That is the headline of this morning's express - A Publication of the Washington Post.  The article discusses Europe's passing of legislation in countries such as France, Belgium, Swtizerland, etc that bans Muslim women from wearing burqas.

 Give. Me. A. Break.

People wonder why so many Muslims hate Western Society.  People wonder why there are Jihadists who try to kill mass numbers of western citizens.  Because Muslims are being discriminated against.  They feel that their way of life is threatened and they want what we tell ourselves everyone should have: the right to freely, openly, safely, and effectively express their religious beliefs.  Oum Al Khyr was quoted in the article as saying, "To tell a sister you can't wear this veil is to say you can't practice your religion."  These women "[a]ll said they fear for their safety in an increasingly tense climate."  They feel their safety in France to be endangered over a veil?

This is a clash of cultures, and Muslims are fighting against the assimilation of cultures and are refusing to give up their identity and follow the White, Western Man's Way.  And, the West is responding by legally forcing them give up a major form of observance of their religion. They would much rather be fully covered than half naked like so many western women.  There are Muslim women who feel they are respecting themselves and their culture by wearing burqas. 

I would rather see a woman in a burqa than some fifteen year old girl walking around the mall in hotpants and a tube top.  I am not offended by a burqa, but I am offended by those Christian Evangelist Zealots who spout bigotry, hate, and lies and profit off of people's fears and guilt complexes.

If Muslim women do not feel that they are being oppressed by wearing burqas, but are rather dedicating themselves to their religion, then so be it.  Leave them alone and let them wear the burqa.

It is such a shame that Western Society's main goal is to force every culture that is not of its tradition to lose itsself, strip itself of its history and traditions, and assimilate.  It is out of ignorance that this is done.  Muslims are not going away without a fight.  Would Americans?  And, for those Muslim women who wear the burqa of their own accord and do so because they wish to, I say, go for it.

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Ganley, Elaine. Dueling Views on Liberty, France's proposed banon the veil pits religious freedome against gender equality. AP. Washington Post, 05.20.2010.