Muslim women and the veil

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jared2 @ Oct 10 2006, 12:06 PM) [snapback]330769[/snapback]</div>

I can't resist.

This is not nearly so bad as what Bill Clinton and Mark Foley requested their visitors to remove.

Perhaps Mr. Straw has never carried on a meaningful telephone conversation.

This is about as critical as Ashcroft covering up the statues. As long as they aren't sucking on the hem of the veil, I think he'd be able to understand them. Just my guess.....

 

Reminds me of when I used to play basketball with the guys, and they would put me on the "skins" team.... and I kept my shirt on thankyouverymuch!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Alnilam @ Oct 10 2006, 02:46 PM) [snapback]330802[/snapback]</div>

The way I heard it, it was Foley who did the removing.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jared2 @ Oct 10 2006, 03:06 PM) [snapback]330769[/snapback]</div>

Amazing how you turned "ask" into "required". And this is face-to-veil, not telephone. I think he has a reasonable point and the people raising the stink are the usual muslim "leaders".

- Tom

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tom_06 @ Oct 10 2006, 02:34 PM) [snapback]330844[/snapback]</div>

A small point. In the military we had a maxim that said, "The General's wish is the same as a command." When you are in the presence of an august personage and they ask you to do something, you tend to do it, particularly if you are looking for some sort of favor from that personage.

A couple of weeks ago Bush commented that a reporter asking him a question was wearing sunglasses. The way it was put to the reporter, he saw that Bush took it as a slight and offered to remove them. It didn't come to that. Good thing: the guy was blind. Sometimes there are reasons for why people do things. Most of them don't equate with trying to give somebody a hard time. Lighten up.

Britain is having a horrible experience with its Muslims. They can't get work, are pretty well shunned and some are now going around planning bomb attacks. The Straw man has preached "tolerance" in his speeches. But, face-to-veil it fails. This ought to bring them a lot closer together, don't you think?

Actually, a lot of the criticism I'm reading comes from Brits with very un-Muslim sounding names.

- Bob
An unusual non-Muslim infidel

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Alnilam @ Oct 10 2006, 06:34 PM) [snapback]330863[/snapback]</div>

And a lot of the support is from muslim women in the articles I've seen. Try the Yahoo! UK web sites. Similar problem arise with ID photos or driving with a veil on. Acceptance cuts both ways.

- Tom

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tom_06 @ Oct 10 2006, 05:34 PM) [snapback]330844[/snapback]</div>

Regardless, I think we still need to be sensitive to religious beliefs.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tom_06 @ Oct 10 2006, 02:34 PM) [snapback]330844[/snapback]</div>

The only person I'd feel bad about talking to on the telephone is TonyPSchaefer. We can tell by his avitar what he would be wearing. Yech!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tom_06 @ Oct 10 2006, 04:39 PM) [snapback]330879[/snapback]</div>

And what about the rest of my points? Muslim, btw, is spelled with a capital letter, unless some sort of disrespect is intended.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jared2 @ Oct 10 2006, 02:06 PM) [snapback]330769[/snapback]</div>

You've got this wrong. He did not 'require' them to remove anything. He said that the women who wear veils (i.e. completely cover their faces except for the eyes) should 'consider' removing them during an interview.
It seemed quite a reasonable suggestion but as usual on so many occasions, the media inflated his statement excessively and made it appear to be a major issue. The woman he had in mind was said to have been born in the UK and only recently started wearing a veil so she must have been quite accustomed to not wearing one and one can't help wondering what her reason was for wearing it during an interview with her local MP - her representative in the national parliament.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Oxo @ Oct 11 2006, 10:15 AM) [snapback]331107[/snapback]</div>

You make it sound like she's trying to hide something. Perhaps, and this is only speculation, she feels closer to her God by wearing the veil.

A mind is like a parachute. It works better when open.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Alnilam @ Oct 11 2006, 02:51 AM) [snapback]331056[/snapback]</div>

You mean like calling the minister in question "Straw man"?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tom_06 @ Oct 11 2006, 07:58 AM) [snapback]331139[/snapback]</div>

That's right. I capitalized "Straw" and made a sarcastic assessment of the man, both proper. This doesn't slight a whole group of people, just him. Straw has been involved in other dealings that make you wonder.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jared2 @ Oct 11 2006, 12:18 PM) [snapback]331179[/snapback]</div>

I thought from the tone of your comment with the word "required" that your feelings lay the other way. A good example of misunderstandings that creep in with distance or barriers. I saw a vast gulf between the concepts of "request" and "required" and that is why I responded.

Given the lack of a You-Tube video of Mr. Straw making his request we cannot judge the politeness of his request. In the few articles I've seen in the British press, I have not found any that had a response from one of the women who got his request. The Muslim women that did show up in the press all seemed to have favorable comments.

But I agree with your comments. I would find it a great barrier to talk to someone who could see my face and their's was hidden. Kind of like being on the wrong side of a one way mirror or talking to someone using a security camera where all you have is voice. This is what I mean by sensitivity has to be a two way street. But those opposing Mr. Straw's request don't seem to want to talk about anything except being offended.

- Tom

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jared2 @ Oct 11 2006, 02:46 PM) [snapback]331278[/snapback]</div>

Anyone dressed in a full burka. Male, female, Muslim or not. Watch out for the die pack. The FBI probably has your post on file already, along with this one.

- Tom

 

Out of respect for the religion, and fear that he'll be killed, he should shut up.

Out of respect for the person, he should explain that she has a choice not to be oppressed by her religion.

 

Reason enough, for most. But that's not respect. It's fear, and there's a huge difference.