Philosophizing cloth
The Muslim burqa and equal rights
On The New York Times’ The Stone, its new philosophy commentary series, University of Chicago Professor Martha Nussbaum wrote in response to Spain’s recent, narrow rejection of a ban on public wearing of the Muslim burqa. She gives a quick history of what Western political philosophy has said on the topics of equal rights and free exercise before examining five arguments commonly made in support of this sort of ban.
Her responses to the arguments are certainly convincing. Nussbaum effectively demonstrates the inconsistency or hypocrisy in Western resistance to burqas, and anyone who reads the piece is more likely to dislike the idea of banning burqas.
But her most compelling point is also the most unique: Westerners cannot seem to recognize the inconsistency of their arguments against burqas because they are Westerners, burqa-wearing is not traditionally Western, and burqa-wearers are not viewed as traditionally Western.
It seems that, because the tradition of wearing burqas is so alien to us Westerners, we cannot grasp it in such a way that we can compare it to the relevant parts of our culture.
Nussbaum concludes that all the pro-ban arguments are discriminatory and not fitting of the liberal democracy in which we live.
Naturally, she leaves aside some larger, but nonetheless interesting questions that her analysis raises.
What does it mean for government to treat its people(s) with equal respect? What happens to the protection and distribution of civil liberty when one culture (at least something perceived as outside of what the majority perceives as the dominant culture) is forced to make room for another culture?
Within one political entity, speaking between and across cultures is hard. What can a society do to help different cultures and worldviews converse?
Our nation is not void of extremes. In a country that has tea-partiers and the Religious Right, LGBTQ activists and climate advocates, libertarians and socialists, answering this question is paramount.
Photo by Flickr user DVIDSHUB used under a Creative Commons Attribution license.
Related posts:
- Banning the burqa
- Not all choices are free
- France vs. the burqa
- Liberalism and the burqa
- Guest Post: Back to the burqa
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2 Responses to “Philosophizing cloth”
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‘Syria bans full Islamic face veils at universities’:
http://m.yahoo.com/w/ynews/article/topstories/3?url=http%3A%2F%2Fxml.news.yahoo.com%2Fus%2Fnews%2Frss%2Frichstoryrss.html%3Fu%3D%2Fap%2Fml_syria_islamic_veils&.ts=1279585578&.intl=US&.lang=en
It’s not a religious issue, it’s a security issue. The 7/7 bombers got away by hiding under burqas and people could be hiding anything or wearing anything under there. I’m not prejudiced in any way but at the end of the day you wouldn’t let a ‘yobo’ into your shop with his hood up would you because you can’t see his face and that feels threatening, it’s as simple as that.