Discrimination Will Not Be Tolerated, Even If you Mask It As A Religion.

I’ve been keeping an eye on the hoo haa and carry on over the reaction to a Brisbane Shock Jock, Michael Smiths comments on banning Burkas or Hijabs in shops.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/queensland/dj-denies-racism-behind-hijab-jibe/2009/01/15/1231608867111.html

I'm not going to talk about the comment, rather about the piece of clothing.

It saddens me to think that in this day and age, that a group of people willing force a subset of their population to cover themselves from head to toe with the determining factor being their sex, and masquerade this subversion as religion. I dont call it religion, I call it out and out discrimination and it should not be tolerated, not in Australia, never. This type of obvious sexism is what we as a population and the people who came before us fought so hard to overcome, I dont understand why so many of us tolerate it now.

If any other group forced a percentage to their population to submit to such torture, and imho wearing a hijab or a full-faced burqa is a form of torture, then the perpetrators of this crime would be imprisoned – the religious label is irrelevant. A large percentage of Muslim women don’t feel the need to do this, and it doesn’t make them any less of a devout follower of this religion, so why do some arms of this religion think that you have to do this is beyond me.

If the fanatical arms of this religion chose to force both men and women to wear these outfits I'd be much more comfortable, as then they'd just be a pretty silly cult, but of course this wont happen as these men know that this outfit is foolish, uncomfortable and extremely constricting and would never tolerate it, but they are happy to force their women folk to do it .

I see women wearing these on the street on stinking hot days in Sydney, walking beside their husbands who are dressed in t-shirts, thongs and shorts, and I just want to slap them and yell at them, "look at him, look at what he is wearing and look at what you have got on", I’d tell them, they are in Australia, where you dont have to wear such foolish and inappropriate clothing. Especially when this “law” was only decreed by Mohammad when he noticed a few people making goo goo eyes at some of his wives and he didn’t want to deal with it.

In one of the articles I read, the president of the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia, Keysar Trad, is quoted as slamming the move suggested by Michael Smith, Keysar Trad said it was sexual harassment to ask a Muslim woman to remove her hijab, sorry Keysar, but as a woman, I find it a form of sexual harassment to HAVE to wear that damn thing.

Now I am going to be lazy and copy one of the many comments that I’ve read about this, because this guy summed it up rather nicely (thanks Matt of Mortdale).

“Forcing women to wear Burkas or Hijabs, no matter the culture, is a slur on women in general. It symbolises that women are not equal to men, which we all know is false - women are equal to men. Muslims should cease to demean and discriminate against women. In Islamic countries Australians have to abide by the cultural laws when visiting or living in that country. Why is it that Muslims see themselves as not having to conform to Australian cultural laws which effectively prohibit discrimination against women. I feel sorry for all Muslim women who are forced to wear something which demeans them, even if they have no problem themselves.”

I travel a fair bit, and will happily abide by the cultural rules of the country I visit, even if some of them disgust me, I have covered up in a Muslim country and will continue to do so when I visit one, just as I expect the Muslim women who visit here to uncover. I could never move to a Muslim country on a permanent basis because I couldnt accept the cultural norms of those countries, in the same way when Muslim men and women move here I expect them to adopt the cultural norms of this country, that is only fair.

If these people dont want to give up the hijab/burka, then there are plenty of other countries in the world where this form of discrimination is acceptable, and if someone feels that they dont want to give it up, then maybe Australia is not the right country for them. There are alot of Muslims from many countries of the world happily living here, its such a shame a small percentage of them give them majority of Australian Muslims such a bad rep.

And back to the comment that sparked the whole debate, people have to take their motorcycle helmets off when entering banks, I dont see this as being any different.

If someone has a problem with obeying the law of a shop they wish to enter – dont enter.

If someone has a problem with obeying the cultural law of a country they wish to enter - dont enter.

Its not that hard.