U.S , FRANCE AND OTHERS

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Jul 23, 2010, 8:30:46 AM7/23/10
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US Disagrees With France's Ban On Burqa
 
by RTT Staff Writer - 7/15/2010
 
The United States has voiced its disagreement with a measure approved by the lower house of France's National Assembly banning the use of face-covering Islamic veils in public, in the latest attempt by a European country to force Muslims to integrate into main society.
 
"We do not think that you should legislate what people can wear or not wear associated with their religious beliefs," said State Department spokesman Philip Crowley.
 
He said that in the United States, the administration would take a different step to balance security and to respect religious freedom and the symbols that go along with religious freedom.
 
"I would only say that, as I understand it, this is a first step in what may be a lengthy legislative and perhaps legal process," he added.
 
Backed by a strong public support, French lawmakers voted overwhelmingly Tuesday, for a bill to ban face-covering veils.
 
The National Assembly voted by 335-to-1 to ban Muslim women from covering their faces at all public places, including government and corporate buildings, trains and buses, as well as stores, markets and streets.
 
The bill imposes a fine of about $200 for violators, but men who force either wives and/or daughters to cover their faces could receive a maximum one-year jail term and a fine of nearly $40,000.
The bill is not yet law, as it will now be sent to the Senate for a vote in September.
 
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has placed the ban on the hijab and the burqa high on his agenda, won enough political support to approve the measure, while critics argue that it is in danger of being ruled unconstitutional in France and in violation of the European Union's laws on human rights.
 
However, polls say the French--and most Europeans, in whose countries similar laws are pending--back the anti-burqa legislation.
 
Catholics should oppose ban on Muslim veils
 
Irish Central - by Megan Finnegan - July 13, 2010
 
While this raises a whole host of issues, the one I'm most concerned about is the fact that so many people think it's okay for their government to dictate what people can and cannot wear. France claims to have a secular government, but they're not banning yarmulkes or crucifixes. True, these religious symbols don't have the same effect on those outsiders who view the wearers, but they're still symbols of a particular religion.
 
Islam is not the only religion that, when practiced in its orthodoxy, encourages and sometimes requires extreme modesty of its women. Hello, nun habits? Parents force their children to wear Catholic school uniforms. Conservative Christians wear long skirts and even higher necklines. Orthodox Jewish women don't show any skin aside from the ankles, wrists and neck, no matter the weather. Not all Muslim women wear a full burqa; they wear variations of head coverings dictated by their particular sect of Islam and their regional and cultural heritage. So we can point them out and decry the practice as barbaric, but you know what they say about those who throw stones.
 
The slippery slope is real, folks. Civil liberties erode and will eventually crumble if they are not upheld forcefully. It's not overreacting or being paranoid or leftist to believe this. If France does it, so might Spain and Belgium. If the European Union does it, so might the United States. And if the U.S. decides that burqas are oppressive, and that we as a country ought to tell women they can't be worn, we will have crossed the already too-blurry line that separates church and state.
 
In a free country like France, women can choose to practice Islam or not. For some, wearing the burqa is an integral part of their religion. I personally don't agree with that philosophy. No one in the French Parliament has to, either. But banning face coverings isn't going to change an oppressive culture, it's only going to engender even more hatred from radicals who see the West as the enemy, and make life harder for Muslim women.
 
The Vatican has opposed this kind of ban, for the somewhat self-serving but still valid reason that if majority Christian countries don't respect Muslim minorities' right to practice their religion, Christians in majority Muslim countries could see their own rights taken away. Catholics as individuals are not always so open-minded, but in this case, I'd urge us all - Catholic or not - to side with the Pope on this one. Our right to practice Catholicism - not right now, perhaps not for several generations, but surely some day - will depend on it.
 
Amnesty International Condemns French Vote to Ban Full-Face Veils
 
 



-----Original Message-----
From: Iffaaz Salahudeen <iff...@hotmail.com>
Sent: Tue, Jul 20, 2010 8:15 pm
Subject: FREE ONLINE Seminar this Sunday July 25 -watch from your home- Ramadan & The Rulings of Fast

Salaam:
Sheikh Dr. Ahmed Kobeisy is very knowledgeable and a good speaker.  This is a good opportunity to invite some good friends over for lunch/dinner and listen to the Sheikh about Ramadan. Anyone from any where in the world should be able to register and listen (check the time for your city/country)!

Iffaaz
Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2010 20:51:31 -0400
Subject: FREE - Ramadan & The Rulings of Fast ONLINE Seminar
From: fahm...@gmail.com




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Instructor: Shaykh Dr. Ahmed Kobeisy

Sunday, July 25, 2010


10:00 AM to 4:00 PM (NY TIME)
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7:00 AM to 1 PM (PST)

TO REGISTER (FREE), CLICK THIS LINK BELOW (INSTRUCTION ON HOW TO ATTEND THIS EVENT WILL BE SENT AFTER YOU REGISTER)








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