!'
Whenever the burqa argument is brought up, I don't know whether to laugh or cry when the term RACIST is used in it at all.
Racism is the most vile and disgusting abhorrence to mankind. It is repulsive to judge another person on the colour of their skin. What does it have anything to do with their values at all? They were born that way and will die that way.
Religion is not a race. They overlap and include many ethnicities within them, and ethnicities contain many religions. Do you know why? It's because - shock horror to the idiots of the world - religion is not genetic. You can leave it whenever you want. It's an opinion or interest which deserves as much criticism or satire as a political view or sports support.
The burqa is not decreed by the Koran. It was used in pre-Islamic Arabia as protection from the sun and sand. Therefore, it is rare in more temperate Muslim countries such as Albania and more humid ones such as Indonesia. Compare this with the Sikh turban, which as one of the '5 Ks' is mandatory for a Sikh man. But that isn't the issue here.
The often confused hijab is the covering of the head. It is of no difference to having your hood up or a hat on. So that can be allowed in this country. Let's not forget, in rainy weather even Her Majesty the Queen wheres a hood.
The simple point is that NOBODY should cover their face in Britain. What do you think of a 13-year old lad with a scarf around his mouth? Dangerous. Balaclava? Bankrobber or IRA member. We fear the unexpected and therefore we fear people who are not instantly recognisable for us to see if they are friendly or not. But our conditioning to hooligans and robbers makes us think that they are dangerous. In addition, every citizen should expose themselves to the law and security. That is a fundamental right. Too many cases have come of men (who could be any religion) hiding behind a burqa to commit crime.
The idea of a ban being 'xenophobic', or whatever word can be used if racism is clearly not the case, is a fallacy. The majority feel that a burqa-wearing woman is anti-Britain and anti-integration for her ostentatious choice of faith over being a part of society. Nobody would want to talk to her with it on and it would only lead to getting down the road and having two parallel societies with no mixing or knowledge of each other. Do you really want that?
