Merkel wants to ban the Burqa..

[Mike M (the other one)]

(12-08-2016, 02:51 PM)hollodero Wrote: Honestly, I have a hard time banning stuff because "people get rude". So the rude person wins? Their rudeness is the benchmark for the others?

When I was in London recently for unspecified Bengals related reasons, there were more Burkas as they are here. At the third one, I stopped even bothering, and no one else seemed to do.

Can't forbid the strange just because it's strange.

It's not about the "rude" person winning. It's more about public safety for the woman dressed in the Burqa.

(12-08-2016, 03:28 PM)wildcats forever Wrote: Contrary to the beliefs of some, seeing women wearing burqas here (in the US) is not extremely rare or frightening. My guess is it depends on the part of the country in which one lives, or travels. I've seen them in grocery stores in NE Ohio as well as Atlanta and small towns in Florida. Remarkably, those sharing my experience managed to maintain a good sense of decorum at the time. 

The only real issue at play here for me is the wearing of masks in public by anyone. And even with this, I'm not convinced that a woman with a burqa presents such a worrisome danger to the public in general. Much larger battles exist, even for the hopelessly paranoid.

No it's not extremely rare or frightening to me. But I have a simple rule, when in Rome. do as the Romans do.

If my wife and I were in Dubai, why can't my wife wear he String Bikini at the beach?
Why in the Netherlands can I not ride in the back of a taxi with my wife if the Shotgun seat is available?
Why can't I tip the servers in Korea and Japan?
In Russia, why can't I give someone a thumb's up?
In the US, what's European's trip with Ice Cubes? And you've never had Ice Cream and Soda mixed together? Why do you carry cash in your wallet? Use your card.

Do people in the US run around with their faces covered by Burqa's as part of their everyday routine? No, we don't, so do as the locals do. Otherwise you stick out like a sore thumb and are attracting unwanted attention towards yourself.

Each country has it's own quirks and perks, learn them, know them and be respectful of them.

Anyways, I believe that Religion should never over ride the laws of a land.

(12-08-2016, 03:38 PM)hollodero Wrote: Yeah well, the US are really quite big. Everytime I check I'm shocked. Guess LA is quite different then Bismarck, and Burka density probably isn't a constant.

The masks in public thing... might be valid; then again, would anyone ban mascots. (And they are everywhere, not just in stadiums, but also in front of mattress shops and whatnot). 
Have to admit though. I always end up on the "no ban" side of the argument, but I still despise Burkas, and I'd rather not have those. Cultural pluralism only goes soo far for me. Don't know if that makes me a hypocrite or a bad person, my guess is yes.

The masks in public is already against the law in many states (and DC) because of the KKK, the only exception is Halloween night. The principle is the same, even if the intent is not.

If we are going to go after the Guy Fawkes people who wear masks, then we need to keep it even across the board. Singling one group out for anti-mask laws and ignoring another is discrimination. And we don't believe in that here in the US.