Merkel wants to ban the Burqa..

[Benton]

Well, we aren't having a half dozen daily posts on what's going on in Europe any more, so I hadn't heard about it.

Personally, I'm not a fan of restricting someone's right to practice religion. If your religion requires you to sport a bindi or burqa, or requires that you don't cut your hair or wear makeup, then that's up to you.

That said, two things.

First, the burqa isn't required for many (most?) adherents, but there are a few of the more conservative sects where it is. I think the issue is more the few locations where immigrants come from which do require women in public to wear hijabs, burqas, or in the case of Iran and several other countries, head scarves. So, if it's not a religious requirement and more of a regional tradition, I wouldn't say it's protected.

Two, even if it is a religious item, that doesn't mean you have free access to practice your religion anywhere, any time. Same with freedom of speech, you can say what you want, but you still can't yell 'fire!' in a theater. So, if Muslims are adherents to sects requiring it, that's fine, but I see no issue with countries banning that freedom of religion in some places... like schools or public buildings or airports.