Burqa ban in Australia on the cards

[Fez]

I am not scared of them... too many people are suggesting that I am driven by fear but from your post it reads as if you are the one afraid of terrorism facilitated by full face coverings.

There are obviously restrictions on the freedom of religion, but I think a blanket ban on all full face coverings is going too far. Just because you find it oppresive, doesn't make it so for them. Why should it bother you at all if someone decides to cover their face?

What if... Your child was abducted by one dressed this way. What chance would you have in finding even if surveillance was available? For this practice to be sanctioned anyone could use it to their benefit toward anonymity....

Do you have any reason to believe that women whose faces are covered are more likely to abduct your children? Sounds like a lot of speculation to me.

You're assuming that the person under that covering is a woman.

Yes I am. The likelihood of a man hiding under a covering, in Australia, is so remote that I don't think it needs to be guarded against. That's what I believe is an appropriate balance of risk v's inconvenience. Now if you believe that when you weigh up the risks, that you simply can't tolerate covered faces, so be it, but I can tolerate it, especially when the alternative means opening the door for my government to take freedom of religous expression from me.

That I am in total agreement with, and I think that is where the danger lies....

To paraphrase Voltaire - "I disagree totally with what you are saying, but I will fight to the death your right to say it"... (not that I disagrre with you C. I think you make a lot of sense).

[nebula]

You're assuming that the person under that covering is a woman.

Yes I am. The likelihood of a man hiding under a covering, in Australia, is so remote that I don't think it needs to be guarded against.

Men aren't the only child abductors, though.

[nebula]

Actually, Candice - what I am thinking is that the resistance has to do with:

How much of this is religion?

And how much is Sharia Law?

[Guest man]

I am not scared of them... too many people are suggesting that I am driven by fear but from your post it reads as if you are the one afraid of terrorism facilitated by full face coverings.

There are obviously restrictions on the freedom of religion, but I think a blanket ban on all full face coverings is going too far. Just because you find it oppresive, doesn't make it so for them. Why should it bother you at all if someone decides to cover their face?

What if... Your child was abducted by one dressed this way. What chance would you have in finding even if surveillance was available? For this practice to be sanctioned anyone could use it to their benefit toward anonymity....

Do you have any reason to believe that women whose faces are covered are more likely to abduct your children? Sounds like a lot of speculation to me.

You're assuming that the person under that covering is a woman.

Yes I am. The likelihood of a man hiding under a covering, in Australia, is so remote.....

You don't have pedophiles where you come from?

[~candice~]

Actually, Candice - what I am thinking is that the resistance has to do with:

How much of this is religion?

And how much is Sharia Law?

Ever spoken to a woman who chooses to be fully covered? I have! I have spoken to them and they express their delight at being able to hide their bodies and beauty from the world and only expose it to those whom they choose.

The threat of Sharia law is always going to be there, but it is quite remote at the moment, I don't think that Islam has as much of a foot hold here as it does in the states?

There is certainly much less fear here, than what I read in the posts in this thread .

[~candice~]

Man, I think there is reason to not allow covered faces in banks, but what harm is there in a park? None...

Why?

Many children are taken from parks. You have no idea who's under that covering.

Yes, but do you have any reason to suspect that a person wearing a full face covering is more or less likely to be a child abductor? Or is that just convenient speculation to get them to not wear their head coverings???

[nebula]

The threat of Sharia law is always going to be there, but it is quite remote at the moment, I don't think that Islam has as much of a foot hold here as it does in the states?

There is certainly much less fear here, than what I read in the posts in this thread .

One word -

9/11

[~candice~]

I am not scared of them... too many people are suggesting that I am driven by fear but from your post it reads as if you are the one afraid of terrorism facilitated by full face coverings.

There are obviously restrictions on the freedom of religion, but I think a blanket ban on all full face coverings is going too far. Just because you find it oppresive, doesn't make it so for them. Why should it bother you at all if someone decides to cover their face?

What if... Your child was abducted by one dressed this way. What chance would you have in finding even if surveillance was available? For this practice to be sanctioned anyone could use it to their benefit toward anonymity....

Do you have any reason to believe that women whose faces are covered are more likely to abduct your children? Sounds like a lot of speculation to me.

You're assuming that the person under that covering is a woman.

Yes I am. The likelihood of a man hiding under a covering, in Australia, is so remote.....

You don't have pedophiles where you come from?

Yes... we have pedophiles. And? Why are people suddenly worried that child abductors will use islamic dress to lure children away? There has to be some kind of rational thinking here about the real risks... not just speculation about all the bad stuff that could [with remote probablility] happen if people abused head gear. Have there been reported abductions using islamic dress, or is this just fear mongering?

We are talking about a thousand people at most wanting to wear this garb, and I've already made concession for certain settings (health and security). So beyond those scenarios, please tell me why you insist on removing their garb? Really, why?????

[Guest man]

Man, I think there is reason to not allow covered faces in banks, but what harm is there in a park? None...

Why?

Many children are taken from parks. You have no idea who's under that covering.

Yes, but do you have any reason to suspect that a person wearing a full face covering is more or less likely to be a child abductor? Or is that just convenient speculation to get them to not wear their head coverings???

Now you're just being ridiculous.

[~candice~]

The threat of Sharia law is always going to be there, but it is quite remote at the moment, I don't think that Islam has as much of a foot hold here as it does in the states?

There is certainly much less fear here, than what I read in the posts in this thread .

One word -

9/11

This is Australia Neb... even the attacks against Australia by islamic terrorists happened off shore... it is really really different here. For the most part, islamic garb is not associated with fear, or terrorism etc, it is associated with people who have a strict and strange religion. I think the cultural differences are not understood or appreciated.

I am a mother, there is no way I would ever want to support behavior that put my child in danger... but yet this doesn't bother me or cause me fear at all. Doesn't that tell you something?