Ban the Veil?
Cultures differ in their attitudes toward, well, cultural differences. In the Netherlands, where tension between Europeans and Muslims has been fierce, the government now seeks to make it illegal for women to wear the Islamic veil or burka. In 2004 France banned not only the veil but various religious symbols, including crosses, in schools in an effort to reaffirm the country’s secular identity.
Now a poll by Harris Interactive published in the Financial Times shows how adults in five European countries and the U.S. actually feel about whether women should be permitted to wear the veil.
Americans seemingly have more of a “live and let live” attitude. A total of 59% of Americans believe Islamic women should have the right to wear veils if they want to. Support is significantly lower in the five European nations surveyed, with Spain at 39%, Italy at 34%, Germany at 33%, Britain at 23%, and France at 23%.
The survey seemingly didn’t extend to Islamic women (or men, for that matter). Some Islamic women like the veil and feel safe under it. The trouble is, however, that bad guys can get away with murder and/or slip through airport security by donning a veil and posing as a woman. That’s what British authorities believe may have happened in London on Dec. 20 when a man wanted in the murder of a policewoman disappeared.