France’s lower house of parliament has voted to ban burqas. This article says the vote was 335-1. Incredible. And then the part where they try and make it seem like it has nothing to do with religion:
It refers neither to Islam nor to veils. Officials insist the law against face-covering is not discriminatory because it would apply to everyone, not just Muslims. Yet they cite a host of exceptions, including motorcycle helmets, or masks for health reasons, fencing, skiing or carnivals.
I was unaware that Spain and Belgium are also considering bans.
Does anyone know how many Muslims are in the French parliament? The bill goes to the Senate in September. I imagine it will receive near unanimous support there as well? Hopefully it will be ruled as unconstitutional.
I think the real takeaway here is that the French Carnival Lobby is as strong as ever.
By: Sharon Traiberman on July 16, 2010
at 5:40 pm