Holland has is one of the worlds more liberal societies, having been there a couple of times and sampled it I can confirm that. It’s a lovely place, lots of culture and a very laid back approach to life.
I guess I was a bit taken back yesterday when I read the Dutch government had backed a proposal by the immigration minister Rita Verdonk to ban the wearing of Burqas. She said ‘it was important that all people in the Netherlands were able to see and identify each other clearly to promote integration and tolerance.’
At last a European country with balls and pragmatic sense. In these heady days of suspicion, racial conflicts and terrorism this seems a wise move to me. Of course the civil liberties people are up in arms about it but Ms Verdonk insisted the burqa was not an acceptable part of public life in the Netherlands.
France recently passed a law banning religious symbols, including Muslim headscarves, from schools. Italy has banned face-coverings, resurrecting old laws passed to combat domestic terrorism and Some German states ban teachers in public schools from wearing headscarves, but there is no blanket rule against burqas.
I don’t see how people can really complain in Holland, after all, it has one of the most easy going and open cultures in the world and this law is merely one of common sense.
Let’s just hope Britain now follows suit and passes similar practical laws, this is Britain after all, and not some Islamic state.
To any religious readers out there, this blog was typed in a very agnostic and sensible frame of mind and not an anti muslim one.
I guess I was a bit taken back yesterday when I read the Dutch government had backed a proposal by the immigration minister Rita Verdonk to ban the wearing of Burqas. She said ‘it was important that all people in the Netherlands were able to see and identify each other clearly to promote integration and tolerance.’
At last a European country with balls and pragmatic sense. In these heady days of suspicion, racial conflicts and terrorism this seems a wise move to me. Of course the civil liberties people are up in arms about it but Ms Verdonk insisted the burqa was not an acceptable part of public life in the Netherlands.
France recently passed a law banning religious symbols, including Muslim headscarves, from schools. Italy has banned face-coverings, resurrecting old laws passed to combat domestic terrorism and Some German states ban teachers in public schools from wearing headscarves, but there is no blanket rule against burqas.
I don’t see how people can really complain in Holland, after all, it has one of the most easy going and open cultures in the world and this law is merely one of common sense.
Let’s just hope Britain now follows suit and passes similar practical laws, this is Britain after all, and not some Islamic state.
To any religious readers out there, this blog was typed in a very agnostic and sensible frame of mind and not an anti muslim one.
1 comment:
France long ago separated the state and religion. Headscarves have been banned for a number of years.
I think the problem here is down to the media. There is no rational discussion. Rants and scaremongering suffice for informed discussion and not surprisingly Muslims feel defensive and under attack. We've seen the negative effects of the drip drip of stories in the media at school.
Pupils at our school are allowed to wear a plain scarf but the niqab (full veil) isn't allowed. This has been the case for quite some time. Areas who have established Muslim communities have, in many cases, been through this before in a much more sensible manner.
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